In Quest of the Universe

Rating:
Summary: A high and clear path through the jungle of details.
Review: I taught from this book (in 2 editions) for 6-7 years. Market forces assure that the content of college level astro books is quite uniform, but what sets Kuhn apart is his strong conceptual approach--he does a better job than most competitors in NOT BURYING the student under a welter of suffocating detail. He also tries to keep vocabulary to the minimum necessary. In other words, he works hard to combat that #1 demon infesting intro. college courses: factual overload. In recent years, other authors have jumped on the bandwagon of making astro texts more concise and focussed--beginning to cater to one of the strongest needs of the typical student--but Karl Kuhn was one of the first and best to blaze the conceptual trail. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: good price, clear explanation
Review: This book is significantly cheaper than the competing books, but more important, it does a better job of explaining many topics.