Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Astronomy (Teach Yourself (McGraw-Hill))

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Patrick Moore outlines basic principles of Astronomy
in this edition of the 'Teach Yourself' series.

Moore, an English astronomer effectively teaches the beginner how to look at the stars.
While astronomy is often associated with complex mathematics,
Moore almost completely avoids the mathematical aspects
of astronomy and simply teaches the reader how to look at the stars,
identify constellations; buy, make and use a telescope.

A great book for the beginner, Moore's bias towards accomplishments of English
Astronomers and a hint of animosity towards American accomplishments
seems to indicate that his target reading audience is of British nationality
and does take a little something away from this otherwise great book.

If you're starting off with astronomy (learning the basics) this is a great guide. I first discovered this book at my local library, and fell in love with its detailed information about our solar system and the universe.

This brief overview contains constellation charts, tips on buying a good telescope, as well as concise, easy-to-understand information about the sun and her satellite planets, as well as Kuiper Belt dwarf planets, the Oort Cloud and other features of the universe. He also includes a little theory/laws for beginners (including Bode's Law and Kepler's Three Laws of Motion). Historical information about astronomers are also included.

Unfortunately, although this book is the perfect brief guide for beginniners, it does not contain a lot of color photographs. People looking to planetary "eye candy" should turn to a book like "Universe," for color photographs. There are also some persnickety remarks (by this British astronomer) about the American space program. (But all things aside, this still is a great manual.)