Rainbows have been a source of fascination since time immemorial. They have been the subject of myth and superstition, an inspiration to poets, a challenge to painters, the object of intense scientific interest and a touchstone for ideas about the nature of light and colour. Above all, the rainbow has been the embodiment of wonder from the earliest times to the present day.

Beginning with the circumstances in which you are likely to see a rainbow and descriptions of its salient features, this book recounts and explains the myths and superstitions about rainbows, and describes how poets, painters and, above all, leading scientists in every age have sought to discover and understand the rainbows secrets.

Readers with a love of nature and art and an interest in the history of science will enjoy this attractive and informative book.

After studying engineering and philosophy at the University of London, John Naylor taught physics in secondary schools for the next thirty years. He retired from teaching in order to pursue his interests in atmospheric optics and acoustics. He is the author of Out of the Blue, a 24-hour Skywatchers Guide, a guide to the vast range of optical and astronomical phenomena that can be seen in the sky, day and night, and Now Hear This, A Book About Sound.

1. Why Rainbows?.- 2 The Naming of Parts.- 3 Tales From the Haunted Air.- 4 From Myths to Mathematics.- 5 The Geometry of Light.- 6 The Celebrated Phenomenon of Colour.- 7 New Wine in Old Bottles.- 8 Unweaving the Rainbow.- 9 The Electric Rainbow.- 10 In the Eye of the Beholder.