Category: Book Reviews

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Bright, flashing lights and a driving, vibrant sound track do wonders for video games. Similar dynamism brings home the worth of scientific exploration as seen in the History Channel’s “The Universe – Season One” on disc. Whether watching the debris from colliding asteroids as it flow into the rings of Uranus or seeing geysers spewing from Enceladus, there’s action a plenty in this video set.

Joining this quick paced action are facts and details that brings lots of science to the viewers. With careful juxtaposition, calm researchers provide clear reasoning on why clashing, spewing, whirling marvels exist. As the researchers all appear to be at the top of their respective scientific fields, their words add the weight to keep the shows grounded. Whether debating the planet-ness of Pluto, explaining the volcanoes of Titan or discussing how best to detect ET’s communication, they provide insight for the viewer to appreciate the novelty of the subject and the value of their research efforts. Further, by showing how the scientists accomplish their tasks, albeit briefly, these shows may be just the hook needed to draw students into a worthwhile, long-term career in science.

But, where the bright lights and near continuous sound track should attract the younger set, they may do the opposite for those appreciating a more sedate viewing experience. As well, it’s best to not watch shows one after another, as the viewer will start to see repetitious images and presentation styles. Also, there are times when the narration gives the impression of fact when there isn’t a definitive consensus in the scientific community. Therefore, enjoy the visuals and appreciate the hard work of the interviewees. But be prudent while watching and keep in mind that we’re still at the beginning of the learning curve when it comes to understanding the universe.

Yet, the average person’s knowledge doesn’t extend much past what they can directly see and feel. Thus, playing this 12 hour video set or even a selection or two may be just the ticket to expanding their awareness. After all, humanity’s survival is incredibly dependent upon a docile universe as shown by the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy upon Jupiter or the possible devastation that a neutron star would wreck upon Earth. The contents of History Channel’s season one “The Universe – Explore the Edges of the Unknown” (available in Blu-ray) can help set the hazard record straight and readily expand a viewer’s horizons.

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Folk stories often commence with entreaties to the reader to listen with their heart. On the other hand, science books seldom acknowledge this aspect of a person. However, Fred Schaaf in his book ‘The Brightest Stars‘ doesn’t shy away from the human aspect. Rather, his astronomy book champions the human spirit as the source of scientific discovery and, as if to prove it, the book’s passages seem to come right from the author’s heart.

There can’t be a more simple way of starting into astronomy than by looking for the brightest stars. As this book points out, only a few stars markedly outshine the rest when all we use is the unaided eye. In consequence, this book recounts the lore and virtue of just 21 stars from Sirius to Regulus. And, though this book has great amounts of information and data, it is the author’s use of warm words and colourful diction that make it such a pleasure to read.

In this book, stars warm to our hearts by including almost every aspect that a star might effect day to day living. For example, Sirius, the dog star was known as Sopdet the Preparer as it presaged the Nile flood. And, Alpha Centauri was important in South China as the determinant star of the stellar division called Nan Mun. Then, there are diagrams showing some stars’ relative motions over millions of years that also include likely images seen by our forebears. Or, there’s consideration of how aliens living on planets would see our Sun. And the book even includes these stars’ entry into today’s lore, whether in science fiction shows like Doctor Who or books like Harry Potter. With all this, the stars become so much more relevant and important than just being a little bit of light brightening up a cool night.

Nevertheless, the intent of this book, as defined by its subtitle, is to allow the reader to discover the universe through the sky’s most brilliant stars. To aid in this, its first few chapters include rudimentary rules of stargazing whether defining the galactic plane or using hands to estimate angular spans. The chapters that discuss the bright stars then have locators to ensure the reader can track the desired star whether using seasons, constellations and/or altazimuth. So, whether wanting to discover the stars in the sky or learn about a star’s importance in our history, this book has the entertaining, informative and usually colourful response.

The night’s stars are a natural and poignant focal point for story tellers. Imagination turns patterns into mythical gods and warriors. But detailed scientific study turns the same dots into magnitude, colour and location. Fred Schaaf’s book ‘The Brightest Stars‘ balances these two views and gives the reader little choice but to be impressed by the value of learning more of the lore and science of stars.

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Did you want to know which are the 10 brightest stars.

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The famous can beguile the masses with images of splendour and supremacy. Science, as with other avenues, can be the basis for such imagery. Yet, Kristine Larsen shows in her book ‘Stephen Hawking – A Biography‘, the bestowed fame can be both pleasant and harmful to the recipient.

As Stephen Hawking is famous, he needs no introduction. However, though famous for his contributions to science, he’s also well known for being one of the longest lived and productive survivors of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). And, for those who call him ‘dad’, he’s also the headman of a household. With this, a biography almost begs to be presented.

And, as the title suggests, Larsen’s book aims to satisfy such a desire. The book achieves satisfaction which is good for the reader. But, there’s no surprise that Larsen is a professor of physics and astronomy, as the book leans heavily toward describing Hawking’s contributions to science. Through a chronological format, the book advances through milestones of his life: his early family experiences, times at school, survival as a post grad and fulfillment as a researcher and family man. All the well known events seem present, whether writing one of the most well-known but unread books, appearing on Star Trek or careening about via his electric wheel chair. These, together with discussions about Hawking’s work on black hole horizons, universe topology and unifying theory, all serve to confirm the truth of most of the newspaper articles about Hawking’s accomplished life.

If confirmation of the articles was all that the reader sought, then this book well satisfies. However, if the reader was hoping for a bit more detail about Hawking’s personality, his private life, or his inspiration, then the book proves less satisfactory. The book does cover the technical concepts of Hawking’s work, however it’s only to the depth of interest and ability held by an average reader. So, while this book encapsulates Hawking’s life, it doesn’t add much to what’s readily available.

With news that Stephen Hawking has or is near retiring, the curious will understandably want to know a bit more of this well known scientist. Kristen Larsen’s book ‘Stephen Hawking – A Biography‘ is a great first step in learning more about this accomplished scientist. It’s a brief history of what has fortunately not been a brief life.

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Each night over 3000 stars come into view. Most remain unchanged over a person’s short lifetime. Nevertheless, their capricious scattering has given many of us the yearning to understand more. One way to do so is by making the view bigger and better. Robin Scagell and David Frydman describe how in their book entitled “Stargazing with Binoculars“.

Though print media continuously seduces us with the streaming mosaics of Saturn’s surface or silhouetted pillars of stellar nurseries, we will never get to see them. For one, the images are often a collection of various electromagnetic frequencies accumulated over minutes of exposure. For another, most of us will never afford or have access to a telescope with the necessary multi-metre mirror. Binoculars however definitely improve upon the naked eye, are versatile enough for many applications and fit into most family’s budgets. Thus, where print media is always at least second hand, these special lenses make first hand viewing even more pleasurable.

So, if you were wondering about what to expect from using binoculars or how to go about selecting one, then this book is the perfect reference. It has three section to provide the reader with everything they need to start competently observing stars. The first section identifies the targets. Its pages contain month by month star maps with significant stars and constellations identified. Adjacent maps having looking north or looking south from either the north or south of Earth’s hemisphere. The text that follows fills in the details regarding the maps by providing historical information, waypoints to finding items of interest and viewing requirements. The next section of the book puts our solar system as the target with a brief synopsis of viewing each planet, some moons and the Sun. The third and last section provides a technical overview of binoculars. The apparent intent is to allow the reader to select the best binocular for their planned usage and budget. And the book achieves the intent admirably.

Aside from being a trite formulaic, this book delivers exactly what one would expect. All the necessary information to begin stargazing is present. The star maps are a bit small but a blank paper and steady hand can easily expand these. All the big names of the Messier objects are present. And there’s even a little bit on maintenance and repair of the equipment. Hence, as a starting point, this book delivers.

There’s a certain thrill to being able to sense something first hand. Smelling a rose is much more evocative than reading a description of the smell. Personally seeing a comet or viewing the phase of Venus can send shivers down the backs of some people. Using the optic aids as described by Scagell and David Frydman in their book “Stargazing with Binoculars“, may help these shivers travel your back too.

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The concluding volume to J.D. Hunley’s historical technical reference picks up directly right where his first left off. Entitled ‘U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology – Viking to Space Shuttle‘ , it also tracks the ever changing parameters of the engines, the guidance and control, and the structure of the rockets of the United States up to about the year 2000. However, time doesn’t constrain this material, as the volume’s beginning occurs with research developments in 1945 and the ending includes plans for the EELV, which still awaits final definition.

Being an historical review, this volume is, like the first, a thoughtful review of the technological changes and their defining reasons rather than a recitation of program development events. The thoughtfulness comes via linkages. For example there’s a description of the evolution from aniline-nitric acid propellants used in the WAC Corporal to the inhibited white fuming nitric acid propellant for Vanguard. And there’s a comparison of Astronautics having a more bold approach, a gamble to achieve significant improvements whereas von Braun’s engineers were more conservative. Equally emphasized is the ever increasing effort to prove systems. As an example, there’s a description of the many years of effort needed to define the preliminary seconds for a safe and reliable start-up for the space shuttle main engines. This becomes reasonable to the reader as the volume shows rocketry is “more of engineers doing than in scientists knowing”. Nevertheless, the reader will encounter again and again the determination of the practitioners to find a workable solution that then goes on to be a fundamental step in the progress of rocketry.

As with the first volume, this volume is heavy on technicalities. References to yaw torquing, fuel sloshing and clevis joints abound. As well, it mentions key people, significant contributing corporations, and deciding moments. One omission, that the author laments, is that the source of novel ideas, like the Atlas balloon tank, is not recoverable. Nevertheless, with an included list of notable technical achievements, copious notes to pages, a glossary, a list of sources, and, an index, this volume allows the reader to easily recover the author’s work and resolve any unclear technical issues.

Both this volume and its predecessor wonderfully serve as a technical reference for the U.S. space rockets. But, given the pace of change throughout industry, as with the maturing computational fluid dynamics, the contained information will likely be of little utility to today’s rocket designers. Hence, the volumes will likely be more for a matter of interest than for a design guide. Nevertheless, it does serve as a reference and a testament to the many individuals who greatly contributed to the depth of knowledge acquired.

The basic motive force for raising mass from the Earth’s surface into space remains the same. A rocket’s exhaust thrusts against the mass and the mass lifts off. The tuning of this basic concept into a viable capability is showcased in J.D. Hunley’s book ‘U.S. Space-Launch Vehicle Technology – Viking to Space Shuttle‘. It, together with its preceding volume on Goddard Rockets to Minuteman III, shows that, with the right resources, humans can accomplish near magical travel away from Earth.

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The 5 DVD package of the complete Season Two of The Universe by the History Channel provides over 14 hours of captivating science. Bright lights and driving sound push information to the viewer as if a mad scientist had been let loose in a vault containing an infinite supply of paint and sound effects. And with the universe being as big as things get, there’s no end of great subjects on the discs.

Though having a broad mandate, the producers stay focused upon the wonders of space. The included 18 episodes have exotic titles and serious subjects. For instance, wild weather looks at storms on far away planets with wind speeds of many hundreds of kilometres per hour. Or, the cosmic web, a structure of super-galaxies and black matter, is the largest thing envisionable. Each come up with great fanfare and usually a broad dash of fun, thus keeping the viewer interested for the duration.

However, not all is song and dance. Documentary interviews with current investigators get interspaced amongst the visuals. And, accurate models, footage of real hardware and imagery from ongoing science programs serve to reinforce the factual nature. These continually remind the viewer that the subjects are very real and that many people are dedicating their lives to adding to our knowledge.

Most of us won’t be able to wander the surface of Europa or bounce in and out of black holes. Therefore, productions like these episodes are perhaps the best way of experiencing the wonders that surround us. Vibrant and lively, they lift us off the couch and into another realm that’s part fact and part imagination. As a teaching aid or self-learning tool, the 5 DVDs of The Universe – Season Two will resonate with a flurry of science amid a furor of colour and sound.

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The Hubble space telescope brought space’s beauty to the average person in North America. Via magazines, weblinks or video, the last few years this instrument dazzled us with a dizzying and splendid array of artistic and scientific sights. The book “Hubble: Imaging Space and Time” by David Devorkin and Robert W. Smith captures many of these treasures and the story of the Hubble telescope itself. Bright and vivacious, the telescope’s images within the book show that once again science is a captivating field.

The space shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble space telescope into its orbit in 1990. A great mirror in it collects light then focuses it upon a variety of collectors. The results get sent to Earth stations whereupon experts view and massaged it for maximum benefit. From the results, our knowledge progresses and our appreciation of the splendour of nature increases. And, with great foresight, the telescope designers created a maintainable system. So, many other shuttle missions have travelled to the telescope to upgrade instruments and repair components. One more mission, now waiting on the launch pad, will hopefully keep the telescope functional for many more years.

This book acknowledges the Hubble telescope’s storied past and its many contributions to science and art. Its large format is reminiscent of a coffee table book. The broad pages serve to fill the readers’ eyes with particularly photogenic images. As well, the many pages of text let the reader peer into some of the elements of the relevant science and technology. Of course, the book mentions the memorable repair mission to fix the mirror’s erroneous shape. It also mentions the different sensors, the means of allocating viewing time and the method of processing data. There’s even a significant section on the purposely driven artistic shots. With allusions to artists of the old American mid-West, the strive for dynamism of the universe, and the perception of a sublime frontier, the authors clearly aim to broaden the appeal of the pictures and the telescope’s capabilities.

Yet, the appeal of images from the Hubble space telescope is well established apart from this book. Hence, the focus of the authors is somewhat unclear. Hundreds of large and small images on the pages amply showcase the telescope’s products. But, though sectioned into defined chapters, the book has no central theme. The science of the telescope gets described, but the reader cannot gauge the scientific advances from the contents. The artistry of the images is richly brought forward, but there’s no formal discussion on the images’ general effect on the arts. As well, sometimes images appear twice, images appear well apart from and unreferenced to the apparently related text, or images are from other telescopes. These cause distractions. Fortunately, the images themselves are copious and incredibly rewarding, for without them, this book would be difficult at best.
So, perhaps the best location for this book to lie is upon a coffee table. Everyone who picks it up will be quickly enamoured. And they assuredly can’t help but think how trivial they are in relation to the size universe. Even thought the reader won’t know or be able to read of the value of the images, they should get immense pleasure just by being drawn into the realm of the book, far removed as it is from our everyday experience.

Satellites and telescopes have enabled us to view the Earth and the universe with an heretofore impossible vantage point and clarity. Millions of stars in a galaxy appear where only a dot once had been apparent. David Devorkin and Robert W. Smith’s book “Hubble: Imaging Space and Time” brings many of these wonders into the ready hands of viewers and closely, happily connects them with a broader existence.

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Curious and curiouser things began happening when telescopes opened up to the skies. Richard Baum’s book entitled “The Haunted Observatory – Curiosities from the Astronomer’s Cabinet” has the reader thinking like Alice might have in her wonderland. Bright lights, aspiring dots, gleaming trails of a forgotten impression can all fool a mind into perceiving reality where none may exist. Thus, when it comes to making reason out of the unexpected, some astronomer’s lives get so entertaining and worthwhile and ends up making this book so entertaining.

In the seventeenth century, Galileo built his own telescope, viewed moons and rebuilt our perception of the universe. Jumping off from this, telescopes came into ever more common usage so that by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it seemed like everyone and their brother’s uncle had one and was getting excited about what they saw. With the increasing number of observers, some odd things were seen or at least imagined. Perhaps the sights were real events or perhaps they were dust on a lens. In any case, sometimes different people provided different interpretations, thus leading to vibrant discord. Such discord is the resonance of this book as it looks at how some disagreements were solved and how some remain to be solved.

As spiritual hauntings are resolved from much investigation, so to are the oddities in Baum’s book. As if to prove the point, the book has a quarter of its pages dedicated to references and bibliographies. Yet this content is pertinent, as Baum’s writing style interposes many large passages and quotes from external sources and intermixes them with his connecting sentences. With seven of the eleven essays previously published in 1973 and since updated, the result is a smooth flowing discourse. However, Baum likes his verbiage, as seen with phrases like ‘a chaotic vade mecum of the incongruous, the variegated and the exotic’. Given that this isn’t most people’s dictum of the day, the average reader may get bogged down. But, as Baum’s curiosities are mostly set in old European times, his words add to the book’s flavour, thus setting the tone of his investigative reporting.

And, in effect, his book reads like a collection of investigative reports. Within it, Baum usually identifies observers, equipment, date, atmospheric conditions and stellar location for each. For example, ‘he [Schroter] with the seven-foot again fit for use, picked up Venus before sunset and at six o’clock proceeded to examine it with a magnifying power of x95’. Such exact detail allows the reader to work alongside the investigation and resolve for themselves possible factors and events that might have given rise to an unexpected observation. But, the reader will quickly discover that these cases are extremely ‘cold’. That is, either the issue has been resolved (e.g. Venus doesn’t have polar ice caps) or there’s never been a repetition (e.g. strange bright light source beside Venus just as the light set on one day). Thus, the reader will enjoy this book if they like a sense of mystery and intrigue but not if they expect to resolve the investigation on their own.

An historian would also get great pleasure from reading this book. In particular, the book shows the rise of transition of technical ability, as with astronomy, into a mature, understood science. Personalities come to the fore, then they influence observations for all the right and wrong reasons and eventually shuffle quickly off this mortal coyle. Conjecture rises, flourishes and gets dashed, with no thought for social niceties. With this, the book provokes a harsh but real glimpse into scientific investigation and human frailties.

In consequence, though no spiritual ghosts permeate through the pages, Richard Baum’s book “The Haunted Observatory – Curiosities from the Astronomer’s Cabinet” is hauntingly nice. Perhaps the reader will see themselves in the pages as the young, fresh observer or the seasoned, opinionated veteran. In either case, there’s some rewarding reading when opening up this book’s pages.

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Ian Ridpath has been adding to his impressive list of publications with the recently updated fourth edition of “Stars and Planets“. Or, consider its more accurate and complete title “Princeton Field Guides Stars & Planets – The Most Complete Guide to the Stars, Planets, Galaxies and the Solar System“. The title’s quite a mouthful, but the book lives up to the billing. Within it, Ian Ridpath’s texts and Wil Tirion’s illustrations cover all that would interest an active, backyard astronomer.

Being the fourth edition, this review should assess changes from the book’s predecessor. Lacking the third edition means I’m considering the book in isolation.

This book has two parts. The first includes star charts; four per month, with the northern latitude facing south and then north and the same for the southern latitude. The charts show about 5000 separate stars, all being a white dot on a pale blue background with black lettering. After this inclusion, there’s notes on each of the 88 constellations. Again, star charts accompany each. To further entice the reader, nearly each constellation description has a wonderful, colour photograph of a particularly rewarding view, usually as seen from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Arizona.

However, as much as the NOAO facility is for the big league, this book stays true to being a guide for the amateur. As such, nearly all comments on viewing, and there are many, relate to either binoculars or small to mid-size home telescopes.

The second part of the book starts off with a look into the life cycle of stars and the particular and useful intricacies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Then, it proceeds to describe viewing pleasures on a planet by planet meander through our solar system. Further, twelve full page maps completely identify features shown on the Moon’s near side. Again, the perspective is for that of a person using amateur level equipment. To help the reader along, the book concludes with a short discussion on choosing binoculars and telescopes.

Being a field guide, this book is of smaller stature than most. Yet, it still won’t fit easily into most pant pockets. However, it would be a great asset to have on hand when deciding how to coordinate a star party or optimize personal evening viewing. And, though not stated in the title, it is for observers, so there’s not a great depth of detail on why or what-for. Thus, for observers, it is of a just the right stature.

Though I’m not in a position to assess the title’s proclamation of being the most complete guide, I will say that it is the best one that I’ve read. With Ian Ridpath’s text and Wil Tirion’s illustrations, the “Princeton Field Guides Stars & Planets” is a wonderful guide to the stars, planets, galaxies and our own solar system. It will help in getting that illusive target into the finder and onto the eagerly awaiting eye.

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To successfully foretell the future, you need more than a crystal ball. You need to start with a good understanding of where we stand today. Then, perhaps, you can envision where to go and how best to get there. Such was the choice and action of a number of individuals who appear in Robert Zimmerman’s book ‘The Universe in a Mirror‘. As aptly put in the sub-title, it’s about ‘The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It’.

So when did we first contemplate telescopes above the clouds? As we read, Hermann Oberth set forth the idea in 1923. But, it was Lyman Spitzer’s technical paper of 1946 that put substance to the idea. And, this was long before orbital flight! Zimmerman’s book then follows Spitzer’s trail as he launched balloon flights funded by the Office of Naval Research, Nancy Roman’s path as she helped setup Orbiting Astronomical Observatories and Leo Goldberg’s steps in chairing the Astronomy Missions Board. These and many other people, together with tens of committees and boards, are seen to come and go as Hubble takes shape, gets built, endures repairs and prepares for its denouement.

With a Hubble maintenance mission on NASA’s list, this book is topical. To emphasize the telescope’s value, Zimmerman shows the fantastic amount of effort made by a large number of people just to get Hubble into space. Given this, he notes the incredible drawing power of its results, such as the optical images like Eta Carinae. People, astronomers or not, love the pictures. In effect, each wonderful scene alleviated the payment of tax dollars. Thus, without a replacement or a strong contingent of supporters, we loose a great draw for this field of science. Thus, whether as a review of the people and processes who put the Hubble into orbit or as an opinion of what to do with the future, Zimmerman has written a very attractive book.

Visionaries keep making key contributions to the future of humankind. Certainly the Hubble Space Telescope was and remains dependent upon such farseeing individuals. We can only wonder of and hope that other individuals continue coming to the forefront as so well described in Robert Zimmerman’s book “The Universe in a Mirror“.

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