Category: Book Reviews

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Have you ever been inspired by the two planets Mercury and Venus? If so, Peter Grego’s book “Venus and Mercury and How to Observe Them” brings to us much of what we’ve learned about them and much of how each of us can learn some more.

Mercury and Venus are the two planets closer to the Sun than Earth. Because of this, they always appear in close proximity in the sky to the Sun. Bright Venus is easily seen when it’s present. Mercury, being quite duller and at best much closer to the horizon is much harder to see. And seeing it as a dot isn’t seeing anything spectacular. In fact, neither planet provides details, even to a viewer using a telescope. But, that doesn’t mean your planetary inspiration should die.

Instead satiate yourself with this book. It provides a number of useful angles for learning more about these two planets. Effectively, it has two parts for each planet. The first part presents our current knowledge. This includes, for example, the atmosphere, complete composition, morphology and magnetic field. Even though technically very thorough, these sections beg the question, so what? After all, unless we have our own satellite, we will never see to this level of detail. The second part answers the, “so what” as it gives tips on viewing them. For this, it has it has a well detailed listing of surface features, each numbered and located on nearby maps. Altogether then, the sections of this book do provide the reader with great amounts of information regarding Mercury and Venus.

As well, common astronomical lore gets inserted amidst the second part of the book. That is, in addition to discussing sky charts and drawing blanks, it recommends binoculars and telescopes, describes challenges to viewing (e.g. saccades), and gives lots of suggestions such as the ever present caution not to look at the Sun. This part of the book, on its own, fully meets the title’s objective on how to observe these two planets. Thus, it’s up to you to decide if you want to pay for the excellent but not necessarily applicable discussions of topics that will never be observable from your personal telescope.

In all, this book would wonderfully grace an intermediate amateur astronomer’s book shelf. It’s got great references for when the skies oblige by being dark and cloud free. And, it’s got plenty of related reading material for other times. There’s a bit of neglect in the proofreading, as sentence structures often are in error. But, the amount of information, especially the large amount that came first hand from the author, makes the book a real treat.

Should the sparkling beauty of Venus or the mystery of Mercury beckon you, heed their call and take to the stars. With Peter Grego’s book “Venus and Mercury and How to Observe Them“, you will have no problem in viewing these two wandering planets and in knowing what’s behind the fuzzy object shown in the lens.

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Before the Saturn IV rocket, there was the Saturn I and Saturn IB. These helped pave the way to the Moon as shown by Alan Lawrie in his book entitled ‘Saturn I/IB – The Complete Manufacturing and Test Records‘. Though usually hidden in the shine of its illustrious successor, these launch systems were a vital step in proving components, technology and processes.

This book shows the vast difference between a fiction novel and a logistics manual. Let the reader be warned, it has all the elements of an effective, detailed and precise logistics reference. Nearly every sentence is in the past, perfect tense which leaves the text as dry as the Mojave. For example, it lists the developmental steps and usage for every H-1 and J-2 engine in addition to each and every Saturn I and Saturn IB. There are interesting bits such as the engine J-2103 which was built in 1966, was mothballed and had some of its parts eventually used in 2008. Hence, this book makes for a great reference. But, for sitting down in the evening for a pleasant read, this is probably not the best text.

In addition to the details on engines and the rocket, Lawrie expands to supporting elements. This includes; the airplane called the Pregnant Guppy, the barges used to ferry the stages, test stands and fabrication buildings. In an interesting but sombre reflection, he includes many photographs of the sites in their heyday as well as the present. The later show cows wandering by aging test stands as well as debris strewn around destroyed control rooms, a sad state. However, the wonderful colour pictures of nearly every launch, as well as the many black and white shots of rocket stages during their fabrication process should inflame the hope of future space travellers reading this book.

And, an enclosed DVD has some real bonus material. It shows the original vehicle systems information drawings from NASA in a PDF file. As well, for the video aficionados amongst us, the DVD has six NASA quarterly film reports from the Marshal Space Flight Center circa about 1960. These show the construction of some of the sites, tests and some wonderfully splashy launches. Watching these allows the reader to really feel up close and personal to the whole undertaking of the Saturn I and IB programs.

As we know, even though Saturn IV went to the Moon, it got there by standing on some pretty illustrious shoulders. The Saturn I and Saturn IB were two of the supports that helped men wander rilles and dales on the Moon. Their development is well shown in Alan Lawrie’s book the ‘Saturn I/IB – The Complete Manufacturing and Test Records‘.

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With warmer weather returning to the Earth’s northern hemisphere, we can again venture forth under the night sky for pleasant star gazing. If you’re just beginning this pastime and are planning to rely upon binoculars, then you should also consider Stephen O’Meara’s book, “Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars – A Simple Guide to the Heavens“. It will have you comfortably cruising the night’s starry sphere in no time with its straightforward techniques and handy mnemonics.

In a simple but effective layout, the book starts by providing background information. In particular, it has details on what’s good to look for and how to find it. Whether bright stars and variable stars, pink stars and blue stars, or galaxies and clusters, it gives the reader a set of distinctive parameters. Then, by describing the use of averted eyes, star charts and monthly calendars, it prepares the reader for getting the most from their night time sleuthing.

After this brief baselining, the book settles in to a monthly-specific rendition of what’s exciting and where to find it. Without getting hung up on whether a constellation, asterism or sign of the zodiac, it prepares the reader for locating common stellar appearances that occur in the mid-northern latitudes. Then, as if to urge on the reader, the text adds some star lore like the T Coronae Borealis being a recurring novae that flared in 1866 and 1946. And for those less inclined to the physical particulars, the text also includes artistic and historical pieces. Many snippets of related poetry begin chapters and epic Greek stories illustrate how star patterns influenced early cultures. Thus, each month broadens the reader’s understanding of night time skies and their knowledge of sky’s influence in earlier ages.

Also, clear illustrations appear throughout. Most drawings have an angular scale (i.e. one fist being about 10 degrees) for the reader to get their bearing. And, traces on photographic images should aid the reader to make order of what can be a very daunting, busy night time scene. Given these and the book’s focus upon having the reader enjoy their viewing time should prove an effective enticement for anyone rousing from a long winter’s nap.

So, don’t dismiss that little spark of interest when newly seeing a bright star in the evening sky. Grab binoculars and Stephen O’Meara’s book, ‘”Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars – A Simple Guide to the Heavens” to begin an adventure exploring an unlimited realm.

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The “science book” by National Geographic shows just how ‘incredibly, unbelievably, immeasurably cool’ science is. With a format little changed from countless encyclopaedias, this book provides the reader with a huge expanse of our accumulated knowledge. From star shine to number systems and from behavioural patterns to fracture tectonics, it’s all science and it’s in this book.

This book is perfect as a scholastic reference. It’s clearly sectioned, topics are usually confined to individual pages and a plethora of coloured pictures and diagrams greatly aid a reader’s understanding. The book aims at covering a lot of content, so it has to sacrifice a bit on depth. Nevertheless, the page given to a topic provides current relevance, historical progress and issues for the future. Hence, the reader can easily discover the impact of science upon our forebearers and upon our lives today.

Perhaps surprisingly, the book stands on its own. It has no bibliography, suggested readings or recommendations for web sites. As well, the book is missing any references. So, we have to trust the source which is National Geographic. Given its pedigree, the content is likely accurate and current.

Yet, why would anyone want a book when the Internet is readily available to most schools? The best reason is that this book maintains the same level of detail throughout. Doing a search on the Internet can yield post graduate research papers as well as unreferenced blogs. However, with this book as a reference, there’s the same level of detail for every science topic it presents.

And science is a wonderful topic. With our continual advances, we’re able to fly higher, move faster and dig deeper than ever before. We can understand and better coexist with the life forms surrounding us on this planet and explore for life elsewhere. All this knowledge can easily be at your fingertips with National Geographic’s “the science book – everything you need to know about the world and how it works“.

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Hawaii beckons the weary winter resident who’s searching for some relaxing moments on soft beaches while gentle sounds drift across with the breeze. The Big Island, with its high peaks and occasional dustings of snow, seldom attracts the Honolulu-bound pleasure seekers. But Jean-Charles Cuillandre has made a cinematic symphony that has another Hawaii based way of connecting a person to the ethereal pleasures of our existence.

Entitled “Hawaiian Starlight –Exploring the Universe from Mauna Kea”, this DVD shares views and vantages from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Spectacular stills exhibit galaxies, star trails, asterisms and the occasional portion of the lunar surface. Simple transformations, whether rotating, enlarging or shrinking, give impressions of dynamism. Bright, almost startling, colours capture the attention and the viewer’s wonder. With views that continually change and a soundtrack that steadily supports and subtly thrills, the main feature of this DVD easily keeps viewers in awe.

The DVD makes the connection to Mauna Kea by including many clips created through judicious use of time-lapse cinematography. Great telescopes open and close their shutters in a blink of an eye. People dance along the periphery of roads while the trace of car lights fall from the top of the mountain like colourful red and yellow ribbons. And, if you like roiling, bubbling cloud tops, you’ll be entranced by the many such clips from the vantage of the top of the great volcano. Then, should you want more, a special feature slide show of ‘Hawaii’s natural beauty’ will take you well away from the stars and drop you amidst the vibrant flora and fauna that grace Hawaii.

Though so much of this DVD entertains as a vibrant visual treat, a few other special features add some science to the mix. Included amongst these are explanations of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, other nearby telescopes, the Mauna Kea volcano, and time-lapse cinematography. Yet, it’s difficult to draw oneself away from the shear beauty of the views so as to allow the technical details to slip in.

By dancing the views between twilight, night skies, deep star formation and mountain tops, this DVD keeps a viewer’s intrigue. The pace is good, though the chapter titles don’t seem to be particularly relevant. The same music plays throughout. It’s wonderfully appropriate but can feel repetitive by the end. And, there’s no annotation of what’s being looked at. Hence, enjoyment takes precedence over instruction. But, for pure enjoyment, this “Hawaiian Starlight –Exploring the Universe from Mauna Kea” DVD by Jean-Charles Cuillandre will expand your senses to vistas well beyond the surface of our wonderful world.

Find out more about the DVD here.

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Some of the best tourist discoveries occur off the beaten track. Plan to go somewhere, choose a fortuitous route and voila, a petite patch of paradise opens up in front of you. The same can be true for planning a night of star hunting. Dial coordinates into a ‘go-to’ satellite and you will immediately see your target, if all works well, but, you won’t see anything else. However, take “The Cambridge Double Star Atlas” by James Mullaney and Wil Tirion, then star-hop to your destination, and who knows what you will find.

By using this atlas, you should still easily find some choice targets. It’s a book aimed at the amateur astronomer and it well hits its mark. For starters, it’s in a very large format. Central to the book are 30 maps, each shown across two pages. These wonderfully laid out guideposts show the glow from the Milky Way equator, constellation boundaries, significant stars and, of course, the double stars themselves. And to ease the viewer along the way, many clusters, nebulae and galaxies also grace the pages. The typical but necessary coordinates surround the pages’ edges; right acension across the top and declanation along the sides. With this, and a red flashlight, star hopping should be a breeze.

The book also has a sampling of 133 of what the authors consider showpiece double and multiple stars. Hence with this, the reader can start by choosing a target, learning about its discovery, determine where it is shown in the atlas and then setup the hops to get the wonder into the eyepiece. And with descriptions like the “Easter Egg” double, seen as strking yellow and ruddy-purple or garnet jewels, the reader will quickly fall into the joy of viewing the variety and splendor of the night time spectacle.

Two final sections round out this great atlas. The first is a brief introductory section that shares the particular pleasures of viewing multiple star systems. Then, in Appendix C, there’s a listing of the Cambridge Double Start Atlas target list. These presumably include all the nearly 2,400 double and multpile stars of the nearly 25,000 stars plotted on the 30 maps. Most of these are purported to be viewable with typical “backyard” telescopes in the 2-inch to 4-inch range, so there’s no need to worry about not being able to see most of them.

So whether you’re on a star-finding challenge or a personal quest for striking images, “The Cambridge Double Star Atlas” by James Mullaney and Wil Tirion is a fabulous resource. Well laid out, fully detailed and insightfully described, it has the details to get you where you want to go and perhaps place you beside many other fabulous, fortuitous views.

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Spend enough time with anything and it begins to acquire a personality beyond its mere physical presence. If your life relies upon that particular object, as with a pilot and their plane, then the intensity of the relationship increases even more. The consequence, as shown in the book “The NASA Northrop T-38, Photographic Art from an Astronaut Pilot” by Lance and Ann Lenehan and Story Musgrave, can be a step beyond simple observation and appreciation. It can be an exulting testimonial.

NASA uses the Northrop T-38 to train and maintain the skills of its astronauts. Given it’s been around for over 50 years and many astronauts have come, gone and continue to be at NASA, this plane has more than ample opportunity to show its worth. Also, as it remains the mainstay of the fleet, we can safely assume that it continues to faithfully fulfil its mandate. Lastly, given the typical high skill level of the personnel of the astronaut corp, there’s every expectation that the planes will be given the chance to shine, as happens in this book.

In brief then, this book contains a large collection of Story Musgrave’s photographs, either of the T-38 or from the T-38. The photographs are large, spanning either one or two pages. The images are crisp and the colours pronounced. A brief passage of text highlights the significance of the view and the impression that is trying to be relayed. Some, such as with the shuttle’s vehicle assembly building in the background, illustrate the close association with the space program. Others showing cloud formations and contrails relay the feeling of a pilot who’s living in a domain vastly different from us common pedestarians. Yet, all photographs seem to relay motion, sky and purpose. Even the few photos dedicated to the ground crew have a sense of preparation and direction. Given the book’s hundreds of pages, nearly every view of the T-38, and many vantage points of Earth, get their chance to sparkle.

This book would be a joy for those who have felt the tug of the sky’s attraction. Perhaps it could also further inflame the passion of a young, potential astronaut. As well, everyone who’s flown in or has been associated with the T-38 would appreciate the memories of this fine looking craft. However, with this book’s singular focus upon the T-38, people with a general interest might be mystified at the large number of similar looking photographs of the exact same type of plane. As well, many photographs seem to be included so as to highlight a photographic technique, such as lighting, background composition or perspective. This somewhat confuses the general direction of what otherwise is a magnficent testimonial of a flying machine.

Yet, the T-38 has very photogenic lines. Whether on the tarmac or silhouetted against clouds, it’s like a sleek, swift dart made for flight. As shown in “The NASA Northrop T-38, Photographic Art from an Astronaut Pilot” by Lance and Ann Lenehan and Story Musgrave, this craft is a capable flyer, a wonderful subject for photography and a great vantage point for capturing some natural artwork.

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The Apollo Moon missions stand as the ultimate in humankind’s ascension beyond Earth. Only a few, favoured individuals explored, frolicked and golfed on the Moon’s surface. But their favour came with the grace of the Apollo program, countless individuals and an extraordinary effort by one nation in a race with another. Rod Pyle in his portfolio book “Missions to the Moon” provides an entertaining resource for anyone wanting to relook at one of “Man’s Greatest Adventure”.

This portfolio book has few pages, only 63. But the wealth of material doesn’t reflect this. Each pair of pages serves as a self-contained chapter and the book’s 27 chapters quickly run through the whole event in chronological order.

Its arrangement comes with no surprises. Half the book is the lead up to the first landing by the crew of Apollo 11. Giving due coverage to the imagination of Jules Verne, the exigencies of war, the impetus of the space race and the preliminary test flights, the book sets the stage. With the use of judiciously chosen photographs, artifact images and copied publications, the book pulls the reader into the emotions and the times. For example, there’s a portrait of a young Jules Verne and an image of one of his books. As well, a copy of the FBI’s 1948 review details von Braun’s possible political background. And, a copy of a 1969 issue of Pravda, in Cyrillic, has a translation describing the Soyuz-4 and 5 flights. These and many more make the book’s overall arrangement simple but effective in learning of and sharing a grand experience.

The second half of the book continues on with a chapter devoted to each Apollo Moon mission and all their glory. The inserts continue to breathe freshness into the book, whether of a quote for the life insurance for the crew of Apollo 11, the flight director’s log for Apollo 13, or of a postcard that plots the traverse accomplished by the crew of Apollo 16. The last chapters nicely conclude the book by reviewing Skylab, the space shuttle and China’s Shenzhou program. The final chapter sums it all up with its dreams of a Moonbase built jointly through the aid of Ares, Soyuz, Ariane and Shenzou programs, all without the impetus of a race.

This book’s key attractions, aside from its subject, are the many stand alone reproductions of period paperwork. These, together with the completeness of the review, make this book a superb teaching resource. The many brief chapters would mesh well with the short attention span of young students. And, as Gene Kranz well says in the foreword, “…my hope is that a new generation of explorers will once again find the leadership, the spirit and the courage to boldly go forward and complete what we started. This book is a meaningful step in that direction”.

Perhaps surprisingly, there’s nothing but paper media. No audio or video material is hiding in any CD. This makes the book a standalone resource but it misses the opportunity of using a powerful, efficient delivery method.

The Apollo Moon program arose from the accumulation of many providential, disparate reasons. The end result was a success perhaps beyond the dreams of many of the early rocketeers. Yet, we did place humans on the Moon and Rod Pyle’s book “Missions to the Moon” allows a reader to glimpse the work, tears and laughter that accompanied the journey.

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This one can be filed under the “Better Late Than Never” department: Writing a review for Phil Plait’s book “Death From the Skies” has been on my to-do list ever since the book came out last fall. Oh, I read the book as soon as it arrived at my door; but making the time to actually write the review has been a challenge. NASA, ESA, all the observatories, NewSpace companies, and everyone else in the space and astronomy business finally got my memo to have a slow news day so I could actually sit down and write this review. But look at it this way: now, my review can be a gentle reminder to anyone out there who hasn’t yet read this book to get the lead out and buy it! So now, without further ado, here’s the review I’ve been meaning to write for months:

I have to say that I’ve learned a lot from Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer. Even before I met Phil, whenever I had an astronomy question or if I needed back-up on how to deal with someone who, say, didn’t believe NASA landed on the moon in 1969, I always headed to Phil’s Bad Astronomy website and found all the information I needed. Now that I know the BA personally, he still answers my astronomy queries, but I can ask him directly (and he even emails me back!) Also, when I attended my first astronomy conference as a journalist, Phil took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, introduced me to some great folks and told me everything I needed to know. And now after reading his new book, “Death From the Skies: These Are the Ways the World Will End,” I’ve learned one more thing from Phil: you can be laughing and scared out of your wits at the same time.

Actually, I learned a lot more than just that, as Phil packs a huge amount of science in the 307 pages of this, his second book (“Bad Astronomy” is Phil’s first book.) As Phil writes, “Be prepared to stretch your mind a bit.”

For instance, I now know how many gallons of milk would be produced by a supernova, and that experiencing death by asteroid has a 1 in 700,000 chance of happening per lifetime.

I didn’t actually get scared until I was well into the book: chapter 3, which discusses death by supernovae. Something about dead astronauts in the space station made a chill run up my spine. But then, by chapter 4, which tells all about death by gamma ray bursts, Phil soothed my fears by saying, “Are GRBs worth worrying about? One answer is no, because if one goes off there’s nothing we can do about it.” How comforting.

In my mind, the most eerie part was chapter 6, death by aliens. Even the non-malicious or unintended alien visits that possibly brought life to planet Earth are the same forces that could perhaps take it all away.

But really, Phil didn’t write this book to scare anyone. He has a reputation for debunking people who like to create hysteria and prey on people’s fears just to make a buck or a name for themselves. So, in this book, the Bad Astronomer uses equal amounts of facts and humor (approximately) to calmly explain the scientific details of how our Universe works and what it would take for things to go horribly wrong. But he also makes it clear how infinitesimally small the chances are of these events actually occurring. Plus, the option with the highest chance, death by asteroid, is something we Earthlings could potentially counteract, and he admonishes us to get on the stick and start planning for the inevitable. “We spend billions on terrorism, but the risk of an asteroid impact is actually higher,” Phil writes.

Each chapter starts with a short vignette of what could possibly happen to humans on Earth during the different disaster scenarios. Any Hollywood producers who have read “Death From the Skies” must be drooling, as Phil has just handed them potential scripts for seven different disaster movies. Some events are indeed possible in our lifetimes. Others will definitely happen, but none of us (or perhaps any humans at all) will be around for events like the collapse of the sun, the collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, and ultimately, the complete death of the Universe.

But Phil makes learning more about all these events great fun, if not a mind-bending experience. Some of the concepts, like black holes and quantum mechanics, defy common sense. As Phil writes, “Get used to that. Your common sense is going to take a beating here.”

However, all these topics make excellent platforms from which Phil can teach us all, and pass on his understanding of the cosmos. So, what sounds scary on the surface is actually enjoyable and informative, and can leave you with a sense of wonder about our amazing Universe.

So if you haven’t yet read “Death From the Skies,” hurry before one of these seven deadly cosmological events actually takes place. But watch out. If the Universe doesn’t kill you, Phil’s puns may do the job. But dying from laughter is a great way to go.

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Great pleasure can be had in sailing across a gentle, blue sea with a fair wind at the back. With little more effort than a slight nudge upon the tiller, you and your craft can travel great distances at a leisurely, enjoyable, relaxing pace. Now, replace wind and water by sail and photon as a trio of authors write in their book “Solar Sails – A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel“. In it, Giovanni Vulpetti, Les Johnson and Gregory L. Matloff show a very capable and promising method of local and interstellar travel.

Solar sailing uses the push of sunlight against a collector or sail to move a craft. With the absorption and/or reflection of photons, the craft continues to accelerate so that, after making a sun dive, it could travel out of our solar system at velocities in excess of 500 kilometres per second. This idea is so promising that most major national space agencies are looking into sail material and optimal flight paths.

To get you on your way, this book serves as an introduction to the idea of solar sailing. It starts with a review of rocket physics. Then there’s a section that discusses the pro’s and con’s of chemical and nuclear propulsion, as well as some more exotic ones, like Bussard’s proton-fusing interstellar ramjet. However, much of the writing serves to inform the reader of the impractical nature of such forms of propulsion. Hence, by contrast, this section capably serves to show the practical nature of solar sails.

Having provided this belief that solar sails are practical and feasible with current technology, the book continues by describing solar sails in more detail. It discusses sail manufacturing, sail craft construction and delivery, and, methods of sailing or tacking. By using common nomenclature, the book easily conveys the necessary scientific elements to both a generalist and a space enthusiast. Some times it gets a bit technical, such as when describing the use of the Jovian magnetic field as an energy source. But, these tend to make the book more valuable than overly complicated.

The book concludes with technical aspects. Here, it provides details aimed to attract the interest of graduate and post-graduate students. And, there’s lots to attract, especially as so little space validation has occurred for this technology. Whether unfurling space sails, dealing with desorption, or controlling nanobots, this book provides many challenges and lots of promise for the future but also recognizes a need for a lot of effort to reach maturity. Yet, the book shows, through references to individuals’ work and the work of national space agencies, that the concept is real, practicable and potentially very rewarding.

The next time you’re floating along on your yacht or dreaming along in your armchair, take your sailing dreams to another level. Giovanni Vulpetti, Les Johnson and Gregory L. Matloff’s book “Solar Sails – A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel” let you see how a well known and practised human skill can be used well away from the water’s surface. From it, we can see how Earth’s water can slip far astern while the horizons of different planets fill the view over the bow.

Read more reviews or purchase a copy online from Amazon.com.