Visions of the Cosmos [Hardcover]

Carolyn Collins Petersen (Author), John C. Brandt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521818982 | ISBN-13: 978-0521818988 | Publication Date: December 22, 2003 | Edition: First Edition

This spectacularly illustrated book is a comprehensive exploration of astronomy through the eyes of the world's observatories and spacecraft missions. Featuring the latest and most stunning images, it provides a magnificent picture of the beauty of the cosmos. The accompanying text is an accessible guide to the science behind the wonders and includes clear explanations of all the major themes in astronomy. An essential guide to understanding and appreciating the Universe, Visions of the Cosmos builds on the success of the authors' previous book, Hubble Vision, which became an international best-seller and won world-wide acclaim. Carolyn Collins Petersen is a science journalist and creator of educational materials for astronomy. She is the former Editor of Books & Products at Sky Publishing Corporation, and served as Editor of SkyWatch and Associate Editor of Sky & Telescope magazines. Petersen is the lead author of the book Hubble Vision, first published in 1995 by Cambridge University Press, and co-written with Dr. John C. Brandt. She is also co-editor (with J. Kelly Beatty and Andrew Chaikin) of The New Solar System, fourth edition, co-published by Sky Publishing Corporation and Cambridge University Press. John C. Brandt has held positions as a research scientist, teacher, and administrator, and is currently an adjunct professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Mexico. He served for 20 years as Chief of a major NASA scientific laboratory and was the Principal Inverstigator for the Goddard High Resolution Spectograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. John received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1978 and 1992, and has had a minor planet formally named after him (3503 Brandt) for his fundamental contributions to understanding of solar system astrophysics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...an excellent basic introduction to astronomy. The authors grab the readers attention with the excellent photographs, and then explain them in easy to understand terms. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a quick overview of astronomy, or who just wants to look at some amazing pictures." Stardust

"This book may look like eye candy, but it does have something to say, and it says it in a voice often as alluring as its images." Sky and Telescope

"The photographs are exceptional, stupendous even, and the accompanying text manages the small miracle of doing them justice. This is an elegant and enthralling volume that lavishes marveling sentience with the optics of a mysterium tremendum: the "mature" science of the cosmos." San Francisco Chronicle

Book Description

This spectacularly illustrated book is a comprehensive exploration of astronomy through the eyes of the world's observatories and spacecraft missions. Featuring the latest and most stunning images, it provides a magnificent portrayal of the beauty of the cosmos. The accompanying text is an accessible guide to the science behind the wonders, with clear explanations of all the major themes in astronomy. An essential guide to understanding and appreciating the Universe, Visions of the Cosmos builds on the success of the authors' previous best-selling book, Hubble Vision.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition edition (December 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521818982
• ISBN-13: 978-0521818988
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,970,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Survey of a Beautiful Universe, March 11, 2005

By 

Jay Pasachoff (Williamstown, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visions of the Cosmos (Hardcover)

When I opened Carolyn Peterson and John Brandt's book, my jaw dropped as I leafed through the fantastic pictures in the opening chapter. It's a wide ranging survey of astronomical beauty, from Mars and the sun out to gorgeous Hubble Space Telescope images of galaxies.

Chapter 2 then changes to spectacular photos of mountaintop observatories, followed by descriptions, and then segueing into space telescopes. The book continues in this way: large-scale, well printed photographs taking up as much or more space than well-written descriptions. The chapter on planets takes this mix from pages 50 to 90. Stars and nebulae then go from 91 to 130 followed by galaxies through page 157. A beautiful photo of Easter Island heads marks the opening spread of the final chapter, "The once and future universe," with discusses cosmology, including the latest from Hubble and from the details shown by the cosmic background radiation. A final chapter on stargazing shows future plans for telescopes and spacecraft. I hope that someone really builds the "Overwhelming Large" telescope, OWL.

With lists of extra readings and Websites, and a glossary to help, I can't think of a better book to introduce people to the glories of the universe.

Jay Pasachoff

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious images of the heavens, December 17, 2004

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visions of the Cosmos (Hardcover)

This is a great book for anyone interested in astronomy. It's easy to read, it's informative, and it has some incredible and beautiful pictures ... plenty of them! And no math to slow down the readers.

It tells the reader about distances. And about the spectrum, and related temperatures. And all sorts of wonderful things about telescopes. There's a really nice description of our planetary system. We get to learn some fundamental properties of stars, and you are taught about the main sequence and H-R diagrams. We read about star formation: protostars, accretion disks, and Herbig-Haro objects. And about extrasolar planets.

Next we learn about star death. That means looking at planetary nebulae, supernovae, and cataclysmic variable stars. And there's a discussion of Gamma-ray bursters.

Then we look at galaxies. We find out how galaxies are categorized and learn about galactic evolution and mergers and star formation rates. And about active galaxies, quasars, and black holes.

After that, there is a chapter on cosmology. We find out about dark matter and dark energy. And how the expansion of our universe is accelerating.

The final chapter is about future space missions and telescopes. That includes missions to Mars, a comet impact in 2005, and space telescopes that may find some more extrasolar planets. In addition we read about a proposal for a 100-meter ground-based scope, the OWL (OverWhelmingly Large Telescope). As well as the Low-Frequency Array, a set of thousands of antennas that might not be built in the Netherlands, as the array may be larger than that nation.

I think it may be worth getting this book for the pictures alone. It would be a good gift item.