With weird and incomprehensible oddities like prehistoric Stonehenge and black holes, from the extinction of the dinosaurs to the discovery of Saturn's rings, from Halley's Comet to solar flares and liquid-fuel rockets, from the journey of Companion 1 to Voyager, from Magellan's radar mapping of Venus to the Curiosity rover's landing on Mars in August 2012, the book's timeline covers a wide range of topics. Brilliant and fearless scientists who have had an important impact on astronomy and space exploration, including Ptolemy, Ariahata, Copernicus, Galileo, Cassini, Hawking, and Carl Sagan, are also featured in this book.
The Book of Astronomy has a chronological structure, with each entry containing a brief text and beautiful color pictures. Resources for further study are listed under each entry in the "Notes and Further Reading" section.
"The long history of astronomy and space exploration is filled with answers to some huge and profound questions," Jim Bell said of ourselves, "and we are so lucky to live in a civilized age where we have the luxury of actively seeking answers to these questions."
Reader comments
I especially like the stories in the book about outstanding scientists whose courage and wisdom are admirable. Moreover, the pictures in the book are also very beautiful, which allowed me to understand the mysteries of the universe more intuitively. I think this book is suitable for both those who are interested in astronomy and those who want to understand the history of scientific development.
I especially like the stories in the book about outstanding scientists whose courage and wisdom are admirable. Moreover, the pictures in the book are also very beautiful, which allowed me to understand the mysteries of the universe more intuitively. I think this book is suitable for both those who are interested in astronomy and those who want to understand the history of scientific development.