The Old Farmer's Almanac for 2006: An Astronomical Review
by Charlie Cotterman

In this age of the Information Superhighway, computer monitors that you wear like a pair of glasses, central processors that go so fast you can pick them up on a police radar gun, and information that's outdated almost before it's publicized, it's refreshing to stop, prepare an adult beverage, sit back with your feet up, and turn the actual paper pages of a real book you hold in your hands. It's a bonus when the book is useful as well as interesting.

Such a book is The Old Farmer's Almanac, which bills itself as 'North America's oldest continuously published periodical', having been founded in 1792. Back then, your nearest neighbor may be double-digit miles away, you might not see anyone other than your immediate family for days or weeks at a time, and the most current sources of information could be months if not years old. Something was needed to get the word out on weather predictions, astronomical data (the seasons ruled early America's agrarian community, just as they do now), helpful hints about home life, medicine, food, people, and many other things. There wasn't a whole lot of loose cash laying around in the 18th and 19th (and with current gas prices, the 21st) century, and if one book instead of a handful could supply the information needs of the household, then one book per year it was. Such a book was and is The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Just as reading material, The Old Farmer's Almanac has a wealth of information. The 2006 edition has interesting articles on graphology (a rather in-depth look at numerous points of handwriting and personality -- Bill Gates gets a short evaluation), Halloween traditions, toys that have become staples over the years (Mr&Mrs Potato Head, Silly Putty, the Slinky, the Hula Hoop, the Erector Set), sports (tales from hockey goalies), how to teach your chicken to do tricks (pick a card, any card...), the weather (why the media stories about climate change aren't necessarily accurate or complete), history (2006 is the 100th anniversary of The San Francisco Earthquake and the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway System), and of course, food -- growing, canning, cooking, baking, preserving (peaches, onions, green beans, pickles, carrots, peppers, zucchini, fresh herbs, weeds [pasta with burdock root and mushrooms, dandelion greens with turkey bacon dressing, lamb's-quarter frittata], Chinese cuisine, Swedish Oatmeal Pancakes, Banana Pudding topped with granola and maple syrup...okay, I have to stop now, I've gained three pounds typing this), and short sections devoted to fashion, trends, and much much more.

But our focus is The Old Farmer's Almanac's forte -- the seasons, the skies, the stars, and the relationship of this astronomical menage a` trois. To quote TOFA (as we will refer to The Old Farmer's Almanac, not to be confused with a competing publication of a similar name) 2003, "...As a calendar of celestial events, this Almanac chronicles the rhythm of the universe; since 1792, this has been our mission and our mandate...The calendar pages...are in essence unchanged since this Almanac's debut. Furthermore, since 1851, only minor modifications have been made to our cover...". Indeed, TOFA's main subject matter has been astronomical data of interest to the farming community, weather predictions, and keeping track of time. TOFA 2006 states that "We derive our weather forecasts from a secret formula that was devised by the founder of this Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792. Thomas believed that weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots...although neither we nor any other forecasters have as yet gained sufficient insight into the mysteries of the Universe to predict the weather with total accuracy, our results are almost always very close to our traditional claim of 80 percent." (italics in original)

The 2006 edition's major astronomical article concerns Project Stardust, the satellite that captured comet dust from Comet Wild-2 (according to TOFA, it's pronounced vilt).The mission (and especially its return in January 2006) is described in detail, along with the difference between meteors and meteorites, and some commentary on various famous (and infamous) comets.

The part that makes TOFA so astronomically interesting is its monthly calendar pages. Each month takes two pages to print. The left page details sunrise and sunset times, length of day, solar declination at noon, high/low tide times, moonrise and set, and the moon's place in the Zodiac. The right page deals more with earthly determinants of time, such as religious feasts (several of the world's major religions are referenced), civil holidays, historical events, and "proverbs, poems, and adages...". Also on the right page is listed lunar phases, lunar/planetary conjunctions, and eclipses. There's even some advice on predicting earthquakes on the explanatory page. In separate sections, there are instructions on calculating lengths of local twilight, pertinent details on the year's principal meteor showers, planetary risings/settings, the major navigation stars' rise/transit/set times, eclipse diagrams and dates, and an astronomical glossary that is more than adequate for the layman in everyday conversation.

It's important to note that TOFA was founded back in the day when the economic center of a young America was the New England East Coast. All the days and times given for astronomical events refer to Boston time, and tidal events are referenced to Commonwealth Pier in Boston Harbor. There are extensive listings and tables to convert time and tide in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to your locale. Just remember to convert time and tide accurately; they wait for no man...

The Old Farmer's Almanac is a great wealth of information for the casual reader, the handyman, the stockman, and the gardener. The 2006 edition has its commercial side, of course -- split your own logs, saw your own lumber, brew your own beer, brush mowers, chippers, Ball® canning supplies, vintage design bicycles (want a 1941-style Columbia?), music, and on and on. There is some woowoo-ism as always, though -- the expected dash of astrology (only three pages, and extremely generic), and of course, ads both classified and random, large and small, sprinkled through the Almanac; grape juice heals all, the hydrogen bond angle of water is changing and causing various miseries, male and female pheromones, miracle cures that Big Bad Medicine doesn't want you to know about (no, this isn't Mr. Trudeau's book), herbal formula immune system boosters, ad infinitum ad nauseam.

The Old Farmer's Almanac for 2006 traditionally goes on rack sale the second Tuesday in September. If you can't find a copy on your local publications rack, there is a website( http://www.almanac.com/index.php ) that has more things available than a paperback book can offer (links to websites including The Astronomical League, some interactive star maps, and more). Of course, we're concentrating on the print version of TOFA, so we can go outside and see the stars as they are in the sky as opposed to on a monitor. There is a national edition, specific editions for the South and the West (the only differences are the city where times/tides are calculated), and a Canadian edition with specific north-of-the-border weather predictions and editorial content.

The Old Farmer's Almanac is available by subscription (the current edition is $5, or the next three years are a total of $15). There is a new version of TOFA just for the youngsters (The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids, $9.95) that answers the burning questions of our times...
What makes egg yolks yellow? How heavy is the Moon? How do you hypnotize a frog?
Check the website for full details (http://www.almanac.com/store/almanacs.html ).

Concentrating as we are on its astronomical information, the 2006 edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac is definitely worth obtaining. It's an especially nice tool for the beginner stargazer who isn't ready for manuals along the line of RASC's 'Observer's Handbook'. (Personally, I think it's an excellent companion
volume to the Observer's Handbook, and I keep both in my backpack.) The Old Farmer's Almanac makes a worthwhile and interesting companion volume to a star atlas for those of us who like to stand outside after dark and look up for hours at a time.

(OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: the author has no connection to The Old Farmer's Almanac, its parent company Yankee Publishing of Dublin NH, or its editorial or writing staff, other than that of a satisfied reader and customer. The author has neither asked for nor received any remuneration of any kind from Yankee Publishing. This review was written and submitted in the interest of public information only, and is solely the opinion of the author.)

The preceding article is published simultaneously (except as noted) in the following places, among others:

The Bad Astronomy and Universe Today forum

The James Randi Educational Foundation Bulletin Board

From Where I Stand

The Miami Valley Astronomical Society message board

on several message board groups that the author is a member of; the groups are associated with astronomy in general, and several aspects of astronomy in particular

and depending on space limitations, will also be printed in the MVAS's monthly newsletter The Amateur Astronomer.

__________________
"If a tree is cut down in the rainforest, and is used to make paper to print a book, and the book is really bad, and there's nobody that will read it, do you still hear a sucking sound?"
Charlie in Dayton, A.AsC.