Secrets of the Night Sky: Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye, The [Paperback]

Bob Berman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 1996

From blue moons to Betelgeuse, it's all in this witty, fact-packed, profusely illustrated guide to the heavens by the author of Discover magazine's popular "Night Watchman" column.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You don't need expensive instruments to appreciate the beauty of the night sky, as Bob Berman exuberantly demonstrates in Secrets of the Night Sky. Berman takes you on a tour of the night sky, pointing out its highlights and its history, along with a wealth of practical tips and tricks, such as how to categorize satellites that appear overhead. Secrets of the Night Sky is not only a how-to manual for enjoying the celestial sphere but is also a painless introduction to the science of cosmology. With a flair for analogies, Berman imparts a visceral understanding of the scale of stellar objects. And in case your explorations do lead you to buy a telescope, the book's appendices contain a variety of no-nonsense advice that may save you from getting fleeced.

From Booklist

Berman's enthusiasms and comical asides are as boundless as the nocturnal realm he writes about for Discovery magazine. In this spunky foray into objects visible to eyes fitted with cheap binoculars, Berman asks for little--knowledge of a few constellations like Orion and the Big Dipper--and delivers much: the sun, moon, colorful stars, moving planets, and smears of light that are galaxies. Alyhough perhaps prosaic to note them, how often do people actually go outside to view them? A rah-rah popularizer, Berman motivates, helped by more than 150 line drawings that illustrate, often whimsically, his stories. These he sorts into the four seasons. In winter, one can marvel at superlatives: the reddest star, giant Betelgeuse; the brightest star, Sirius; and even the moon, brightest at this time of year. Summer brings Arcturus (fun fact: its light tripped the circuits to open the 1933 Chicago World's Fair); summer is the time for UFO sightings, satellites, and meteor showers; and fall re-introduces us to the Pleiades. An impish guide to the heavens, Berman is promoting his book at planetariums, so libraries in cities with such needn't hesitate at acquisition. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (March 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006097687X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060976873
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book on astronomy, January 18, 2000

By 

Djinn Djinn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Night Sky: Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye, The (Paperback)

This book, written at a very accessible level, is one of my favorite books on astronomy. It's filled with fascinating information on all sorts of amazing things you can see any night you step outside. E.g., did you know that we can see about 3,000 stars with our naked eye? That if you were jogging on the surface of the moon at 10 miles per hour, you could stay ahead of the line separating the dark and lit portions of the Moon? That the earth spins at 1,040 miles per hour and orbits the sun at 18 miles per second, and that our sun rotates around our galaxy at 200 miles per second, and that our galaxy is moving towards the Andromeda galaxy at 50 miles per second? That interstellar space is less than 3 degrees from the coldest possible temperature? That sunlight takes 8 minutes to get to Earth?

If you'd like to know which star (besides the sun)is closest to us and where to find it, or how to locate (by eye) satellites as they orbit the earth, or which star is 25 billion times the size of earth, this is your type of book.

Mr. Berman shares the Universe with us in such a way that we feel the same type of awe we did as children. Excellent, excellent book.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Berman conveys his love of the heavens with a punch!, August 7, 1999

By 

Michael Maiman ([e-mail]) (San Mateo CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Night Sky: Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye, The (Paperback)

I have a contender for my favorite book on astronomy, Secrets of the Night Sky, by Bob Berman, who is a Discover Magazine contributor and director of the Overlook Observatory in Woodstock, New York. The book is an excellent introduction to astronomy, but will entertain those who have been in it for years. He has a casual style which at first was a bit irritating, but I realized that anyone who writes about the universe has a right to such a style. The book is comprised of a series of 26 essays on topics from black holes to the Pleiades. The first essay defines several terms used in astronomy and gives a scale of distances in the universe. Four appendices give tips on purchasing and using a telescope, selecting binoculars, and a list of the twenty most impressive telescope targets (many of which I have never seen...thanks Bob!). There are eight pages of beautiful astrophotos and space artist works. My review might overly quote the text of the book, but these excerpts are worth reading.I've seen Betelgeuse many times but never thought of it this way, as Berman says: "Simply put, Betelgeuse is the largest single thing most of us will ever see. Yes a galaxy is larger, but that is a collection of stars. Moreover, not a single galaxy is bright enough to appear in the light-polluted skies over much of the world."On the Orion Nebula: "A strange languor greets anyone whose telescope is pointed its way; the nebula seems frozen and inert. This apparent lethargy stems from our own bias, for its life unfolds on a scale that makes earthly activities seem like the nervous flitting of gnats. Laying dazzling blue eggs like an immense celestial robin, the nebula alters its shape over the span of aeons, as if to hide its intentions from the transient eyes of human generations."I liked this line: "Our own galaxy is a member of an assembly that we call, with an epic lack of imagination, the Local Group."On Jupiter: "It's worth buying a telescope for this giant world alone. Try it out. If you're not satisfied with the view, return the instrument. Galileo had to deny what he saw for fear of death. The refund policy at your store is probably less intimidating."Berman writes from the standpoint that I really enjoy: that observations can be made which support profound concepts in astronomy. He is first and formost an observer, with naked eye, binocular or telescope. What can I say except perhaps the ultimate compliment: Bob Berman is saying in his book what I would say if I had the time and the talent.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars falls between the introductory and the advanced, December 25, 2001

By 

M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of the Night Sky: Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye, The (Paperback)

I've been on an astronomy roll lately -- this book is not easily categorized. It's not like the excellent intro books like Dickerson's Nightwatch, but it's also not the advanced format of a good star atlas. Its conversational style is very funny in parts with a healthy reverence for the cosmos. It serves as a nice complement to intro-intermediate books because of its wide range of coverage. He picks out his favorite sights (Betelgeuse, Sirius, the Harvest Moon (most people dont' know what it really is!), the Orion Nebula, etc... and provides an in-depth historical and scientific account of each. It's easy enough for a beginner, but even an advanced astronomer will learn something new. I read it all in one sitting and could not put it down.