Astronomy Books

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

Brian Greene

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $11.25

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astrophysics & Space Science
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Cosmology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 505 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Don't know if its the subject matter or Greene... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

...but this stuff is good. Greene goes a little overboard with the analogies, but it's almost necessary to do so with such technical material (at least when it's obvious his target reader is someone with little collegiate-level training in physics). I personally love anything that attempts to explain our physical world, and Greene does just that in a very original and sincere way. String theory is a hard concept to grasp -and quantum mechanics is even harder, but after reading this book two times through, the information really begins to sink in. Most people are simply unaware of the possibility of additional dimensions, or at least, are aware of them but believe they only exist in science fiction. I can't wait for technology to catch up to the claims these scientists are making. I advise anyone to read this book. Good intro to the subjects.

Editorial Review:

Brian Green peels away the layers of mystery surrounding string theory to reveal a universe that consists of 11 dimensions, where the fabric of space tears and repairs itself, and all matter is generated by the vibrations of microscopically tiny loops of energy.

A Brief History of Time

Stephen Hawking

Amazon Price: $12.24 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bantam Amazon Marketplace: 148 new & used starting at $3.05

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Cosmology
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Physics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 352 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

unintelligible 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

History will look back at this best selling book and here is what it should say: This book is very lucid to those who have not read it, but it is quite unintelligible to those who have. Buy this book, it doesn't cost that much, to see how a supposedly great scientist cannot put together a coherent thought on paper. It you want to read clear scientific writing, read Lev Landau and then compare to this tripe by Hawking.

Editorial Review:

A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, was a landmark volume in science writing and in world-wide acclaim and popularity, with more than 9 million copies in print globally. The original edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the ensuing years have seen extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro—and the macrocosmic world—observations that have confirmed many of Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book.

Now a decade later, this edition updates the chapters throughout to document those advances, and also includes an entirely new chapter on Wormholes and Time Travel and a new introduction. It make vividly clear why A Brief History of Time has transformed our view of the universe.

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality

Brian Greene

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 98 new & used starting at $4.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Cosmology
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Physics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 210 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"The Entropic Arrow Of Time Is Double-Headed." 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My educational background is largely in biology and chemistry, but I have always found physics the most intriguing of the sciences. I have studied and read a lot of physics books over the years, and having seen Brian Greene discuss some of the more confusing of the subjects in this book on television, was immediately convinced that I must read "The Fabric of the Cosmos". I truly applaud Greene's effort to produce such a comprehensive, up to date, and comprehensible book with no mathematics to speak of.

The book is largely a success, and covers the history of physics and physical thought, and brings the reader all the way through a groundbreaking explanation of string theory and M-theory. The book is quite well written and is generally easy to follow. I appreciated especially his explanations of the conflicts between general relativity and quantum mechanics, and the potential that string theory has in regards to a unified theory. I was somewhat unconvinced by his arguments about the symmetry of entropy in spacetime, though to be fair, I am unconvinced by some of Boltzmann's thinking on the issue, which is the ultimate origin of the philosophical predicament. Regardless of this and similar minor issues, I think most discussions are quite lucid and relatively logical and easy to follow.

The book falls down in a couple of ways: though relatively easy to read, it is extremely long. I have no problems with a lengthy tome, but this book sometimes labors under myriad examples and analogies which become redundant and very monotonous to read. Perhaps, for instance, the seemingly endless discussion of Newton's spinning bucket of water warranted a couple of pages, but here it just went on and on. The book could have been equally lucid and grasped just as well with many fewer extended analogies. It's obvious that Mr. Greene loves certain shows on television, as seemingly endless references to "The Simpsons" and "The X-Files" are common throughout the book. I hated this cutesy touch.

I happen to like math, but its absence here is wise as the book would obviously reach far fewer people if mathematical reasoning was added to the already cumbersomely long text. I did very much appreciate the notes in the back of the book which were very useful and delved somewhat deeper into subjects discussed in the text. On balance I recommend the book to people who want a basic introduction to historical and current physical thought, and who don't mind a degree of redundancy in the text.

Editorial Review:

From Brian Greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Elegant Universe, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.

Space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. Yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. Is space an entity? Why does time have a direction? Could the universe exist without space and time? Can we travel to the past? From Newton’s unchanging realm in which space and time are absolute, to Einstein’s fluid conception of spacetime, to quantum mechanics’ entangled arena where vastly distant objects can instantaneously coordinate their behavior, Greene takes us all, regardless of our scientific backgrounds, on an irresistible and revelatory journey to the new layers of reality that modern physics has discovered lying just beneath the surface of our everyday world.

NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

List Price: $29.95 By: Firefly Books Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $0.96

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astrophysics & Space Science

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With 250,000 copies in print since its initial publication in 1983, NightWatch has become a standard reference guide for stargazers throughout North America.

The new Third Edition expands on that success with a completely revised and updated text, more than 100 new color photos and diagrams and 16 additional pages that cover such! new astronomical pursuits as computerized telescopes, reviews of new telescope designs and accessories, and astronomy on the Internet.

All charts, tables and diagrams have been updated and, in some cases, redesigned for easier use. Improved spacecraft measurements of the distances to the stars (recently released by the European Space Agency) are included in the charts, along with additional observing tips for stargazers using binoculars and telescopes. An expanded chapter on Astrophotography lists the best modern films and cameras for skyshooting.

The new NightWatch is faithful to the "ultra-simplified, no jargon" philosophy of the original, and at the same time, offers substantially more practical information for the novice and intermediate-level amateur astronomer. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada called the first edition "the best of its kind"- the new Third Edition is better still. It is still an abundantly illustrated, wide-sized volume designed for easy reference during many starlit nights.

Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .

Ph.D., Philip Plait

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $15.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astrophysics & Space Science
Subjects -> Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A lively astronomy primer that uses cataclysmic scenarios to explain the universe’s most fascinating events.

According to astronomer Philip Plait, the universe is an apocalypse waiting to happen But how much do we really need to fear from things like black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and supernovae? And if we should be scared, is there anything we can do to save ourselves? With humor and wit, Plait details the myriad doomsday events that the cosmos could send our way to destroy our planet and life as we know it. This authoritative yet accessible study is the ultimate astronomy lesson.

Combining fascinating—and often alarming—scenarios that seem plucked from science fiction with the latest research and opinions, Plait illustrates why outer space is not as remote as most people think. Each chapter explores a different phenomenon, explaining it in easy-to-understand terms, and considering how life on earth and the planet itself would be affected should the event come to pass. Rather than sensationalizing the information, Plait analyzes the probability of these catastrophes occurring in our lifetimes and what we can do to stop them. With its entertaining tone and enlightening explanation of unfathomable concepts, Death from the Skies! will appeal to science buffs and beginners alike.

The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics

Leonard Susskind

Amazon Price: $18.47 List Price: $27.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Little, Brown and Company Amazon Marketplace: 62 new & used starting at $12.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Professionals & Academics -> Scientists
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astrophysics & Space Science

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What happens when something is sucked into a black hole? Does it disappear? Three decades ago, a young physicist named Stephen Hawking claimed it did-and in doing so put at risk everything we know about physics and the fundamental laws of the universe. Most scientists didn't recognize the import of Hawking's claims, but Leonard Susskind and Gerard t'Hooft realized the threat, and responded with a counterattack that changed the course of physics. THE BLACK HOLE WAR is the thrilling story of their united effort to reconcile Hawking's revolutionary theories of black holes with their own sense of reality-effort that would eventually result in Hawking admitting he was wrong, paying up, and Susskind and t'Hooft realizing that our world is a hologram projected from the outer boundaries of space.
A brilliant book about modern physics, quantum mechanics, the fate of stars and the deep mysteries of black holes, Leonard Susskind's account of the Black Hole War is mind-bending and exhilarating reading.

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time

David Devorkin, Robert Smith

Amazon Price: $31.50 List Price: $50.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: National Geographic Amazon Marketplace: 52 new & used starting at $25.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> Photographers, A-Z -> General
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> Photographers, A-Z -> General AAS
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the spirit of National Geographic’s top-selling Orbit, this large-format, full-color volume stands alone in revealing more than 200 of the most spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope during its lifetime, to the very eve of the 2008 final shuttle mission to the telescope. Written by two of the world’s foremost authorities on space history, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time illuminates the solar system’s workings, the expansion of the universe, the birth and death of stars, the formation of planetary nebulae, the dynamics of galaxies, and the mysterious force known as "dark energy."

The potential impact of this book cannot be overstressed: The 2008 servicing mission to install new high-powered scientific instruments is especially high profile because the cancellation of the previous mission, in 2004, caused widespread controversy. The authors reveal the inside story of Hubble’s beginnings, its controversial early days, the drama of its first servicing missions, and the creation of the dynamic images that reach into the deepest regions of visible space, close to the time when the universe began.

A wealth of astonishing images leads us to the very edge of known space, setting the stage for the new James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013. Find the stunning panoramic of Carina Nebula, detailing star birth as never before; a jet from a black hole in one galaxy striking a neighboring galaxy; a jewel-like collection of galaxies from the early years of the universe; and a giant galaxy cannibalizing a smaller galaxy.

Timed for the 2008 shuttle launch and coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first telescope, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time accompanies a high-profile exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum and will be featured on the popular NASM website.

The Universe in a Nutshell

Stephen William Hawking

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bantam Amazon Marketplace: 158 new & used starting at $5.31

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astrophysics & Space Science
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Cosmology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 180 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world.

Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book.

The Universe in a Nutshell

• Quantum mechanics
• M-theory
• General relativity
• 11-dimensional supergravity
• 10-dimensional membranes
• Superstrings
• P-branes
• Black holes

One of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only for the adventurousness of his ideas but for the clarity and wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe.

Like many in the community of theoretical physicists, Professor Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science — the elusive Theory of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible and often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe — from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to M-theory, from holography to duality.

He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, where superstring theory and p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. And he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks “to combine Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histories into one complete unified theory that will describe everything that happens in the universe.”

With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-color illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions; where black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secret with them; and where the original cosmic seed from which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut.

The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for all of us who want to understand the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief History of Time, it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope--and How to Find Them

Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis

Amazon Price: $18.47 List Price: $27.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cambridge University Press - Model: 0521781906 Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $9.68

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Science -> Astronomy -> Solar System

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A superb guidebook described in Bookwatch as 'the home astronomer's "bible"', Turn Left at Orion provides all the information beginning amateur astronomers need to observe the Moon, the planets and a whole host of celestial objects. Large format diagrams show these objects exactly as they appear in a small telescope and for each object there is information on the current state of our astronomical knowledge. Revised and updated, this new edition contains a chapter with ten new spreads describing spectacular deep sky objects visible from the southern hemisphere, and tips on observing the upcoming transits of Venus. It also discusses Dobsonian telescopes, with hints on using personal computers and the Internet as aids for planning an observing session. Also new to this edition are redrawn "Guidepost" figures at the beginning of each season chapter that allow readers to visualize a three-dimensional view of the sky's dome; redesigned seasonal object layouts that provide more space for the naked-eye charts; a new spread on double stars near Boötes has been added to Spring, replacing the "Shrinking Double" spread; and a unique "When and Where to Look" table has been added to the last page, among other new features. Unlike many guides to the night sky, this book is specifically written for observers using small telescopes. Clear and easy to use, this fascinating book will appeal to skywatchers of all ages and backgrounds. No previous knowledge of astronomy is needed.

Cosmos

Carl Sagan

Amazon Price: $7.99 List Price: $7.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ballantine Books Amazon Marketplace: 84 new & used starting at $0.46

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Ecology -> General AAS
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Astronomy
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Astronomy -> Cosmology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 159 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

read what you can of it, but READ it! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is an incredible book, even if it is dated. I am a words person, not numbers, so when Sagan got into a lot of equations and chemistry, I had to kind of skim over those parts. I never could have understood them, and if I'd tried to force myself to, I probably would have gotten frustrated and gave up on the book. So I stuck with the parts (happily, that was most of it) I could absorb and easily understand. There were so many fascinating aspects to it that I would have missed had I given up over the math. This book is capable of starting you on a journey. It has made me find a book on Alexandria, which I am just starting. There is a fascinating history there, and I will continue on with books on da Vinci and Einstein. They are men I've heard about, of course, but never has my curiosity about them been so piqued. Being a book lover, the Library of Alexandria is something I want to learn more about. This book will make you want to learn more about a lot of things.

Editorial Review:

The best-selling science book ever published in the English language, COSMOS is a magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science. Brilliant and provocative, it traces today's knowledge and scientific methods to their historical roots, blending science and philosophy in a wholly energetic and irresistible way.