Telescope Reviews: Binocular Astronomy, Second Edition

I have received extensive correspondence from the original author, Craig Crossen. At the risk of not getting all the facts precisely as they may have occured, I will be brief in what I will say on this topic.

Binocular Astronomy had been considered for a rewrite for nearly a decade. Quite a few years ago (early 2000s), several manuscripts, some pertaining to this book, were delivered. However, for much of the last several years there has been some disputes over materials, editing, royalties and contracts.

The status for much of the last several years has been such that there does not appear to be an amicable agreement between author and publisher. Several manuscripts, not only for this book update, but also for other work, tip in the balance. With no contract agreement to publish the manuscripts or without any arrangement to return them to the author, it would seem there are a few issues at stake.

It may be possible the publisher is employing a third party to facilitate the update of this book. I cannot know for certain. The original author is currently not engaged in updating this book, nor has he been in the last several years. There is also a question of whether or not any other author was willing to engage in re-writing someone else's work. So it is indeed possible, if the publisher does release this so-called second edition, it may be based on update manuscripts provided by the original author quite a number of years ago or it may be rewritten by someone else.

As to the remark about the large Russian binoculars. Craig did receive from Perry Remaklus (Willmann-Bell) a large pair of 15x100 Russian binoculars. He received those binoculars in 1998-99, and by his recollection, there was no agreement to use observations from those binoculars as material for a book.

Craig Crossen does not have a current agreement with the publisher, Willmann-Bell, to release a second edition of Binocular Astronomy.

If you enjoy Craig Crossen's work, search out his most recent book that we have discussed here on this forum over the past year. You will find it an excellent read.
"Sky Vistas: Astronomy for Binoculars and Richest-Field Telescopes" by Craig Crossen and Gerald Rhemann. Springer-Verlag/Wien, New York; 1st edition (January 27, 2004), printed in Austria.

Craig is currently working on a book about the ancient Babylonian constellations. He has also begun work on a book about the Milky Way.

edz