I'm pretty sure I picked up a copy of Newton's Optics that sits on a shelf. I'm pretty good on the subject, and probably know everything in the book that's actually correct. I recall cracking it open to read it, and essentially my reaction is "why should I hurt my brain trying to translate this into modern physics language?"
The only classic science book I've read that I got anything out of was "Sunspots," mostly by Galileo. It's actually an argument between him and another astronomer who insisted that sunspots aren't really on the sun--that they are little planets orbiting the sun, and the sun is immutable. Galileo uses tracings of projected solar images to make a pretty damned solid case that they are indeed "weather" on the sun. And the book was pieced together by a modern author/editor in a way that made sense to me.
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The only classic science book I've read that I got anything out of was "Sunspots," mostly by Galileo. It's actually an argument between him and another astronomer who insisted that sunspots aren't really on the sun--that they are little planets orbiting the sun, and the sun is immutable. Galileo uses tracings of projected solar images to make a pretty damned solid case that they are indeed "weather" on the sun. And the book was pieced together by a modern author/editor in a way that made sense to me.
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