Customer Reviews

A View of the Universe

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For those with a love of astronomy, David Malin's _A View of the Universe_ is by far one of the most magnificent books available. Malin, one of the finest stellar photographers ever, has presented his readers with not only fascinating and eminently readable text about astronomical photography and the stars themselves, but has provided some of the most incredible photographs in existence. The images in his book are of a spectacular, moving beauty, giving the reader a sense of the wonder and magnificence beyond our skies. This is an amazing book--not only should astronomers read it, but people with little or no astronomical background will find it enthralling as well. Malin has brought to us the very beauty which first inspired humans to be interested in the sky--and doubtless many will walk away from this book with that ancient interest new-kindled within them.

David Malin is one of the world's best astrophotographers. This book perfectly displays his work from the Anglo-Australian Observatory. The photos are stunning. Malin actually seems to be able to capture movement in his photos showing the universe is certainly not static. This book is a must for your library.

This easy to read and understand book includes spectacular photographs and explanations of celestial sights and events. I flipped through it at Borders and bought it mainly for the pictures but it makes for good reading also. Malin takes you on a journey around the galaxy and to places further out, places like the galaxy M-83, which can be described in one word: incredible. He doesn't dazzle you with confusing technical terms. You almost feel like you're out on a clear, moonless, very dark night with a buddy who has a great telescope.

David Malin is an astronomical photographer. In this book he shows his love for both astronomy and photography. He gives a lot of information about stars, globular nebula, supernovas, galaxies etc. etc. But he also explains how they are photographed! He describes all kinds of techniques that are used to make things visible that would otherwise stay undetected. The writer explains why it is better to make astronomical photos from three separate B/W plates with use of blue, green and red filters, instead of using regular colour film. He explains the reason behind using more than one plate for photographing faint objects. Or techniques like "unsharp masking" and "amplification". His story is illustrated throughout the book with many photos. Regularly the same object is shown with the use of varying techniques.

The book contains 66 B/W-photos and 149 colour photos (20 colour photos full page). Reproduction quality is good, as befits a book by a photographer. Only a side-by-side comparison with the coffee-table sized book "Magnificent Universe" by Ken Crosswell shows that in that book the photos are even better reproduced, although not by too big a margin. The paper quality is good (nice, thick paper). The book is well bound. Compared to "Magnificent Universe" I like the text more. This book is highly recommended.

Actually it does say postcards above but I didn't notice when I bought it. Considering the price probably it couldn't have been anything else but just thought I'd point it out in case anyone else was going to miss it. Nice postcards of course, but only postcards.

The photos in this book are positively stunning! This book is great for the price, and it might help to pique your curiosity about the universe. I would recommend it for the novice astronomer or astrophotographer, as it will give you a goal to strive for! (However, I am sure that seasoned veterans will enjoy it as well.)