Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The author's passion for astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology is evident throughout. And it is a beautiful book: illustrations and photographs decorate almost every page.
The book begins with what people can see in the sky unaided by telescopes. Penprase describes the movements of the moon, sun, planets and stars, and provides some excellent suggestions for home observations. This serves as the foundation for a survey of cosmology from around the world. Penprase weaves astronomy with anthropology to provide an entertaining overview of Indian, Chinese, Mayan, Incan, native American, Persian and European cosmologies.
From ancient cosmology, Penprase jumps to modern, scientific cosmology, starting with the history of time-keeping devices and observational instruments like telescopes. He provides brief biographies of the key figures who built modern astronomy and astrophysics, including Edwin Hubble and George Ellery Hale.
Finally, Penprase provides a census of the modern universe: stars, star clusters, normal galaxies, irregular galaxies and galaxy clusters. It leads into a discussion of dark matter and dark energy, and a brief history of the universe.
Penprase has written a very entertaining book without compromising or diluting technical details. Highly recommended!
Jeff Knowlton
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