Cosmos 1st Edition

by Giles Sparrow (Author)

113 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1905204298

ISBN-10: 1905204299

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There is a newer edition of this item:

Cosmos: A Field Guide
$49.99
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First UK Edition, 2006, first printing, an unread, unworn, unopened, unmarked, magnificently over sized hardcover with unclipped (no price anywhere) dust jacket, from Quercus, London. By Giles Sparrow. ISBN 978-1-84868-363-3. This spectacular book weighs almost 8 pounds and measures about 1 1/2" X 17 1/3" X 14 1/5", with 224 pages, and has over 450 most-up-to-date photographs and illustrations. The ultimate guide to the universe from our home planet to the edge of space and time. No bigger subject, no bigger book.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Smith-Davies Pub; 1st Edition (October 30, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1905204299
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1905204298
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.8 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.5 x 1.25 x 17.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #447 in Photography (Books)
- #1,194 in Cosmology (Books)
- #1,212 in Photo Essays (Books)

Customer Reviews:
113 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		84%
4 star		9%
3 star 0% (0%)		0%
2 star		2%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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BookLoverInCA

"Cosmos", by Giles Sparrow -- Large, gorgeous book with beautiful photos of outer space

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I loved this book from the first time I saw it. It is big: 17"x14"x1"
It is full of big, beautiful photos of planets, nebulae, galaxies,
quasars, etc. All are,very well-reproduced.in beautiful color.
This is the 2012 edition, so it is pretty up-to-date. There is a very
well-written and evocative Foreword by Dava Sobel. This wonderful book
will take the reader on a tour of the universe, starting withe the planets
of our solar system, and on out from there. There is a gorgeous photo
of the spiral galaxy in Andromeda which is spread over two pages, which
really emphasizes its loveliness.

There is also excellent text that goes,along with each photo.
(The page numbers are dark red on black, which makes them
hard to read, but they can be read with a little effort.)

This magnificent book should be in every school, and teachers
should introduce students to it with a sense of the wonder that fills it.

I will treasure this book always.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

AmazonDMD

Amazing!!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

This book caught my eye at the library about 3 years ago, so I decided to check it out. Little did I know that it would lead me to the door that would open to a world of astronomy, and spark a new hobby and fascination. The book is very large with beautiful pictures of so many objects in out universe. The text is precise, but not to uninformative. I have since bought other astronomy books since I have this new fascination, but every one has been slightly less satisfying than this book. It would be the perfect coffee table book, except for it is so priceless to me I don't want it to really get damaged from kids and visitors, you know? I also got "the planets" by Giles Sparrow, and it was a great book with a focus on our solar system, however, it was not the same size. It is a good book in it's own right, but the Cosmos blows your mind. Very highly rated.

4 people found this helpful

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Chelsea

Came in looking great

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2019

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Some wear and tear on my copy because I bought it used, but it's a great book with beautiful pictures

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DOPE

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2022

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super cool book!

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Gary Utz

An astronomically beautiful book.

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2012

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This book is by far the most beautiful book I have ever owned. Its pictures are as large and as stunning as its subject matter; with all aspects of astronomy and cosmology covered in easy to understand yet informative language. It is highly recommended. I have but one small disappointment - the size of my three favorite nebulae:the Spirograph, the Hourglass and the Cat's Eye are all presented in photos of about three inches square while the rest of the enormous page is left empty. In fact, all the nebulae are a little too small on the page. But this does not diminish the scope of this wonderful book. If you love astronomy this book is for you. I wish my mother would have been able to give this to me when I was a child for I would have become a professional astronomer for sure.

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Aaron

The best picures ever.

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2013

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I like books with color along with good reading content. This has the best pictures out of any book I have seen and I own four other books along this line. This thing is huge and I had to raise my bookshelf to fit it in (I have seven foot shelves). The content and explanations are easy to understand, but the pictures are just breath taking. The only pictures you are going to get better than these are expensive acrylic prints on metallic paper (trust me I own some).

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mrs

Buy this book (please)

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2009

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If you have any interest in space at all this is the one and only book you need.The pictures are all beautiful ,the writing is detailed enough without being confusing and the size alone is impressive.I have owned this book for quite some time now and have never put it "up" yet.It is always open on my coffee table and when I have a moment I stop and read a little or just take a minute to marvel at what is "out there".It gives info. about the planets,moons,stars,sun and on and on.Trust me you will not regret owning this book.

4 people found this helpful

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N Turner

Best purchase for a long time

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2015

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Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous pictures in this large-format book. Best purchase for a long time.

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Top reviews from other countries

Frank D

Nearly outstanding

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

This spectacular book comes within an ace of being a truly superb volume.

It falls short of the mark with some mildly moronic page designs where pictures are separated from their captions quite unnecessarily and impractically, especially when given the adequacy of the space available. That text boxes are plonked over critical image segments (when they are not floating disconnected on others) suggests strongly that the book was designed by people with little feel for the subject.

Author Giles Sparrow's overall grasp of a extensive subject is quite commendable. However, the book is marred in places where his lack of expertise does shines through with instances of indifferent text and a failure to deliver clinching insights - something that could easily have been rectified with more proficient and knowledgeable editors.

Similarly, in addition to errors already mention in other reviews, some of the 'facts' vary uncomfortably, as with the distance of Betelgeuse stated as 427 light years distant on one page and 440ly on another. Andromeda is worryingly described in one single caption as being 200 000 light years in diameter and 250 000 light years across just a mere 6 lines later. Its stellar population as stated at 400 billion stars is way short of the accepted value of 1 trillion stars..... and so on. The otherwise excellent schematic of Jupiter's moons is blemished by distances which are out by a factor of ten, suggesting again editors unfamiliar with numbers. It sounds harsh, but the sheer lavishness of the book outshines these failings.

Generally, the choice of pictures is superb, but one may quibble that better Lunar and Mars photos are available from the same sources, and that too much space was devoted to nebula purely on the basis of prettiness.

But the real excellence of this book lies in the technical brilliance of the printing and image transfer. It is formidably superb. (The Chinese printers are advised to have their name printed in future editions.)

In terms of sheer volume, ink on page and stunning images, Cosmos is unbeatable.

10 people found this helpful

Rachel

Fantastic!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

I bought this as a gift for my other half who has a keen interest in all things space, with a particular love of the imagary. He was absolutely silent for the first hour or so that he had the book, only speaking to talk about something that had particularly sparked his interest. It's written in such a way that even the most unfamiliar with the topic can easily read and enjoy it. The pictures are superb, and are done real justice by being printed on glossy black paper.

Mark Walters

The most spectacular astronomy photo book currently available

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

I have the Dorling Kindersley book "Universe" and thought that was pretty stunning and difficult to beat, but then I read a review of this book on one of the astronomy forums and had a look on Amazon. Having read the reviews below I was assured this would be worth the purchase. The reviews did not lie!! This is quite simply the best photographic astronomy book out there at the moment. If you just want one book to inspire people and make them gawp at the awesomeness of what lies beyond our atmosphere this is surely it. The only problem I have now is finding shelf space for it!

10 people found this helpful

G. G. Curtis

Mind blowing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2010

Verified Purchase

When my son and his wife gave me an Amazon voucher for Christmas last year, there was absolutely no hesitation what I was going to buy. I bought 'Cosmos' and 'Galaxy' by Stuart Clark. They are both absolutely stunning, and complement one another. For anyone who is intersted in Astonomy these two volumes are an absolute must. Their large size is fully justified by the quality of the photos which are absolutely stunning.

One person found this helpful

Gadget buyer

big book about a big place

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2010

Verified Purchase

this book is huge you will have to put it in a special place it is so big.
The pictures are amazing especially if you like "Astronomy Picture of the Day" website.

There isnt huge amount of info. but thats a good thing as its mainily about the awesome pictures. You will feel small after looking at this , even if your not a space geek.

One person found this helpful

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