Does math lead physics or physics lead math? If observing is the source of your information, then physics leads. But, no one’s seen the universe age. Yet, as Alex Vilenkin writes in his book Many Worlds in One – The Search for Other Universes, there’s lots of both physics and math that tickles our imaginations when we observe the realm in which we live.
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Book Review: Saturn – A New View
I love large format picture books. Most any subject suffices, as the photographs are like little works of art, each selected with care and passion. However, space themed books are real treasures for me, and Saturn – A New View by L.Lovett, J.Horvath, and, J.Cuzzi is a jewel in the treasure chest. Within it, wide expansive images bring this distant planet into immediate, astounding view.
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Book Review: Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe
Where is our search for life taking us? Or, even simpler, why are we searching? Bruce Jakosky in his book Science, Society and the Search for Life in the Universe considers these questions and many others. However, he shows that searching for answers is almost as difficult as the search itself for life off of Earth.
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Book Review: Pocket Space Guides
Apogee space books has published four more Pocket Space Guides. These small format books are each about half text and half photographs and are based on a narrow, space topic. The result is to be concise introductions and handy references. In addition, the many good quality photographs add flavourful spice to keep the reader interested. The following are reviews for each of the four.
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Book Review: Astronomical Image Processing Tutorials by Donald P. Waid
Astrophotography is an exhilarating pastime. Thanks to the digital revolution in amateur astronomy, taking deep space images is less of the almost overwhelming challenge it was just a handful of years ago. Today, with a modest telescope and digital camera, thousands of enthusiasts are producing beautiful images of galaxies and nebulas. However, one final hurdle persists- raw images produced through a telescope still require significant enhancement to bring out the secrets hidden within them. This can be a daunting procedure because processing astrophotographs has been, and remains, an essentially self-taught art. However, several imaging experts who have been honing their processing skills for many years have recently begun to reveal their hard learned techniques through books and, in 2006, with DVD tutorials.
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Book Review: Apollo – The Definitive Sourcebook
Our Moon has been visited by men, yet this fact may seem like fiction to many people. Over an incredibly short span, people of one nation came together, developed a technology and achieved the goal of walking on the lunar surface. For those wanting a reference for this momentous event, Richard Orloff and David Harland provide their book, Apollo – The Definitive Sourcebook. In it are the facts and figures regarding the events surrounding the people and hardware of this amazing achievement.
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Book Review: Team Moon
The Moon has always held a fascinating role in our existence. Visiting it was surely the most amazing feat we’ve done. Catherine Thimmesh’s book Team Moon relives the days of Apollo when NASA first reached the Moon. She emphasizes the vast number of everyday people who helped Apollo and gives notice that an equally large and varied workforce will be necessary for the success of future manned missions to other planets.
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Best Space Books of 2006
The Earth has almost returned to its same relative location about our Sun as when I last prepared a summary of my book reviews. While facing the daily ritual of rising, getting dressed and undertaking the day’s tasks, I try to snatch moments to think about this marvel. We are all spinning madly about the Earth’s iron core, which itself orbits ceaselessly about a great fusion reactor that constantly bathes us with warmth. All the while, seemingly through nothing, we hurtle further and further from something called the galactic centre, toward somewhere else. The books I review help me with this perspective of our existence and also help me keep in balance with all the daily news coming in.
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Book Review: In Search of Dark Matter
I’m continually amazed at the abilities of our species. Foremost amongst our talents is deduction. Using logic and reasoning, a truth can be determined without direct evidence. Ken Freeman and Geoff McNamara in their book ‘In Search of Dark Matter‘ showcase this talent. In this book, they outline the basis and ongoing search for something we can never see and only indirectly measure. Elementary or not, Holmes would be jealous.
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Book Review: Making Every Pixel Count, Vol. 1-3
Astronomy has many unfair advantages over the other natural sciences because it captures elements of travel, adventure and discovery. One glimpse through eyepiece filled with thousands of previously unseen stars has lured many casual observers into a head-over-heels love affair with the night sky that remains with them for the rest of their life. The dazzling images reproduced in magazines, books and movies also plant dreams of taking similar images in the minds of more than a few would-be astronomers, too! However, producing astronomical imagery is not for the feint hearted. It involves patience, perseverance and until very recently, a measure of luck. Much of that has changed with the introduction of computerized telescopes and affordable digital cameras. This year has also seen a small explosion of books and DVD tutorials that explain how to transform raw deep space images into picture postcards of the Universe!
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