Astronomy Books

Very well written. I used this book for a class from one of the authors of the book. He does a really good job with up-to-date info in the book. Very well-written. Keeps you wanting to read more. It could definitely be enhanced if it had color pictures, though.

Dr. Christiansen is my professor for my Astrogeology class. This book is wonderful, the photos are awesome and more than that, it really is interesting. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the planets. It's worth the price.

In true Mary Kay Carson fashion, Exploring the Solar System : A History with 22 Activities isn't dumbed down even the slightest. Carson respects children and seems to grasp well what they can be expected to understand - which is often more than what they are credited with. As a result, her text is thorough and frank and can easily be read to would-be astronauts as young as 4 or 5 years. And the illustrative photos are stunning, the perfect foil for the text in capturing the imagination. From interviews with well-regarded scientists (including explanations of how they themselves became interested in studying space) to easy-to-execute activities to a very thorough timeline of space exploration, Carson has once again thought of everything for engaging our own little scientists. I simply cannot recommend this book enough.

I bought this for my 6 yr. daughter. She's very interested in Space. It's a good quality book (no cheap paper). It has a lot of information from the past. First attempt into space they sent a dog. My daughter is very smart and understands what she is reading (or what I help her read). I would say it's more for 8 yrs and up (but perfect for a younger mature child). It has original pictures (not cartoon drawings) and is very educational for the whole family (if you are interested in learning about space). I recommend it for your collection.

The pictures of planets are beautiful. It is interesting to read about places that I never went to before. Wow. I wish I could visit these planets and see what an alien looks like. I would like to see the volcanoes too.

Wonderful up-to-date knowledge regarding the Milky Way Galaxy. My twelve year old son did a summer reading report from the information in this book.

Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) This book should be on every meteorite lovers bookshelf. The photos are detailed and of excellent quality.The text is understandable by professionals and amateurs alike. I unhesitatingly recommend this book to anyone interested in these visitors from outer space.

I think Norton and Chitwood have done a great piece of work with this guide. It is very readable, but also up-to-date and comprehensive. As a collector, I find it covers the bases thoroughly. The parts describing hunting for meteorites, the tools and techniques used for determining meteorite authenticity, and the anecdotal information on hunters and various finds are a pleasant bonus I was not expecting.

But, for me personally, the biggest surprise was the information in the chapter on thin sections: From Hand Lens to Microscope. This is excellent information for anyone who wants to learn about actually analyzing meteorites. If you want to go beyond basic hunting or collecting, this is the section for you. Furthermore, the authors have representative thin section photographs of the major meteorite classes throughout the other chapters.

I like Springer as a publisher, and I think the Patrick Moore series on Practical Astronomy has been a good thing for amateur astronomy. I have about a dozen of the series titles, but this one -- in my opinion -- is a more thorough treatment of its subject than any of the others.

I also have about a dozen other books on meteorites -- some of them highly specialized (like the Color Atlas of Meteorites in Thin Section). As I'm learning more about meteoritics, I would find it hard to part with any of my books. But if I were forced to keep just one of them, this would be the one.

I own this book as well as its companion canon on lunar eclipses. I find them both to be convenient and valuable references whenever I need to find information about past or present eclipses (which I do a lot more often than you might imagine).

What I find most useful are the maps of individual eclipses over a 50-year span and the maps of all total and annular eclipses worldwide over the much longer period of 1901-2100.

This is the definitive book to take to eclipses. Espenak is the eclipse expert for NASA and has all the math and software to generate the tables which make up this canon.

Everything else one hears or reads about where and when the eclipse will be, is just third through twelfth hand recounting and mis-recounting of the information in this book. It is not fun reading - it is a book of tables of numbers.

But careful reading and interpolation with an accurate map (or a GPS) and an accurate watch will get you the exact local time of second and third contacts and the actual location of centerline.

That doesn't seem like such a big deal until one is actually on the ground the day before the eclipse. One had been unconsciously expecting that somebody locally would have all the information, and then you find out that they had been assuming that you, the rich, educated foreigner, would know.

The actual real information is to be found only in this book. Don't leave home for an eclipse without it.

This book provides information that kids love and is great for ESOL students. My students often have a hard time getting information from a source they can actually read. These books help. I'm sure younger readers love them too.

I love Usborne Books. I am hoping to someday own every one of them. They are great and they are truly helping my kids learn better and faster.

They are great books and I highly reccommend them, no matter where you get them.

Thank you so much.

As the name of this reference implies, it provides a good review from particle physics to astrophysics, and of significance, relates inner space to outer space. Both theoretical and experimental methods are explored. The classical big-bang theory is clearly discussed, as are its difficulties and the solutions provided by inflation theory.

I have read lots of popular science books about particle physics and this is way out in front of the pack! It clarified many things that other authors just assumed the reader could understand. For example, the section on how to build synchrotrons and accelerators and why the devices are shaped the way they are was so clear. Plus the color photographs and drawings make it a lovely book to just browse through. If you love particle physics, or are even just a little intrigued, this book is a must! I intend to reread it sometime.

This book truly explains many physical concepts of the mysteries of our universe. It goes in depth explaining in detail pulsars, black holes, and starts, but brings these concepts to an understandable level. The examples presented give a full conceptual understanding of our universe. One can picture what is happening in a black hole through labeled drawings rather than complicated mathematical formulas. This book did a great job of explaining all the aspects of space-time geometery for which I was looking.

Although Greenstein's book is somewhat ancient, it remains the most exhilarating exploration of black holes, quasars, pulsars and other phenomena I've ever read. If you want an easily digestible introduction to some of the most fascinating aspects of our universe, you cannot do better than to read Frozen Star.

I've read many Texts for my MAS program and this is the very first one that I've found that I can actually sit down at a resteraunt and enjoy. One added bonus is that I can also read it on AMAZON.com(purchased seperatley) so I can catch up on chapters AND HIGHLIGHT ONLINE if I need to.

SAM

Clement's book is one of the most important books in the Space Technology Library series. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was wise to choose it for its graduate coursework in Space Science. The graphics were very good. The information was up-to-date, and the supplemental material on the CD was delightful inlcuding the tongue-in-cheek humor. I look forward to the next version as Dr. Clement gathers more information.

The references at the end of each chapter provide a wealth of information to dig deeper.

The book is very detailed and covers a wide range in galaxy formation. It explains astrophysical processes very clearly and can be recommended for students.

This is an oustanding text on the physics of the formation of structure in the Universe. It is written at the level of a beginning graduate student in physics or astronomy, and will provide sufficient background for the student to begin serious research in this area. The text is well written and the topics well chosen. It was written in 1998, so it is already a bit dated (it obviously contains nothing about the most recent advances in dark energy), but all the basics are here. This explains what we know and what we don't know about how and why clusters and galaxies form, dark matter, and the Big Bang.