How to capture an eclipse of the sun

Shadows have sat in the shade of a dark reputation for a long time. Plato disparages the material world as a mere shadow. The Psalmist promises comfort even in the shadow of the valley of death. We all want to defend our reputations beyond the shadow of a doubt.

But, in fact, we'd be in the dark without shadows. Though so commonplace as to seem unimportant, they help infants develop a sense of spatial dimension. Until recently, shadows were all we had to tell time. Understanding their behavior allowed painters finally to put things in perspective. And they've played a crucial role in the development of astronomy.

The biggest shadow in the world - a lunar eclipse - is the subject of Max Byrd's entertaining new story, "Shooting the Sun." Best known for a series of novels about American presidents, Byrd turns his attention this time to the bombastic British mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871).

Among his many projects, Babbage was determined to build a commercially viable computer, a "difference engine," that could automate the tedious and error-prone process of calculating tables used by navigators, astronomers, and engineers. Though he made a number of technological and theoretical breakthroughs, the financing and mechanics of the machine would never compute.

As a novelist, Byrd steps into that struggle and imagines Babbage and a shady partner launching a publicity stunt of astronomical proportions to garner venture capital for their difference engine. Babbage announces that his machine has predicted that a total eclipse will take place at 2:15 p.m. on Sept. 5, 1840, in the unexplored American Southwest.

To prove the accuracy and usefulness of his device, he assembles an international team to sail to America, ride into the wasteland, and photograph this celestial confirmation of his genius.

Most of the plot concerns the risky wagon trail ride from Washington to a spot near Santa Fe, but Byrd takes too long before setting out. Any editor should be suspicious when Chapter 13 is called "Ready to Begin." The exposition is thick with curious historical details about the young nation's capital and politics, photography, astronomy, navigation, mathematics, and art. Much of this is entertaining; some of it is merely stalling.

Also, the explorers arrive one by one for their adventure, but these schematically designed characters don't need such elaborate introductions. Where are Ricardo Montalban and Tattoo when we need them? "Look boss, de wagon, de wagon!"

By the time they finally set off in search of the eclipse, we've got these four men pegged: the dashing leader, who's a little bit of a dandy, with a deadly secret; the effete Harvard professor, who'll do anything to prove he doesn't need Mr. Babbage's newfangled machine; the chiseled guide, who just wants to get back to exploring Africa; and the temperamental painter, who knows the soulless camera could never capture what he sees.

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