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Read any good books lately?
I am very fortunate in that for Valentines Day my lovely wife and adorable children got me two new Astronomy related books as completely unexpected (and undeserved) gifts...
Both books are delights and once I get them both read and get a little time I will write a proper review!
"The Stars, a new way to see them" by H.A. Rey (he and his wife wrote the "Curious George" series of childrens books...of which I am a huge fan...
This first copyright of the book is 1952...in this book H.A. Rey introduces a new way to form the constellations from their existing stars to make them look more like what they are trying to describe.
Now I can not speak from knowledge about how the constellations were portrayed prior to 1964 (my year of birth) but, the shapes he introduces as "new" are the way that I learned them...
H.A. Rey then introduces the reader to star charts through the year and then concludes with some interesting discussions about some of the "hows and whys" of the night sky...think of this as some more detailed explanations that will help you amaze your friends with astronomical know how and why...the book offers information about star names and is a useful beginner reference.
All in all I've found it a great book to help you "imagine" the objects in the sky and will help interested people gain familiarity with the night sky.
It is an easy read...however, it is Northern Hemisphere biased...lots of time spent in and around the North Pole Star...but, still a delightful read
It is accessible to most age groups and I highly recommend it for people interested in gaining a basic understanding of the night sky.
I have no idea how or where my wife found it...
The second book (while I am not finished reading it yet) is also a winner...it is the revised edition of "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" by Dickinson and Dyer...
I wish that I had read this book before I picked this hobby up again...
The authors are keen, experienced backyard astronomers and they use their experiences to go through an orderly discussion of how to get started in backyard astronomy....
I am only about a third of the way through the book but they offer many helpful hints as to what to look for in equipment (the "needs", "nice to haves" and "forget abouts" with respect to accessories).
I have found it very interesting...
Again I have no idea where or how much my wife spent to get these books, but they are treasures!!!
As mentioned before once I get a chance to finish reading and reflecting I will write up a proper review of these very interesting and useful pieces of "equipment"
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