Cohen says, in Chasing the Sun's introduction, that he was inspired to write the book after realizing there is not a comprehensive history of the star that gives our planet life. His goal, then, was to create both an exhaustively researched cultural history of the sun's importance to humanity -- in spiritual and scientific terms -- and a granular exploration of the sun's importance scientifically, from the way it helps create life and how it can also harm us.

The result is an interesting, albeit bloated, book. Chasing the Sun is engrossing for the first 250-300 pages. This is clearly a labor of love for Cohen, who spends hundreds of pages discussing everything from the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians, and their associated Sun Gods, and the explosion of astronomical science, from Newton to Einstein, that led us to important and world-altering perspective shifts.

But the book's dual goal also hinders it. While I loved reading about humanity's cultural fascination with the Sun, I was less interested in reading extensive passages about skin cancer, the food chain, and ocean flora. As such, the back end of the book reads like a dry science textbook - even when touching on subjects I'm interested in.

All in all, I appreciate what Cohen attempted here. While it often feels like a mixed bag, there is so much here to learn that I can't help but get giddy at the thought of it. As someone who's always dabbled with astronomy and found the universe exciting, it's hard not to love a book that is so dedicated and focused on our central star. ( )

An epic story indeed. This book was too big for bedtime so I left it in the living room and read a chapter or a few pages when I felt like it. The best chapters were brilliant - and I can imagine that all the chapters were good but that for each individual different chapters might be the ones to spark the imagination because it covers so many different areas - science, history, culture, art, religion (to name a few!). ( )

Well worth reading. ( )

I have no idea how anyone can write such a boring and long-winded book on such an incredible and exiting subject! ( )

To be honest, I wouldn't have naturally picked this up on my own steam. It was mentioned in a group here on GoodReads in a challenge thread and caught my eye. After looking into it a bit, I figured it might be right up my alley because it covers a wealth of subjects through the lens of it's specified solar theme and has the twist of "popular science" thrown in. I'm a pop science junkie. Let's blame Bill Nye. Or, you know, thank him.

I think I was hoping for more author personality. It felt a bit like falling down a Wikipedia similar article hole at times though this was certainly better researched than most wikipedia pages. The information was interesting and I found that it answered some questions I'd had jangling and jumbling at the back of my head for ages. I just wish certain chapters (really any of the sections pertaining to the arts) had more flavor. There's certainly a time for frankness in such a book but when it's billed as a 'grand tradition of the scholar-adventurer,' I do expect a bit of the personal add-in. There is the odd anecdote here and there but it wasn't the norm.

All in all, Cohen's undertaking is impressive and there's enough interest to get through the book. But there is the dry spot amidst the so-called epic-ness and a heavy chance of the odd skim-through.



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