Great Comets by Robert Burnham, Cambridge, £14.95, ISBN
0521646006
GREAT comets are spectacular by any standards. With their brilliant heads and
long, gleaming tails, it is no surprise that they caused widespread alarm in
ancient times—and to a certain extent still do today.
Two bright comets appeared during the closing years of the 20th century:
Hyakutake in 1996 and Hale-Bopp in 1997. Burnham deals with these in detail and
gives briefer accounts of earlier great comets and a great deal of miscellaneous
information. The main strength of this book is in the photographs, which are
well chosen and beautifully…
