Aurora
Aurora names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
now, fair daughter of the dawn, Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn. --Pope. I care not Fortune what you me deny: You cannot rob me of free Nature's grace, You cannot shut the windows of the day Through which Aurora shows her brightening face. --Thomson. Now to Aurora, borne by dappled steeds, The sacred gate of orient pearl and gold Expanded slow to strains of harmony. --Landor. Aurora Borealis , the Northern Lights. Frequently after nightfall, a dark band may be seen in the northern sky, surrounded by an outer arc of streaming light. The farther the observer advances into the polar regions, and the colder the winter, the more brilliant this light becomes. Travelers tell us that these northern lights do much to dispel the darkness of the long arctic night. They are brighter even than moonlight. Hunters can see to pursue the seal and walrus; dog trains travel with security; at times ordinary print can be read without difficulty. The region of greatest intensity does not appear, however, to be at the north pole but to be a zone crossing the northern land masses, following closely the zone of greatest cold described elsewhere under ARCTIC REGIONS . Scientists have settled down to the conclusion that the aurora is an electrical light and that, though it streams far up into the heavens, seemingly filling space, it is in reality entirely within the earth's atmosphere. A corresponding phenomenon in antarctic regions is called the Aurora Australis , or Southern Lights. See Electricity
Aurora a city in Kane co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city in Kane co., Ill., on the Fox river, and the Chicago and Northwestern, the Burlington Route, and other railroads; 38 miles W. of Chicago. It contains several locomotive, car, and railroad repair shops; large cotton and woolen mills; watch and carriage factories; smelting and silver plating works; stove and machine works; and other industries. It is the farming and manufacturing center for Kane and adjoining counties. It has churches, State hospital, Aurora College, electric light and street railway plants, water works, National banks, and daily and weekly newspapers. Pop. (1910) 29,807; (1920) 36,265.
Aurora a-ro'ra, in Roman mythology
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a-ro'ra, in Roman mythology, the goddess of the dawn. She was called Eos by the Greeks. The poets of both nations were wont to describe her as rising from the ocean in a chariot, "with rosy fingers dropping gentle dew," in fanciful allusion to the rosy skies just before sunrise. From personifying the dawn of day, the word Aurora has come to be used as synonymous with rise or beginning. There are many allusions to Aurora among English poets. See Guido Reni
Aurora Known to the Greeks as Eos
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Known to the Greeks as Eos . A goddess, daughter of Hyperion and Thia or Thea. She is generally represented by the poets as sitting in a chariot and opening with her fingers the gates of the east, pouring dew on the earth, and making the flowers grow. The Greeks call her Eos.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 verdict that the aurora is "an electrical light" confined within the earth's atmosphere was right as far as it went; what came after was the mechanism. Spacecraft measurements from the 1960s onward confirmed that the glow is caused by charged particles in the solar wind funnelled down along the earth's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere, and the same solar storms that produce the display can damage satellites and grids -- a 1989 storm blacked out the province of Quebec for hours. The Roman goddess of Collier's and 1000 Classical Characters needs no revision at all. Aurora, Illinois, has grown well beyond the 36,265 that Collier's counted in 1920: it now has roughly 180,000 people and is the state's second-largest city, and its Aurora College has become Aurora University.
Written for this edition, 2026.