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The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy
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You Are Here: Books About Antiques > Collector Encyclopedias > Item 478 of 556
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$59.95 |
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$41.97
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Available from Amazon
Price Last Updated : 7-30-2008
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Features
Hardcover: 472 pages
Publisher: Firefly Books September 4, 2004
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1552977978
ISBN-13: 978-1552977972
Product Dimensions:
11 x 8.9 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Wide-ranging but shallow, this lavishly illustrated abridgment of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics provides an engaging trove of information for lay people. Articles on topics in astrophysics and cosmology convey several decades worth of findings in these fields without trying to explain the science to non-experts. Concise historical pieces cover the achievements of famous astronomers and note significant observatories and space missions. Short essays probe astronomical themes in art and literature. Planets get multi-page spreads amidst a swarm of short entries on individual galaxies, stars, comets and asteroids. Aimed at the enthusiastic amateur, the volume also includes how-to articles on backyard astronomy covering a variety of instruments, from simple binoculars to do-it-yourself radio telescopes and spectrometers. Readers are further encouraged to look to the heavens by tables containing precise sky coordinates for some of the more dazzling celestial objects and by the profusion of gorgeous astronomical photographs, many in color. Despite occasionally serious errors, like a garbled account of the synthesis of helium atoms in stars, the volume provides a useful and visually inspiring reference for budding Galileos. 350 color photographs, 165 illustrations.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The mysteries of the universe have intrigued people for millennia. Written in nontechnical language accessible to high-school students and the general reader, this encyclopedia provides authoritative information synthesized from the research of hundreds of leading astronomers. The 1,750 alphabetically arranged entries range in length from a short paragraph to several pages.
Articles cover key concepts (Grand Unified Theory, Quark, Superluminal motion); astronomers (Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Maria Mitchell, Isaac Newton); individual planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies (Andromeda Galaxy, Earth, Ganymede); satellites, telescopes, and professional facilities (Hubble Space Telescope, Yerkes Observatory); history (Rockets in astronomy); and current research (Dark energy and the cosmological constant, Exobiology and SETI, Neutrino astronomy). Features on practical astronomy, written by noted amateurs and highlighted with a yellow background, provide information on topics such as Observing artificial satellites, Widefield astrophotography, Finding and collecting meteorites, and Discovering novae. Research conducted by professional astronomers is sometimes linked to the practical astronomy features, which results in an interesting combination of theory and practice. Excellent color photographs and illustrations, scattered throughout, supplement the text. Surprisingly, there is no large map to the constellations. Cross-references to related articles are available in some articles. Some entries provide further readings. There is no subject index.
The four-volume Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics (2001), written for an academic and professional audience, is a far more comprehensive (and therefore more expensive) set, particularly suited for academic and special libraries. Written for a general audience, The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy is recommended for high-school and public libraries. Nancy Cannon
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader Reviews
A wonderful astronomy resource. Has informative articles written by amateurs smattered throughout -- in just the right amounts and at just the right places. Similar to my "The Universal Book of Astronomy : From the Andromeda Galaxy to the Zone of Avoidance" book, but with more depth to most definitions. Many full color illustrations and photos. The only thing I don't like in the Firefly one better than the "The Universal Book of Astronomy : From the Andromeda Galaxy to the Zone of Avoidance" book is that this book doesn't list out the stars of each constellations with distances like the Universal Book does. The only solution -- buy both! :)
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The Firefly Encyclopedia of Astronomy
by Margaret Penston and Paul Murdin
List Price: $59.95
Available from Amazon
Price: $41.97
on 7-30-2008
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