Science : Astronomy

''Fred Schaaf is one of the most experienced astronomical observers of our time. For more than two decades, his view of the sky—what will be visible, when it will be visible, and what it will look like—has encouraged tens of thousands of people to turn their eyes skyward.''. —David H. Levy, Science Editor, Parade magazine, discoverer of twenty-one comets, and author of Starry Night and Cosmic Discoveries. ''Fred Schaaf is a poet of the stars. He brings the sky into people's lives in a way that is compelling, and his descriptions have all the impact of witnessing the stars on a crystal clear dark night.''. —William Sheehan, coauthor of Mars: The Lure of the Red Planet and The Transits of Venus. The night sky holds endless fascination for anyone who chooses simply to look up and observe, but with so much to see, it can be difficult to know where to start. This remarkable book introduces you to the fifty best sights in astronomy and tells you exactly how to see them. In no time at all, you will learn how to find and appreciate the Orion group of constellations; the Summer Triangle; Venus, Jupiter, and Mars; the best meteor showers; man-made satellites; star clusters; novae; variable stars; and more. The sights are presented according to the field of view necessary to see them. Your eyes and a clear night sky are all you need to view the sights in the first part of the book, before moving on to those that can be observed through binoculars and, finally, a telescope. Concise descriptions and explanations of these spectacular visual wonders will deepen your appreciation of them and spur further exploration. You will also find the essential basic information on astronomical observation you need to get started, including observing conditions, techniques, telescopes, and astronomical measurements. Once you start gazing, you'll see that the sky really is the limit—and discovering its amazing treasures will become your lifetime passion. more...

Price: $19.95

A guide to the Kitt Peak telescopes. more...

Price: $16.00

In this highly accessible book, leading scientists from around the world give a general overview of research advances in their subject areas within the field of Astronomy. They describe some of their own cutting-edge research and give their visions of the future. Re-written in a popular and well-illustrated style, the articles are mainly derived from scholarly and authoritative papers published in special issues of the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions, the world’s longest running scientific journal. Carefully selected by the journal’s editor, topics include the Big Bang creation of the universe, the formation and evolution of the stars and galaxies, cold dark matter, explosive sun-spot events, and humankind’s exploration of the solar system. The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the authors for their work at the frontiers of astronomy. All are definitive reviews for people with a general interest in the future directions of science. more...

Price: $170.00

In a brilliant flash about fourteen billion years ago, time and matter were born in a single instant of creation. An immensely hot and dense universe began its rapid expansion everywhere, creating space where there was no space and time where there was no time. more...

Price: $75.40

Science journalist Seife's narrative about the fundamentals of cosmology will appeal both to readers basically oblivious to the subject and those who keep up with it--from the grandstands of popular science literature, at least. This dual appeal stems from the author's exceptional clarity and the convulsions-shaking cosmology in recent years. Supernovae hunters who look for the exploding stars to fix the rate of the universe's expansion have been startled to discover that the expansion seems to be accelerating, upending the conventional wisdom that it ought to be decelerating. At the subatomic end of the scale, Seife presents the experiments planned by particle physicists to account for such an unexpected result, which verily demands the existence of an as-yet-undiscovered repelling force. more...

Price: $15.00