Customer Reviews

The Universe Unveiled: Instruments and Images Through History

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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THE UNIVERSE UNVEILED: Instruments and Images Through History is so much more than a 'coffee table book.' The extraordinary photographs of the rare instruments and maps housed in the Adler Planetarium in Chicago illustrate how many are works of art in their own right. The text is concise and richly informative without being overly 'academic.' With all the current emphasis on the space station, exploration of our solar system and the universe itself, this is an excellent chance to see how the fifteenth through nineteenth century people set the stage for our present explorations. Anyone with an interest in the history of astronomy, maritime navigation or earth and planetary mapping will count this as a special addition to their library.

Anybody with even the remotest interest in astronomy or the histroy of science is going to love looking at the pictures in this book!
Anybody who's familiar with Stephenson's other books, The Music of the Heavens and Kepler's Physical Astronomy, are likely to be disappointed with the text. Those other books are masterpieces of definitive scholarship. The present book is intended to be a popular book, but I was still expecting better explanations. But you will probably be too busy admiring the pictures to notice!

This book has a great many beautiful photos of old astronomical instruments. The variety and to some degree the quality, if not the size of the photos rivals those found in my *much* more expensive copy of Dekker's "Globes at Greenwich". The text is competent, but really stands mostly as a stand for the photos, although it's worth noting that there is some explanatory information here I've never seen elsewhere: for example, the description and photos of "volvelles", little working paper models of the heavens included in some rare old books on the heavens. Good book, great value.

Very well presented historic maps of the heavens and pictures of astronomical instruments. However the text itself is quite brief and written only to describe the pictures, with little background provided. Students and others seeking more insights into stronomical history and how the instruments were used will need to seek out other publications for more depth.

Truly beautiful photographs--truly dreadful writing.