Customer Reviews

Atlas of the Lunar Terminator

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had high hopes for this book was truly disappointed.

Mr. Westafall knows his technical moon stuff, and the text of the first few chapters or so is very informative, but he does not make it fun to learn at at all. The writing style is very dry, like a reading a manual on how to fix your washing machine. This is strictly a reference book, not a book to read for pleasure.

The CCD pictures are terrible. The resolution is very low, and many are annoyingly pixelated. They have very little value as a reference, and you should get Rukl's Atlas of the Moon instead.

The descriptive text about the various lunar features that accompanies each picture is likewise very weak, and doesn't really teach you about what tantalizing views are to be had as the sun rises upon them.

You will not be happy with this book. SAVE YOUR MONEY!

A great concept, good text, but the photo reproductions are of very poor quality. If Cambridge University Press were to re-issue this book with good, sharp copies of Professor Westfall's photos, then this would be a five plus star book! At the present Rükl's "Atlas of the Moon" or Cherrington's "Exploring the Moon" better fill the needs of the Selenic observer.

Observing the lunar terminator is a delight. A low sun angle magnifies the major geographic features and accents subtle geologic structures unseen a few hours later. Scanning the terminator through a small or moderate size telescope opens the world of exploration and sightseeing even to the most novice of novices.

The concept of developing an atlas of the lunar terminator is excellent. The readership market is there. Regretfully, Westfall's book falls far short of expectations. Most disappointing is the quality of his lunar images. Simply put---many are terrible. At first, I wondered if I had an out-of-focus, pre-repair Hubble version. Surely Cambridge University Press would not print such low quality. This is especially true for the waning moon. Such images do not represent the outstanding work many amateur astronomers have produced in recent years that are routinely published in popular astronomy magazines. The best image is found on the book's jacket.

Picture details (dates, telescope, etc) are best placed in an appendix rather than competing for limited space adjacent to each image. I do like the fact that distance scales and directions are superimposed on most images. That's likely the geographer side of Westfall coming through.

The text is sometimes informative but written very dry. This could be overlooked because each author has his/her writing style and intended audience. However, those images are the weakest link---goodbye.

I do not recommend the book.

the atlas is the best publication that i have seen that shows details of the moon. only nasa could publish something beter. photos are shown when the shadows and lighting are the best for each area of the moon. composite photos are used to show excellent detail.