Product Description
In the month of August last, two events took place in the city of Albany, which have more than an ephemeral interest. They occurred in close connection with the proceedings of a Scientific Convention, and the memory of them deserves to be cherished as a recollection of the easy way in which Science may be popularized and be rendered so generally acceptable that the people will cry, like Oliver Twist, for more. ... Read more

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The object of this book is to give an account of the science of Astronomy, as it is known at the present day, in a manner acceptable to the _general reader_.
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"An attempt has been made in these pages to trace the evolution of intellectual thought in the progress of astronomical discovery, and, by recognising the different points of view of the different ages, to give due credit even to the ancients. No one can expect, in a history of astronomy of limited size, to find a treatise on practical or on theoretical astronomy, nor a complete descriptive astronomy, and still less a book on speculative astronomy. Something of each of these is essential, however, for tracing the progress of thought and knowledge which it is the object of this History to describe. " ... Read more

Product Description
In the month of August last, two events took place in the city of Albany, which have more than an ephemeral interest. They occurred in close connection with the proceedings of a Scientific Convention, and the memory of them deserves to be cherished as a recollection of the easy way in which Science may be popularized and be rendered so generally acceptable that the people will cry, like Oliver Twist, for more. ... Read more

Product Description
The object of this book is to give an account of the science ofAstronomy, as it is known at the present day, in a manneracceptable to the _general reader_.
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"MADAME: I have dedicated none of my works, save Stella--offered to the liberal-minded, the free and generous friend of progress, and patron of the sciences, James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald. In this volume, Madame, I make another exception, and ask your permission to offer it to the first woman who consented to be enrolled in the list of members of the Astronomical Society of France, as foundress of this splendid work, from the very beginning of our vast association (1887); and who also desired to take part in the permanent organization of the Observatory at Juvisy, a task of private enterprise, emancipated from administrative routine. An Astronomy for Women[1] can not be better placed than upon the table of a lady whose erudition is equal to her virtues, and who has consecrated her long career to the pursuit and service of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True. " ... Read more

Product Description
It is claimed by astronomers that their science is not only the oldest,
but that it is the most highly developed of the sciences. Indeed it
should be so, since no other science has ever received such support from
royalty, from the state and from the private individual. However this
may be, there is no doubt that in recent years astronomers have had
granted to them greater opportunities for carrying on large pieces of
work than have been entrusted to men in any other department of pure
science. One might expect that the practical results of a science like
physics would appeal to the man who has made a vast fortune through some
of its applications. The telephone, the electric transmission of power,
wireless telegraphy and the submarine cable are instances of immense
financial returns derived from the most abstruse principles of physics.
Yet there are scarcely any physical laboratories devoted to research, or
endowed with independent funds for this object, except those supported
by the government. The endowment of astronomical observatories devoted
to research, and not including that given for teaching, is estimated to
amount to half a million dollars annually. Several of the larger
observatories have an annual income of fifty thousand dollars.

[1] Commencement address at Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland,
May 27, 1909.

I once asked the wisest man I know, what was the reason for this
difference. He said that it was probably because astronomy appealed to
the imagination. A practical man, who has spent all his life in his
counting room or mill, is sometimes deeply impressed with the vast
distances and grandeur of the problems of astronomy, and the very
remoteness and difficulty of studying the stars attract him.

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Product Description
In the month of August last, two events took place in the city of Albany, which have more than an ephemeral interest. They occurred in close connection with the proceedings of a Scientific Convention, and the memory of them deserves to be cherished as a recollection of the easy way in which Science may be popularized and be rendered so generally acceptable that the people will cry, like Oliver Twist, for more.
... Read more

Product Description
"MADAME: I have dedicated none of my works, save Stella--offered to the liberal-minded, the free and generous friend of progress, and patron of the sciences, James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald. In this volume, Madame, I make another exception, and ask your permission to offer it to the first woman who consented to be enrolled in the list of members of the Astronomical Society of France, as foundress of this splendid work, from the very beginning of our vast association (1887); and who also desired to take part in the permanent organization of the Observatory at Juvisy, a task of private enterprise, emancipated from administrative routine. An Astronomy for Women[1] can not be better placed than upon the table of a lady whose erudition is equal to her virtues, and who has consecrated her long career to the pursuit and service of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True. " ... Read more

Product Description

The Essential Cosmic Perspective, Third Edition Media Update features a new an effective learning program that uses chapter openers, headers, callouts in the text, and highly-visual chapter summaries to make learning goals more explicit and to tie together important astronomy concepts.

DEVELOPING PERSPECTIVE, Our Place in the Universe, Discovering the Universe for Yourself, The Science of Astronomy, KEY CONCEPTS FOR ASTRONOMY, Making Sense of the Universe -Understanding Motion, Energy and Gravity, Light - The Cosmic Messenger, LEARNING FROM OTHER WORLDS, Our Solar System and Its Origin, Earth and the Terrestrial Worlds, Jovian Planet Systems, Remnants of Rock and Ice: Asteroids, Comets, and Pluto, STARS, Our Star, Other Stars, Star Stuff, The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard, GALAXIES AND BEYOND, Our Galaxy, A Universe of Galaxies, Dark Matter and the Fate of the Universe, The Beginning of Time, LIFE ON EARTH AND BEYOND, Life in the Universe: Prospects for Microbes, Civilizations, and Interstellar Travel.

For all readers interested in important astronomy concepts.

Customer Reviews (6)

Good condition Astronomy book
I received this book in the mail a couple days before it was expected. I'll probably keep it instead of selling it back at the end of the year like I usually do with my textbooks.

Just what I was looking for.
I ordered this book for an Astronomy class, and it's been a great read. Astronomy is really mind boggling stuff, and this book is full of mid boggling information in a way that isn't boring at all!

It arrived in great condition even though it was sold as being used, and it had a speedy delivery. No problems here!

good textbook
It's rather interesting to read, although it's a bit challenging too since I'm very unfamiliar with Astronomy. The best part of it is mentioning the uncertainties of the universe, and it's very up to date, making it exciting and intriguing.

The Most Exceptional Textbook This Side of the Galaxy!
I love this book!I don't even read text books very often, but this one is one of the most fun text books I've ever read--the fourth edition of "The Essential Cosmic Perspective."Perhaps I say this because I like Astronomy.I've never taken the course before, so this is really the only college text book in this subject I've looked at.Still, everything in here is interesting.

It has been updated with the most recent expansions with two notable points.It contains the most recent alterations of language by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).Did you know that Pluto isn't a planet?It's actually a comet!In August of 2006, the IAU changed the definition of planet to account for the differences of the planet Pluto, an object whose composition recently discovered is essentially the same as a comet from the belt of comets just outside of the Solar system: called "the Kuiper belt (pronounced like "viper," but with a K.In 2006, the IAU changed the designation of Pluto to a new category of Solar body: the dwarf planet.

Dwarf planets are not planets, as the definition of a planet now has a finer meaning, changed by the IAU.Planet designations are based on composition and size: the inner four planets--Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars--are referred to as "terrestrial planets," because their compositions are made up mostly of metal and rock, they're all about the same size, and they have two moons or less.Asteroids also have the composition of rock and metal, and so the belt of asteroids lying just outside of Mars gives an interesting connotation about our system which I will explain soon.Then, the four outer planets--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune--are called "Jovian planets," meaning "Jupiter-like," because their compositions are mostly gaseous, and because of their sizes: "gas giants."These Jovian, gas giants are several times the mass and diameter of the terrestrial planets, and so their sizes make them considerable to the system.What sets these solar bodies apart the most is THE WAY THEY WERE FORMED which accounts for their composition differences, and therefore the asteroid belt is the boundary line between the inner-terrestrial and outer-Jovian planets of the Solar system.

Every Solar body with an orbit on a somewhat-similar elliptical plane and beyond Neptune is a comet of the Kuiper belt.Although Uranus and Neptune also have essentially a similar gaseous composition as comets like Pluto, the main difference is Pluto has a radius of about 1000 kilometers.Anything that small is considered to be a comet, and, because the comets of the Kuiper belt are usually very small, Pluto resembles them more than a planet, as it is much smaller than even Earth's Moon.Pluto's mass is about 18 percent that of the Moon.

Remember the tenth planet, "Planet X?"Planet X, the tenth planet, was known as "Planet X" because scientists thought that, because it was so small and had the composition of a comet, that these were fundamental differences between comets and planets of the solar system.They felt that, if every newly-discovered comet of the Kuiper belt orbiting the Suncould be called a planet because it revolved around the Sun, our new computerized telescopes would be discovering planets quite frequently; comets, no matter how small they are, would be called "planets," by old definitions.That's why these new definitions are in place now.Pluto has enjoyed the stature of a planet for about 75 years since its discovery, but now that designation is over.

Additionally, the Jovian worlds are known for their multiple moons.Pluto has a moon, but, because its center-of-gravity lies outside of its moon Charon, both Pluto and Charon should actually be referred to as "binary planets," or more correctly "binary dwarf planets" by IAU's new definition--or rather a "binary system of dwarf planets."A planet and a dwarf planet are separate categories of solar bodies and not the same.

Incidentally, speaking of the Moon, the Moon is thought to have been a planet that, at one time, moved around the Sun.Scientists think this because of the size which is roughly the same as Mercury, a terrestrial composition, and it has a similarly substantial amount of gravity.It theoretically took an orbit around the Earth after they collided based on the attractions of their gravity, after which the Moon started orbiting around the Earth.The Moon is also similar to Mercury in that neither of these bodies maintain any atmosphere.

If you hate Al Gore, well--guess what--the same charts used in Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" are in this book: a major subsection of one of the chapters.This may be a point of either hostility or remorse for those Americans who were comforted by the anti-Gore beliefs of "the Flat World Society": apparently, some scientists think Al Gore actually has facts within his determinations.This book also states the reasons for these conclusions and relates them to a runaway greenhouse effect.If anyone needs an explanation of why people should be concerned, this is as pedestrian as it comes.

Although Venus is thought to be Earth's sister planet, there is nothing there to comfort any human.It has clouds of battery acid!Until 2006, no one could even see through its thick atmosphere due to an extreme greenhouse effect, and in the past only a form of radio technology could view the planet only slightly.In 2006, the European Space Agency (ESA) landed an unmanned spacecraft there to take pictures and send back data about the surface.The "Venus Express" lander, a specially-made craft designed to withstand Venus' harsh atmosphere, lasted for only about an hour on the surface, then corroded into uselessness and dissolved from the extremities of the atmosphere there.You see, there is no water or oxygen on Venus: the extreme greenhouse effect would've caused its oceans to evaporate into space.The atmosphere on Venus is so thick, the pressure at its surface translates to the pressure of one mile beneath the surface of one of Earth's oceans.This book refers to Venus' surface as resembling "a traditional view of hell" (144).

More importantly, although Mercury orbits the Sun at half the distance as Venus, Mercury's surface temperatures are substantially lower than Venus'.This sounds counter intuitive, and it is.But, the reason for it is the extreme greenhouse effect on Venus.And so, although Venus is twice as far from the Sun, it is MUCH hotter there than on Mercury!While Mercury's temperature goes back-and-forth between 700 kelvins (K) in the day and 100 K at night, Venus has a constant average temperature of 740 K (880-degrees Fahrenheit) all the time!

All this information is located within this book.The writing all seems very well put.The glossary has all the terms located in the chapter questions sections, so students should have an easy time finding anything.The chapter information, as it is introduced, is labeled nicely in easy-to-read bold upon its introduction, so eyes can quickly move right to the place where to find that information.The index is large and covers anything I would want to know.It has beautiful photos, images, and tables, in color of course.Many of these shots are brand-new images from off-earth, satellite telescopes and unmanned space vehicles.Of course, I have some doubt about the context of a few of the pictures, but there's surely nothing missing that NASA or other space agencies have allowed to be released: the book is up-to-date.

The book comes with interactive things like on-line supplements and a CD-Rom.The CD-Rom contains a program allowing a student to view any known place from any other known place through a telescope: one can look at Earth from the Moon for instance, and receive technical information about it.You can copy the CD-Rom onto another blank CD or put it on a hard drive for free.The book's included on-line supplemental course features are interactive and reiterate the book's material.

I have not opened the envelope containing the on-line password for fear of reducing the sell-back cost at my college--once a student has opened the envelope containing the on-line pass code key, the envelope cannot be sold back, can only be used once.I regret not having used it, because the Pearson, Addison-Wesley website was extremely helpful in one other course in which I used its on-line supplements.I can only imagine how beautiful the on-line astronomical images are.I would steal the images and put them on my computer desktop, or make a screen saver with them.Maybe I'll open it now, anyway, even though I'm nearly through the course.

If you purchase this text book here at Amazon, make sure you also receive the envelope, because it is worth around thirty or forty dollars.Students can buy the code at the web site without the envelope, but know that the envelope is part of the text book and should come with it unless the seller provides product information stating otherwise.I once had someone sell me a text for college algebra on Amazon with a price about thirty dollars less than Amazon's price.When I received the algebra text, it didn't have the envelope with it!The text was also used-but-wrapped-in-plastic, even though that product description stated the book was new!It may have come to me in plastic, but it wasn't new!Because the envelope containing the on-line code was missing, I peered closely at the book itself and confirmed that the book was USED, because of dirty palm prints on the book.I called the seller and sent it back at the seller's cost with the included mail-return sticker.I don't like people selling me something under false pretenses!Make sure the envelope is in the wrapper; otherwise, you're giving away thirty or forty bucks.Make sure also that the CD-Rom is in there, too.

Good book but I believe there are better
The good: This book is easy to read and understand, assumes very little of the reader other than a general understanding of current science. Explainations are clear and build logically throughout the book. Very little math - any high school math would be enough to understand what little there is in this book. Information is up to date and the book has many good pictures and diagrams to aid in understanding.

The not as good: I would have liked more in depth detail. I know this is somewhat subjective the book still has nearly 500 pages, however the text often only covers 60% of a page. In comparison to the at least two compeating books "Astronomy Today" and "The Universe" have over 700 pages each and more like 90% of a text page coverage just to grossly compare them. Each of these books also are easy to read, have good pictures and diagrams too.

So all in all this book is good and covers the subject well, but if you wish more detail other books may be better choices. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Out of this world
This DVD set was just what I anticipated.Lots of dramatic footage and music to the beautiful scenes of the universe.I'm not a real science geek, but I loved it!

Excellent base astronomy text
We bought this as a companion to the Teaching Company's "Understanding the Universe" course taught by Alex Filippenko, who is co-author of this volume.

It's a good accessory to the course, and would also be very good as a course in itself. It IS a course textbook and as such is entirely suitable for a classroom, but could also work well for those interested in learning on their own if you like the 'classroom' approach which builds on each previous chapter. There are questions at the end of each chapter which are quite useful. There are no answers with the book, though, so you need to be 'scientific' and verify your responses on your own.Haven't yet checked out the virtual astronomy lab access which comes with full versions of the book, so I can't comment on them.

The book does NOT delve deeply into the math behind the findings, but explains in very good detail the currest state of cosmology; what we know, what we suspect, and where we are likely headed in the future.

Purchased for college but enjoyed reading it anyway
This book was purchased for a college course but the book is easy and interesting to read.We'd recommend this book for anyone who is searching for an introduction to the Cosmos.The book is easy to understand, well organized and indexed.It was also a primary resource for the obligatory term paper (the title we didn't use is "What the heck is Pluto?")Well, it's a KBO but you'll have to read the book to find out what the heck a KBO is.

Beautiful book, timely delivery
I needed this text for an astronomy class. Wanting to save some money, I bought in on Amazon market place. I was treated to a beautiful, colorful book, and timely delivery.

Wonderful Book
Professor Pasachoff's completed work titled "A Concise Guide to the Solar System" was deemed unfit to publish by Harvard University Press. Harvard's expert prepublication reviewer, a formost planetary scientist, reported that it contained many large and small mistakes and so many mistaken ideas on planetary science. He described the manuscript as "misbegotten" and "beyond repair.

Shortly thereafter, Dr. Pasachoff's contract for a work titled "Astronomy" which was three years late was summarily cancelled by Harvard University Press.

The Solar System Guide used as its source for some of its factual information Professor Pasachoff's "Astronmy: From the Earth to the University" so there exists the posibility this this book is similarly filled with many mistaken ideas and large mistakes. I would recommend comparing books to determine which is the most accurate before buying an astronomy book like this.

... Read more

Product Description

Astronomical surveys produce large amounts of photometric, spectroscopic and time-series data. Object classification, parameter determination, novelty detection and the discovery of structure in these are challenging tasks. This book, featuring contributions from both astronomers and computer scientists, discusses a broad range of astronomical problems and shows how various machine learining and statistical analysis techniques are being used to solve them.

Product Description
BLECK:

JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION"Anyone who wants to know where on the internet to find astronomical information and programs will find this book useful...The book is well organized and easy to read...This book is a must for any club library and it is nice to see something dedicated to astronomy on the Internet. It's worth buying just for all the software and reference documents on the CD-ROM."

SKY & TELESCOPE"SOFTWARE & DATA serves as an excellent jumping-off point for would-be practical astronomers." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Software and Data for _PC_ Astronomers
I would have enjoyed this book better if the author would have touched on platforms beyond the DOS-Windows PC. There are enough files on the disc that are readable on other platorms: images, text, html, and PDFs, but no programs for anything beyond the DOS-Windows PC. Many astronomers use UNIX, LINUX, Macintosh, and other operating systems. These astronomers need to communicate their findings with each other. The overview of the various web sites is the strength of this book. It gives one a good starting point for finding astronomical information on the internet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

delivered as advertised
delivered as advertised.unfortunately not as quickly as i would have liked but nonetheless ok

fine
The book is in decent condition.The highlighting and underlining is ridiculous though.Previous owned really makes some parts hard to read clearly.Cheap and effective though.

Great Purchase!
This is a very insightful textbook, extremely scientifically backed up . Fold out map of the history, structure, and development of the Milky Way Galaxy. I am a student at college and I found it helped me a lot. This is one textbook I don't want to sell back as it is so interesting!

satisfaction
I received the product the second day of estimated delivery and the condition of the book was great.

A really well done textbook
The Cosmic Perspective is an engaging, interesting, and very visual textbook. It explains astronomical concepts very clearly and I have enjoyed reading it for my class. Altogether, I would recommend it for study as well as for the intrepid amateur astronomer that's interested in learning how the universe works. Have you ever looked up at the moon and the stars and wondered why the moon looks a certain way or how far away that bright star is? If you have, you should buy this book! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education), published by T.H.E. Journal, LLC on January 1, 1999. The length of the article is 2067 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Criteria used to design an introductory Internet-based college course in astronomy with an observation laboratory are discussed. Many students learn better when they can interact with a professor in person, and the course design allows engagement in the learning process to more closely simulate real-time interaction. A low-cost video-server program can send a live video stream to the student's browser that allows eye contact as well as text chat, and the software sends frame-by-frame updates for a 'Show and Tell' mode. Giving students a sense of the lecturer's personality is more difficult, but the teacher wrote his own electronic text book that gives students a core set of basic scientific ideas as well. The 'lab' component of the course lets the professor help students through difficult visual tasks in Show and Tell and has a CCD imager for collecting telescope data. The course requires a fast, reliable Internet connection.

Citation Details
Title: An Internet-Based Introductory College Astronomy Course with Real-Time Telescopic Observing.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
Author: David G. Iadevaia
Publication: T H E Journal (Technological Horizons In Education) (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1999
Publisher: T.H.E. Journal, LLC
Volume: 26Issue: 6Page: 71(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more