An introduction to the night sky, for children and other beginners; written in very simple language, and tested on delighted children down to the age of eight.
At the outset they are told how to set about viewing the stars; the "dome" picture on the back cover helps in understanding how the sky rolls from east to west. Then for each month there is a simple but vivid sky map; the facing text makes two or three constellations per month stick in the memory, by telling their stories and a few other things about them-in January, Orion and Taurus and the Pleiades; and so on around the sky. Other concepts are woven in: the Milky Way, leap-days, the ecliptic and zodiac, meteor showers, the Pole, midsummer, changing clocks, dark trenches in the sky and "silly little constellations" . . . A "Quiz" in September is one of the ways of making it fun.
After these monthly pages, there are 14 rather packed pages to turn to for "more explanation"; they amount to a gentle beginning textbook of astronomy. The usually confusing business of the sky's changing appearance is cleared by starting from the simplest truth-space with the far-off stars in it-and only then adding the things that complicate it: Sun, Earth, Earth's motions and atmosphere and curvature. A list of the Top Twenty stars (with their personalities) leads into more about stars: their color, distances, sizes. There is something on observing conditions, naked eye vs. binoculars vs. telescopes, astronomy vs. astrology, Greek letters, distances and angles; there is a glossary of terms, and a short list of further reading.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A First Astronomy Primer for any Child,
By A Customer
This review is from: To Know the Stars (Paperback)
This priceless little book [...] is the most complete introduction to astronomy for any child that you can find. The text and drawings are extremely well done and will be treasured by the child who gets a copy for life. It explains the motions of the earth and skies simply and completely as well as providing monthly star charts with fine descriptions of the constellations as well as some history and legends for them. Don't pass this one up.
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