|
A PERSONAL LIST OF SOME FAVOURITE BOOKS ON ASTRONOMY.
By
John Ginifer
|
I offer this little list of books, which I have enjoyed reading in the past four or
five years, very much in the spirit of sharing with other amateurs, who have a
keen interest in astronomy. Of course, there are huge gaps, especially in the
field of telescopes, current technology and sky watching, which others in the
Wessex Astronomical Society are qualified to fill. From time to time, I think
there would be a value in sharing our reactions to astronomical books, recently
published.
Contents
Back to the Home Page
|
Beginnings – an early reading path.
Return to Contents
|
|
Ridpath,
Ian + Tirion, Wil : “The Monthly Sky Guide”
Cambridge University Press. 1998 Paperback £9.95
Best beginner’s book I know to help observe and to explore the sky, also a
wonderful family gift. Descriptions of the monthly positions of the planets
cover five years. The monthly sky maps of key stars and the related discussions
of selected constellations last indefinitely.
|
Moore,
Patrick :”Guide to the Night Sky”.
George Philip Ltd. 1991 Paperback £5.99
Concise
guided tour of the heavens, explaining the solar system. Useful, clear text but
if you can afford only one I prefer Ridpath.
|
Kyselka,
Will + Lanterman Ray :“North Star to Southern Cross”
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.1976 Paperback O/P
An unusual and fascinating field guide to the sky, neatly
complementing Ridpath. The text includes historic and new perspectives, with
some short subjects from the Crab Nebula to black holes and gravitational
pulses. Whatever your experience, an unusual little gem.
|
Jones,
Brian.:”An Introduction to Practical Astronomy”
The Apple Press, London. 1991 £8.95
An introductory
guide to practical astronomy for amateur stargazer - complements Ronan, Kyselka
and Moore. Illustrated with diagrams, star charts and full-colour observatory
and space probe photographs. Special sections dealing with what can be seen
with the naked eye, binoculars and small telescopes.
|
Ronan,
Colin. A.: “The Natural History of the Universe – From the Big Bang
to the End Of Time.”
Doubleday, London. 1991 £20
Moving into the theory:
colourful, accurate, comprehensive and interesting…pricey, but a sound
family reference book. It worked for me but perhaps you know of cheaper books
that do the same job.
|
Gribbin,
John :”Almost Everyone’s Guide to Science”
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1998. £ 9.99
Gribbin
offers a superb overview of science, giving a rock solid basis to understand
and study astronomy and astrophysics. Everyone can learn something valuable
from this text. Do not hesitate to skip a chapter, if you get stuck –
you’ll probably come back to it later.
|
Lamb,
Simon + Sington, David:”Earth Story – The Shaping of Our
World.”
BBC Books, 1998 £19.99
This book features the current
TV programme, of the same name, giving fascinating and authoritative insights
into our planet, reminding astronomers how much Earth can help us to comprehend
other worlds within and beyond our solar system. NB I noticed in
December’s Shy and Telescope, a review of a practical book written for
cosmic insight for beginners: “40 Nights to Knowing the Sky”, by
Fred Schaaf, published by Henry Holt and Co., 1998, in paperback at $17.95,
available from Sky Publishing Corp.
|
|
|
|
Petersen, Carolyn. + Brandt, John. ”Hubble Vision –Astronomy with the Hubble Telescope”
Cambridge University Press. 1995 £24.95
HST
discoveries; how it works; dramatic images, often of familiar objects, such as
planets, star clusters and supernovae but in a detail never previously seen. I
was given this expensive book and enjoyed it, but perhaps the following cheaper
book is better value.
|
Open
University. S281:”Images of the Cosmos”
Hodder and Stoughton, 1994 Paperback £16.95
A
brilliant image-tour through the Universe, with views and explanations through
the windows of radio, infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. This book
can stand alone from its associated Open University S281 course materials.
|
Verschuur, Gerrit.:“Impact! The threat of Comets and
Asteroids”
Oxford University Press 1996 Paperback £ 9.99
Not
sure how this whizz bang, topical American book got on my desk, for it lacks
nothing in colour and drama. Despite myself, I learnt quite a bit about the
subject, but boy did the author rush this one out!
|
Daubler,
Philip + Muller,:” The Three Big Bangs”
Helix Books, Addison-Wesley. 1996 Paperback £ 8.95
I
think I bought this book to overcome the shock of Verschuur’s
“Impact”. It explores the connections between comet crashes,
exploding stars and the creation of the universe and how they have shaped life
on earth. The chronological order of these events is reversed ‘to make the
book as accessible as possible to the nontechnical reader’.
|
Moore,
Patrick :”Brilliant Stars”
Cassell, London 1996 Paperback £10.96
Time I returned
to star watching! PM moves on from his Guide to the Night Sky, at about the
same pace as I developed my familiarity with stars and galaxies.
|
|
|
|
Moore, Patrick.:”Fireside Astronomy”
John Wiley and Sons. 1992 Paperback £ 9.92
The title
says it all – by now our tyro-astronomer is well hooked!
|
Ed.
Carey, John :”The Faber Book of Science”
Faber and Faber, London 1995 Paperback £ 9.99
Scientists themselves talk about discoveries, including past and present
experts, ranging from say Galileo and Alfred Noyes to Richard Dawkins and Neil
Armstrong. First, I chose the astronomers, then with increasing interest I
ranged through other famous physicists, biologists, chemists and psychologists.
More great bedside reading.
|
Gribbin,
John :”Companion to the Cosmos”
Phoenix Giant Paperback 1996 Paperback £11.99
Briefly reviews the story of our origins then offers a user friendly guide, in
an A-Z format that covers a fascinating range of topics, major and minor, with
biographies of the scientists. In the final section, cosmological discoveries
are set out alongside key historical and scientific
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marshall, Ian + Zohar, Danah: ”Who’s Afraid of Schrodinger’s Cat?”
Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. 1997 £ 19.99
The authors
provide a valuable reference and technical dictionary, which proved useful when
grappling with the complex ‘New’ theories explored in the six texts
that follow. First, it gives an overview of The New Sciences: Quantum theory,
Relativity, Chaos and the New Cosmology. Then in alphabetical order, it
explains and defines concepts: e.g., Arrow of Time, Big Bang, Cosmic Background
Radiation…. and so on to ….Super Gravity, Time, Virtual Particles and
Wrinkles in the Microwave Background.
|
Hawking,Stephen :”A Brief History of Time – from Big Bang to Black
Holes”
Bantam Press, 1988 Paperback £ 7.99
This now
familiar book, which needs no summary, aroused my curiosity so strongly, I have
retained a deep interest in all things astronomical – probably always
will.
|
Rees,
Martin :”Before the Beginning – Our University and Others”
Simon and Schuster. 1997 Paperback £7.99
Martin
Rees, Royal Society Research Professor and Astronomer Royal, argues that many
universes exist, probably an infinity of them. Every universe starts with a big
bang, acquires a distinctive imprint and its own laws of physics. He draws
together current research, with interesting insights in other scientists in the
field. Clearly written and very readable.
|
Hawkins,
Michael:”Hunting Down the Universe – The Missing Mass,
Primordial Black Holes and Other Dark Matters”
Little, Brown and Co. 1997
Paperback £ 7.99
Michael Hawkins expands his belief that
99% of the material Universe is made up of primordial black holes, formed
within the first microsecond of the big bang. In a personal and anecdotal
history of the evolution of the universe, he critically describes how other
astronomers have developed their ideas, with so-called scientific truth often
no more than a type of consensus. It has, and needs, an excellent Glossary of
scientific terms.
|
Guth,
Alan. H.:”The Inflationary Universe – The Quest for a New Theory of
Cosmic Origins”
Jonathan Cape. 1997 Paperback £ 8.99
This
prestigious American scientist is best known for his pioneering work in
formulating The Inflationary Theory, which attempts to provide a single, viable
explanation of the origins of the universe. His book takes us from the early
days of his curiosity to the apparent confirmation of his theory by COBE’s
discovery of the cosmic background radiation.
|
Smolin,Lee :”The Life of the Cosmos”
Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 1997 Paperback £7.99
Drawing as much on Darwin as Einstein, the author suggests the laws of nature
are not fixed and that our universe is a result of a process of evolution that
has created stars, black holes, and thus the possibility of life. The Universe
like Lovelock’s Gaia-Earth, is a living entity.
|
Deutsch,
David :”The Fabric of Reality”
Penguin Books. 1997 Paperback £8.99
An Oxford
quantum physicist investigates four strands of science: quantum physics,
theories of knowledge, computation and evolution, exploring the diverse
connections that can be found between these apparently diverse subjects. He
offers an optimistic world view.
|
|
|
|
Dawkins, Richard :”The Selfish Gene”
Oxford Paperbacks, New Edition,1989 Paperback £ 7. 99
|
Dawkins, Richard :”Climbing Mount Improbable”
Viking, The Penquin Group, 1996 Paperback £ 7.99
|
Feynman, Richard, P :”QED – The strange theory of light and
matter”
Princeton University Press, 1985 Paperback £ 6.99
|
Gaardner, Jostein ;”Sophie’s World”
Phoenix, 1996 Paperback £ 6.99
|
Gould, Stephen Jay :”Eight little Piggies”
Penquin Science, 1993 Paperback £ 7.99
|
Jones, Steve :”The Language of the Genes Flamingo,
Harper Collins, 1994 Paperback £ 6.99
|
Leakey, Richard :”The Sixth Extinction”
Phoenix,1995 Paperback £ 6.99
|
Levi, Primo :”The Periodic Table”
Everyman Library,1995 Paperback £ 9.99
|
Lovelock, James :”The Ages of Gaia
Oxford Paperbacks, New Edition, 1995 Paperback £ 7.99
|
Singh, Simon :”Fermat’s Last Theorem”
Fourth Estate, 1997 Paperback £ 6.99
|
Sobel, Dava :”Longitude”
Fourth Estate, 1995 Paperback £ 5.99
|
Walker, Alan + Shipman, Pat :”The Wisdom of the Bones”
Phoenix, 1996 Paperback£7.99
|
A COUPLE I PLAN TO READ THIS YEAR – when available in
paperback!
|
Maddox, John : “What Remains to be Seen”
Macmillan,1998 £29.00
|
Dawkins, Richard :”Unweaving the Rainbow”
Alan Lane,1998 £20.00
|
|
Back to Home Page
|