Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide, Sixth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Good diagrams and easy format for the beginner/intermediate
Review: Dinah's book is a great workbook to use in conjunction with learning astronomy from a larger, more complete text. I have often left a larger text to pull out Dinah's as she gets to the point quicker and helps the reader stay focused. Although she walks you through concepts more clearly and concisely than many larger texts, you often find that you want to know *why* or just more about a particular topic, and in this regard, combining this book with Zeilik's or Arny's works very well.

Rating:
Summary: Good diagrams and easy format for the beginner/intermediate
Review: Dinah's book is a great workbook to use in conjunction with learning astronomy from a larger, more complete text. I have often left a larger text to pull out Dinah's as she gets to the point quicker and helps the reader stay focused. Although she walks you through concepts more clearly and concisely than many larger texts, you often find that you want to know *why* or just more about a particular topic, and in this regard, combining this book with Zeilik's or Arny's works very well.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific introduction to Astronomy
Review: I have just completed an introductory course in Astronomy and I was surprised to find out how much is covered in Dinah Moche's book. She is able to cut through to the important ideas and topics without a lot of minute details. If you want to start learning about astronomy, get this book. It is as good an intro you will get, including college.

Rating:
Summary: a nice little book for intro to astronomy
Review: I think that as an introduction to astronomy, this book is just great!! It helped me to understand the stars and planets, as well as related scientific theories, better.

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to astronomy
Review: I think that as an introduction to astronomy, this book is just great!! It helped me to understand the stars and planets, as well as related scientific theories, better.

Rating:
Summary: An armchair guide to the cosmos
Review: I'm an armchair astronomer. While I save up to buy that telescope, I read books like this, attend star parties (dark sky gatherings where amateur astronomers let wannabes like me peek through their scopes) and daydream about the day when my future telescope sees first light.
This is a great book for people like me. It's the equivalent of a very thorough undergraduate "Introduction to Astronomy" class. The author makes good use of illustrations throughout the book to explain difficult concepts like stellar spectra, distances to astronomical objects, and how astronomers determine the temperature, mass, and composition of stars.
New discoveries are being made every day in astronomy,and of course it's impossible for a book to be as current as today's newspaper. Readers of this book will want to update themselves on certain topics, such as extrasolar planets, human spaceflight, SETI, the explosion of CCD photography in amateur astronomy, among others. A list of resources to do just that is provided in the back of the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to be entertained and enlightened at the same time. If you're like me, preparing to morph from armchair to amateur status, this book provides an excellent foundation.

Rating:
Summary: An armchair guide to the cosmos
Review: I'm an armchair astronomer. While I save up to buy that telescope, I read books like this, attend star parties (dark sky gatherings where amateur astronomers let wannabes like me peek through their scopes) and daydream about the day when my future telescope sees first light.
This is a great book for people like me. It's the equivalent of a very thorough undergraduate "Introduction to Astronomy" class. The author makes good use of illustrations throughout the book to explain difficult concepts like stellar spectra, distances to astronomical objects, and how astronomers determine the temperature, mass, and composition of stars.
New discoveries are being made every day in astronomy,and of course it's impossible for a book to be as current as today's newspaper. Readers of this book will want to update themselves on certain topics, such as extrasolar planets, human spaceflight, SETI, the explosion of CCD photography in amateur astronomy, among others. A list of resources to do just that is provided in the back of the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to be entertained and enlightened at the same time. If you're like me, preparing to morph from armchair to amateur status, this book provides an excellent foundation.

Rating:
Summary: a nice little book for intro to astronomy
Review: Obviously there are no people who are completely clueless about astronomy since we all were taught as children (at least I was) about the planets in our solar system and about other galaxies. Beyond that most people would not know much about astronomy; which is where this nice little book comes in handy. It has enough information on astronomy subjects without mathematics and without being textbook-like. I think the value of this book is the combination of illustrations and text that stimulate an interest to explore the topics (in another, more extensive book) if this is so desired. And if not, then it is still a good overview of astronomy. Good book for the price!

Rating:
Summary: A terrific introduction to Astronomy
Review: The book contain short information on every aspect of astronomy.It is well written with good methodology.The draft are not so clear and in astronomy they have to be three dimssion coloured drafts.

Rating:
Summary: A good astronomy book for beginners
Review: The book contain short information on every aspect of astronomy.It is well written with good methodology.The draft are not so clear and in astronomy they have to be three dimssion coloured drafts.