Books you've read; Astronomy
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 7:49 pm
I'm making this thread in the hopes everyone can share the books they've read pertaining to astronomy and those you highly recommend.
Obviously we can't be throwing out books Willy Nilly and expect just anyone can follow along so I ask that you give a brief description of what the book entails.
I'll begin.
I've read "The Exploding Suns" by Isaac Asimov and thought the book was excellent. I recommend reading it for those that would like to learn more about Supernovas in general, as is what the book is about generally, but also gives a brief history lesson among other notes related to astronomy.
In case you're wondering Supernovas are stars that reach the point from which they are unable to support their own gravitational pull through combustion and ultimately explode on a truly colossal scale. Love reading about them.
I'd also read "Counting the Eons" by Isaac Asimov and wasn't exactly impressed. The topics jump around and is too technical for my current interests. If you love reading and don't get enough of astronomy by all means pick it up.
I'd read "The Universe in a Nutshell" By Stephen Hawking. It's more to do with cosmology so I wouldn't recommend this book for the beginner astronomer. It will just start sounding like a science fiction tale designed to make you assume you're not stupid!
All in all I'm looking for a good book on astronomy that will benefit my level of knowledge pertaining to astronomy. I love the visualizations of reading about astronomy but I'll have you know I grasp concepts quite instinctively well.
What say ye?
Obviously we can't be throwing out books Willy Nilly and expect just anyone can follow along so I ask that you give a brief description of what the book entails.
I'll begin.
I've read "The Exploding Suns" by Isaac Asimov and thought the book was excellent. I recommend reading it for those that would like to learn more about Supernovas in general, as is what the book is about generally, but also gives a brief history lesson among other notes related to astronomy.
In case you're wondering Supernovas are stars that reach the point from which they are unable to support their own gravitational pull through combustion and ultimately explode on a truly colossal scale. Love reading about them.
I'd also read "Counting the Eons" by Isaac Asimov and wasn't exactly impressed. The topics jump around and is too technical for my current interests. If you love reading and don't get enough of astronomy by all means pick it up.
I'd read "The Universe in a Nutshell" By Stephen Hawking. It's more to do with cosmology so I wouldn't recommend this book for the beginner astronomer. It will just start sounding like a science fiction tale designed to make you assume you're not stupid!
All in all I'm looking for a good book on astronomy that will benefit my level of knowledge pertaining to astronomy. I love the visualizations of reading about astronomy but I'll have you know I grasp concepts quite instinctively well.
What say ye?