Customer Reviews

NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A few months ago someone gave me a telescope for my birthday. I was eager to use it but felt I could get more out of it if I understood what I was pointing at in the night sky. In my quest for knowledge in this area I stumbled upon "NightWatch: a practical guide to the viewing the universe." It gave me a quick and thorough understanding of backyard astronomy field in a simple and easy to understand language free of all the technical jargon you may find in other sources (not that these are bad in themselves). I strongly recommend this book for the amateur astronomer, especially before going out to purchase a telescope or binoculars. The book gives some hefty and misery saving advise on equipment, its use and what to watch out for. To be honest, even wished the person who purchased the telescope had read this before doing so.

Excellent, wonderful, etc... I agree with the reviews except for the statement that this book is for the beginner. Advanced beginner, maybe, but not the raw recruit. This is also an excellent reference for the more advanced amateur astronomer. The charts are the best in the business! Unfortunately, I only know of two really good books for the neophyte -- one out of print and outdated and the other British, also outdated. So, for the newcomer, this is the best available.

This book is very well thought out and superbly designed. The text touches on almost every concept in amateur astronomy and explains difficult concepts in easy to understand terms. The star charts are an excellent edition and provide detailed object information not usually found on more formalized charts. This book has something for everyone - from the person who has never even lookup up at the sky to the more advanced amateur astronomer.

This book strikes the perfect balance between being too technical and being too abstract. The author, Terence Dickinson, breaks down amazingly complex information so that non-scientist stargazers, like myself, can glean all the enjoyment and wonder out of the heavens without getting a major headache.

NIGHTWATCH is not for experienced stargazers or anyone schooled in the physical sciences, but that becomes obvious immediately. However, if you ARE one of those people, and you know someone who's interested in astronomy but will never enroll in a physics course, you can recommend this book in good conscience.

There's a substantial section about telescopes and how to buy them; if you already have a decent telescope, it seems like too much print is wasted on consumer education. But one of the biggest pitfalls to beginning this hobby is that people get sucked into buying what they think is a "starter" telescope but which is actually useless. Then they get frustrated and quit stargazing completely. The author is very careful to point the reader toward a 'scope that meets his or her needs and that will provide years of enjoyment.

The spiral-bound edition of this book makes it portable enough to take into the field, and although the star maps are very simple, they're adequate for beginners. Once you learn to navigate with those, you're ready for a "real" star atlas. Also, there are dates given for different phenomena, which only goes to 2009 or 2010. I'm guessing a newer edition will be more up-to-date with that, but those revisions could probably be found on astronomy sites.

Dickinson is an engaging writer, and the illustrations are well-done and well-chosen. When you get comfortable with your little corner of the galaxy, you can move on to more "advanced" books. But this book is the best introduction out there. It'll get you looking up, and thinking about those Larger Questions, like, "If I could go beyond the edge of the universe, would I disappear because I went past the beginning of time?" and "Who really made the crop circles?"

This is an extraordiary book for some one just starting out in astronomy. {I wish I had owned it when I began} It is very well written, and easy to understand. But it only focuses on the observational part of astronomy, if you are looking for a book that gives detailed information on the science of astronomy then this book is not for you.

This book covers everything from how to choose a telescope, to cosmology, as well as 20 handy star charts. It shows techniques for finding constalations, and the star charts are great for orienting yourself to the sky. I would however, recomend buying a more detailed star atlas (such as Sky Atalas 2000.0 by Wil Tirion), if you plan on doing more advanced observing.

Terence Dickinson's book NightWatch is outstanding! He covers just about everything that has to do with astronomy. For ex he tells you how to put out a telescope to all about the moon and sky. If you don't have this book you have to get it!