Customer Reviews

The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia

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This large and massive One Volume reference work is not to be confused with a much more expensive multi-volume reference having a very similar name. (and which is very similar in most ways)

Maran's book actually fully realizes the concept of a comprehensive and detailed encyclopaedia - in that each article (approximately 1-3 pages of dense and tiny type) is a detailed and accurate discussion of the topic it conveys, written by an expert in that specialized topic. Reading all of the Very Numerous relevant articles on external galaxies, the Milky Way, the interstellar medium, stars and stellar evolution, and star formation, can save you a lot of grief; these relevant entries offer (to the diligent and SERIOUSLY INQUISITIVE person) a very fast and very efficient path to detailed knowledge of the contents of stellar, Galactic, and extragalactic astronomy - moreover with virtually no maths.

(( If I would have started with this book, and worked my way through the relevant articles, it would have been so much faster than the many years I spent laboriously patching together my knowledge of galaxies from multiple sources of information. ))

This comprehensive and detailed reference work offers an efficient path to obtaining real knowledge of the detailed contents of astronomy; it is ideal for serious students, non-astronomical scientists who need to learn astronomy, very diligent & dedicated amateur astronomers, people with knowledge of physics/maths but not astronomy, etc.

Everybody with a really serious interest in stars, the interstellar medium, and galaxies, should have a copy of this book!

[[ The articles on external galaxies are now slightly out-of-date, but it is easy enough to update one's knowledge with online articles, e.g. those in the "Level 5" database at NED.]]