Their enthusiasm for explaining astronomy to the public led to them being well known: they were described as "salesmen of the Milky Way" by "The Boston Globe" in 1936. Their main work together was a definitive undergraduate textbook and popular science book, "The Milky Way", "widely acclaimed as one of the most successful astronomical books ever published", which had five editions over forty years following its initial publication in 1941, and was translated into many languages. The writing of this book, begun in 1937, was shared equally – according to Bart: