Rick Woods
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: LivingNDixie]
#5561619 - 12/08/12 10:40 PM
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"Starlight Nights" and "Immortal Fire" aren't really astronomy books though, are they. They're biographies of astronomical people. I guess if we rearrange the thread title to "Best book on your Astronomy Shelf", everything fits.
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deepskytraveler
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Reged: 12/25/05
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: BobinKy]
#5561722 - 12/08/12 11:57 PM
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Starlight Nights: The Adventures of a Star-Gazer by Leslie Peltier. I read it at least once a year.
-Mark
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izar187
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: deepskytraveler]
#5561873 - 12/09/12 04:44 AM
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I'll mention another two I like a lot: The Deep Sky Field to Uranometria, and Double Stars for Small Telescopes. For rather differing targets, but very worthwhile references.
Also, from the equipment end of things, All About Telescopes by Sam Brown is great fun.
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edwincjones
Close Enough
   
Reged: 04/10/04
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: izar187]
#5561921 - 12/09/12 06:53 AM
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for anyone building up their collection it is hard to go wrong with any of these
edj
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rmollise
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: BobinKy]
#5562124 - 12/09/12 10:11 AM
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What is the best astronomy book on your shelf?
For me, The Immortal Fire Within: The Life and Work of Edward Emerson Barnard by William Sheehan (Cambridge, 2007). It is a great biography of a great man.
How about you?
"Best" is a slippery thing. Today I'll just day it's Sir Patrick Moore's The Amateur Astronomer.
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kbastro
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: rmollise]
#5566728 - 12/11/12 10:57 PM
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one of my fav's/best was the orginal backyard astronomers guide... by dickinson and dyer
and the book has an accompanying websight with downloads
kev b
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Rudra
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: kbastro]
#5567929 - 12/12/12 04:41 PM
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Norton's Star Atlas Uranometria (All volumes and field guide) Herald-Bobroff Astro Atlas Great Atlas of the Sky Millennium Star Atlas Astronomical Almanac Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac Cosmology - Burbige and Narlikar Astrophysics Made Easy Sprectroscopy - A key to the stars
PS: The above is not in the order of preference.
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KidOrion
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Rudra]
#5568517 - 12/13/12 12:22 AM
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To put it in answerable terms (how does one define "best" when comparing atlases, observing guides, scientific texts, etc. among each other?), I'd say that if I was only allowed to keep one astronomy book, it'd probably be Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders. However, if I was allowed to keep only one book of any sort, it would be Sagan's Cosmos.
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faackanders2
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Rick Woods]
#5568949 - 12/13/12 10:26 AM
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Maybe the best answer is "the one I'm reading right now"!  (Although, there's a lot to be said for Traveller's choice.)
+1
However, my favorite series is the O'Meara DSO series (Messier, Caldwell, Hidden Treasures, Secret Deep, and soon to be Southern Treasures? which is on order).
An the book that started it all for me: Patrick Moore's Atlas of the Universe. After this and going to the Ft. Wayne Three River's Festival to look through the FWAC observatory telescope to see Saturn for the first time (and realize I could still see it naked eye as a "star" - I was hooked! If I could see it, I could find it; and so I joined the FWAC and soon bout my first 10.1" Coultour Oddessy Dobsonian which I used for 10-12 years before I outgrew it.
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opticsguy
super member
Reged: 02/02/09
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: faackanders2]
#5570156 - 12/13/12 11:40 PM
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Great Atlas of the Sky.
However, it does not fit on my shelf . . . .
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FirstSight
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: opticsguy]
#5571256 - 12/14/12 06:10 PM
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"best" for overall understanding, or "best" for an observing guide?
In the latter category, three come first to mind: 1) Sue French, "Deep Sky Wonders" 2) Kepple & Sanner, "Night Sky Observer's Guide" (three vols, though only the first two are useful for those of us in the northern hemisphere); 3) Sinnott, "Pocket Sky Atlas"
A good nomination in the first category, filled with glorious astrophotos, is Michael Benson's "Far Out", a journey from the nearby Milky Way progressively outward to the grand distant scale of the universe.
Just about anything by Neil Degresse Tyson is worth having on your shelf.
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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Celestron
   
Reged: 06/12/02
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Daniel Mounsey]
#5571360 - 12/14/12 07:10 PM Attachment (26 downloads)
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That's easy. I have three favorite astronomy books. I'll gather them together and post a photo shortly.
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edwincjones
Close Enough
   
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Daniel Mounsey]
#5571423 - 12/14/12 07:42 PM
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for just pretty pictures, go for S&T's annual Beautiful Universe series
edj
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Traveler
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Daniel Mounsey]
#5571480 - 12/14/12 08:20 PM
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Yes!!
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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Celestron
   
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Traveler]
#5571622 - 12/14/12 09:45 PM
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I actually prefer monochrome.
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Rick Woods
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Loc: Inner Solar System
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Daniel Mounsey]
#5571835 - 12/15/12 12:24 AM
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That's easy. I have three favorite astronomy books. I'll gather them together and post a photo shortly.
Show of hands: Who didn't see that coming a mile away? 
FWIW Daniel, I was told it's a bad idea to have books standing on their front edge as pictured here; the spine will get biffed and the text part separate.
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PhilCo126
Carpal Tunnel
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Rick Woods]
#5572029 - 12/15/12 05:17 AM
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Also check: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/Observatory/N...
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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Celestron
   
Reged: 06/12/02
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Rick Woods]
#5572197 - 12/15/12 09:07 AM
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That's easy. I have three favorite astronomy books. I'll gather them together and post a photo shortly.
Show of hands: Who didn't see that coming a mile away? 
FWIW Daniel, I was told it's a bad idea to have books standing on their front edge as pictured here; the spine will get biffed and the text part separate.
Agreed. I actally turned the spines out just for the photo but normally they're down for the reasons you stated.
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blb
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Reged: 11/25/05
Loc: Piedmont NC
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: Rick Woods]
#5572759 - 12/15/12 03:28 PM
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That's easy. I have three favorite astronomy books. I'll gather them together and post a photo shortly.
Show of hands: Who didn't see that coming a mile away? 
FWIW Daniel, I was told it's a bad idea to have books standing on their front edge as pictured here; the spine will get biffed and the text part separate.
Frankly I am surprised it took so long.
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LivingNDixie
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Re: Best astronomy book on your shelf
[Re: FirstSight]
#5573187 - 12/15/12 08:45 PM
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"best" for overall understanding, or "best" for an observing guide?
In the latter category, three come first to mind: 1) Sue French, "Deep Sky Wonders" 2) Kepple & Sanner, "Night Sky Observer's Guide" (three vols, though only the first two are useful for those of us in the northern hemisphere); 3) Sinnott, "Pocket Sky Atlas"
A good nomination in the first category, filled with glorious astrophotos, is Michael Benson's "Far Out", a journey from the nearby Milky Way progressively outward to the grand distant scale of the universe.
Just about anything by Neil Degresse Tyson is worth having on your shelf.
I agree with the three titles mentioned. If someone could only have three books this would be the best three (sorry Daniel).
I like Tyson, but some of his books read more like a blog. I would say for cloudy night reading I am more likely to grab something David Levy wrote then Tyson. That is not to say Neil is a bad writer, it just more my preferences
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