Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. The Earth by J. H. Poynting was first published in 1913. The volume contains an account of the size, shape and movement in space of the Earth, avoiding complicated mathematical detail.