Product Description
Seen | Unseen is a deep, richly illustrated, and erudite analysis of the interconnections between science and the visual arts. Martin Kemp explores the responses of artists, scientists, and their instruments, to the world--ranging from early representations of perspective, to pinhole cameras, particle accelerators and the Hubble telescope.

From Leonardo, Durer, and the inventors of photography to contemporary sculptors, and from Galileo and Darwin to Stephen J. Gould, Kemp considers the way in which scientists and artists have perceived the world and responded to its patterns, and sees common "structural intuitions" reflected in their work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Art & Science, Friends for Life
Please don't be put off by the Introduction. Keep reading; you'll be glad you did. The Intro seemed (to me) to be an extreme example of the overly precise elaboration of subtle(!) nuances that readers of scholarly writings learn to tolerate because we NEED the information buried - somewhere - within. But as soon as he moved away from trying to explain himself (his intentions, his book), and moved onto his topic, the writing began to flow. It became a wonderful opportunity to "listen" while an expert mused upon the historical intertwinement of the evolution(s) of art (his field) and science (one he has bothered to learn quite a lot about) ... and their apparent interdependence. He claims interest only in the varied uses of visual experience, but not in the currently-popular reconciliation of art and science. Yet, page by page, I found myself developing clearer understanding of why so many thinkers are feeling driven to try to reconcile these realms of activity that are often contrasted in ways that demean one or the other. Similarly, he shows no particular interest in a third currently-popular realm that I expected to find treated, our evolving brain and its wiring &/or activity. But he has made it easier for someone who does have this interest to write the next book in what could become a "series." ... Read more

Product Description
The Space Telescope, launched into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle late in 1989, promised to be the most powerful optical telescope ever built, yielding new insights into the past, present, and future of the universe. The authors trace the Telescope's history and detail the astonishingly complex interactions that took place between the scientific community, government, and private industry in the course of its development. The Telescope is thus much more than a new astronomical instrument but instead must be seen as the product of a great range of forces: scientific, technical, political, social, institutional, and economic. The history of the Space Telescope is set in the context of post-World War II science and 'Big Science' - large scale scientific projects that require massive federal funding and are as much political and managerial efforts as they are scientific and technical ones. The Space Telescope is an example of a Big Science program of the very largest kind, and the book thus reveals the many complex factors and new institutions and strategies that are involved in funding and carrying out large scale scientific projects in the late twentieth century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What a big project got to go through
If you thought they just build the Hubble Space Telescope and launched it, you're wrong. This book let you see what all such projects got to go through from the first bright idea and to the actual launch of an earth orbiting space vehicle. Sander Elvik, aerospace engineering student ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is concerned essentially with the modern developments in reflecting telescope optics. In the last twenty years, modern technology has revolutionized not only manufacturing and test procedures but also the whole area of quality specification with the introduction of active control into the functioning telescope. Other subjects covered here are alignment of telescope optics, atmospheric optics, including adaptive optics, reflecting coatings and ancillary equipment (adapters and baffles). Although an independent work, Vol. II is heavily cross-referenced with Vol. I. It is richly illustrated and gives, together with Vol. I, the most complete list of references available; it can also therefore be regarded as a source book. ... Read more

Product Description
Few NASA announcements stirred as much public controversy as when NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe canceled the fifth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. On January 16, 2004, the outcry from the scientific community and general public was surprising, coming less than a year after Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry. Launched by Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990, Hubble has circled Earth more than 97,000 times and provided more than 4,000 astronomers access to the stars not possible from inside the Earth's atmosphere. Hubble has helped answer some of science's key questions and provided compelling images of our solar system that have awed and inspired the world.
Fortunately, things change. After further evaluation, the agency authorized the last servicing mission to Hubble. The STS-125 mission returned the space shuttle to the Hubble Space Telescope for one last visit before the shuttle fleet retires in 2010. Over 12 days and five spacewalks, the crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis made repairs and upgrades to the telescope, leaving it in better shape than ever and ready for another five years or more of research.
Servicing the Hubble Space Telescope: Space Shuttle Atlantis 2009 follows the final Shuttle servicing mission from the press conference announcement through crew training and vehicle launch preparation. Stunning on-orbit photography taken by the astronauts during five spacewalks is featured along with Altantis' triumphant return to the Kennedy Space Center. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Wonderful Treatment
This book makes a wonderful new edition to any spaceflight enthusiast library.The authors Jenkins and Frank, like their previous treatments have provided a nice compact book on the most recent and last servicing mission to the space telescope.The pictures in this work are outstanding.The opening sections of the book detailing the history and developement of the HST is informative and great reading.As I stated in a prior review, I wish the authors could chronicle the remaining space shuttle flights.They do a very good job of capturing the subject matter both in easy on the eyes text and did I mention outstanding pictures.I guess one could argue that this material is available on the net.But I for one still like books, and this format which not only covers the very last mission but also the other servicing missions to the telescope, is a handy guide to truly one of the greatest achievements in engineering and manned spaceflight. ... Read more

Product Description
Eyes on the Universe is an illustrated history of the telescope, beginning with pre-telescopic observatories and the refractors of Galileo, Lippershey and Digges, and ending with the most modern instruments including - of course - the Hubble Space Telescope. Written by Dr Patrick Moore CBE, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the world's longest-running television programme, the BBC's The Sky at Night, the book takes an enthusiastic look at the development of astronomical telescopes. It provides its readers with a fascinating overview of the way astronomical telescopes have evolved with technology during the past 450 years. Amateur and professional astronomers alike will find this book both entertaining and instructive. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of contributions to amateur precision optics by numerous authorities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

As relevant as the day it was published
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RLOXR1GT67IFY This is a video review of Amateur Telescope Making Volume Two. I highly recommend this book as a thoughtful analysis of advanced practical optics and related topics for the amateur. Although I filmed this review at Stellafane, that is not to be construed as an endorsement of my review by The Springfield Telescope Makers. It does however make a nice background for the review.Amateur Telescope Making : Books 1, 2, and 3, Complete in 3 VolumesAmateur Telescope Making Advanced (Book Two) ... Read more

Product Description
Pleasures of the Telescope: An Illustrated Guide for Amateur Astronomers and a Popular Description of the Chief Wonders of the Heavens for General Readers by Garrett Putman Serviss

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Towards the second half of this decade several major telescope facilities operating in the infrared submillimeter and millimeter wave bands will become operational. These missions are expected to throw much light on our understanding of the the star formation phenomenon, which is addressed as one of the primary science goals in these wave bands. This book is the proceedings of the "Cores to Clusters" workshop held at Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto during 7 - 9 October, 2004 to discuss current and future issues in star formation physics in the light of these Next Generation Telescopes.

Product Description
Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS has long been the scourge of those people selling low-cost astronomical telescopes via mail-order catalogs and non-specialist stores. Ten years ago the quality was appalling and disappointment would have been almost guaranteed. But times have changed, and having surveyed some the best and worst of today's inexpensive mail-order catalog and main-street astronomical telescopes, the authors have admitted to being astonished by how good some of them are.||Astronomy With a Budget Telescope is in two parts. The first provides reports on some available models along with detailed and essential hints and tips about what to look for when buying. The second part describes how best to use the telescope, which celestial objects to observe (with full-page star charts to help find them), what you can expect to see, and how to take and even computer-enhance astronomical photographs.||- Explains what to look for when buying a low-cost telescope|- Lists and describes the best celestial objects to observe|- Includes a detailed full-page star chart for every object listed, showing where to find it|- Illustrates what observers can expect to see|- Includes a section on how to photograph and computer-enhance astronomical images|- Full color throughout ... Read more

Product Description
Describes how the telescope came to be invented, its effect on scientific study, especially astronomy, and the impact it has had on our lives. ... Read more

Product Description

Choosing and Using a Refracting Telescope has been written for the many amateur astronomers who already own, or are intending to purchase, a refracting telescope – perhaps to complement their existing arsenal of larger reflecting telescopes – or for the specialist who requires a particular refractor for serious astronomical applications or nature studies.

Four hundred year ago, during the winter of 1609, a relatively unknown Italian scientist, Galileo Galilei designed a spyglass with two crude lenses and turned it skyward. Since then, refractors have retained their dominance over all types of reflector in studies of the Moon, planets and double stars because of the precision of their optics and lack of a central obstruction in the optical path, which causes diffraction effects in all commercially-made reflectors.

Most mature amateur astronomers got started with a 60mm refractor, or something similar. Thirty years ago, there was little choice available to the hobbyist, but in the last decade long focus crown-flint achromats have moved aside for some exquisitely crafted apochromatic designs offered by leading commercial manufacturers. There has been a huge increase in the popularity of these telescopes in the last few years, led by a significant increase in the number of companies (particularly, William Optics, Orion USA, StellarVue, SkyWatcher and AstroTech) who are now heavily marketing refractors in the amateur astronomical magazines.

In Choosing and Using a Refracting Telescope, well-known observer and astronomy writer Neil English celebrates the remarkable history and evolution of the refracting telescope and looks in detail at the instruments, their development and their use.

A major feature of this book is the way it compares not only different classes of refractor, but also telescopes of each class that are sold by various commercial manufacturers. The author is perhaps uniquely placed to do this, having used and tested literally hundreds of different refracting telescopes over three decades.

Because it includes many diverse subjects such as imaging with consumer-level digital cameras, imaging with webcams, and imaging with astronomical CCD cameras – that are not covered together in equal depth in any other single volume – Choosing and Using a Refracting Telescope could become the ‘refractor bible’ for amateur astronomers at all levels, especially those who are interested in imaging astronomical objects of every class.

Customer Reviews (2)

Giant professional astronomer, rocketguidance systems, teacher, cat lover
As an amateur astronomer of 40 years I loved this book. An easy read.Can be read in one day but DONT.Take your time and enjoy it.I like the pictures too. Best one is older Clyde with his eyes closed petting his cat Pluto. Shear contentment and love.David Levy another giant of an astronomer was a friend of Clyde Tombaugh and did days and days of interviews with Clydeand other people to write this great book.

We see Clyde growing up on a farm and interested in astronomy and building telescopes.His father plays a big part in Clyde's life imparting to Clyde to "Do a job right the first time and you wont have to do it again". He gets an offer to work at a telescope manufacturer or observing and blinking images at the Lowell observatory. He takes the Lowell observatory job and gets a good salary for the time. Its during the depression and any good paying job is great. He image blinks thousands and thousands of images on to plates and spends countless hours observing in the cold observatory trying to find planet X plus sharing janitorial jobs at the observatory. His bosses thought the world of Perceval Lowell(another giant astronomer),even though Lowell was wrong about the canals of Mars. The director of the observatory thought Lowell was an astronomy god.

Clyde gets his BS degree.

Slowly Clyde gains their respect and eventually assumes all duties of blinking and trying to find planet X. After years of very hard meticulous work Clyde finds planet X. Its named Pluto and the astronomy world and the press go crazy.

Clyde gets hisMasters degree.Clyde marries but still does not have a PHD

The director gets jealous of all the attention Clyde is getting andthat the other researchers and Lowell Observatory is not getting the credit so he asks Clyde to leave.

Clyde joins the army, becomes a Lt Colonel and becomes in charge of missile optical guidance systems. Later he gets an honorary PHD degree. Clyde alsoteaches at colleges and universities as well as is an active lecturer and publishes various articles. Also told astronomer Hubble that galaxies tended to be clumped together. Hubble said no. Tombaugh was right!

Here is a man who accomplished so much in both astronomy, the military, and teaching because of his hard meticulous keeping to detail and trying to do it right the first time. Also read about the various other telescopes he put together and observed with.

Read the book. Clyde Tombaugh main fame was the discovery of the planet Pluto but he accomplished so much more in life. The world misses a great man and his accomplishments. A good inspiration of things that can be accomplished if you have a serious work ethic and are willing to give it your all to get it done right the first time.

"They've got his book!"
When this book was first published by the University of Arizona Press back in 1991, I happened to be in a small bookstore when in walked Eugene Shoemaker.This was before the names of Shoemaker and Levy had been publicly linked in the name of a famous comet.Shoemaker spotted this book on the shelf and exclaimed happily:"Look!They've got David Levy's book on Clyde Tombaugh!"I vaguely recall that he even picked up the book and eagerly showed it to a friend.No doubt Shoemaker would be pleased that Sky and Telescope Books has now 'got' this book back into print.

While David Levy may be better known as an astronomer than as a biographer, he has a couple of stronger-than-usual qualifications to write Tombaugh's biography: he knew Tombaugh over many years and got Tombaugh's cooperation for this book, and he appreciates better than anyone what an extraordinary task it was for Tombaugh to search through a large portion of the sky, both before and after the Pluto discovery.

Clyde Tombaugh took a unique arc through the world of astronomy. Lowell Observatory hired him precisely because he was a Kansas farm boy without academic qualifications and would be thrilled to work for peanuts on a task that most astronomers considered futile.Tombaugh was indeed thrilled by the chance to observe the sky full-time.He was motivated by a basic deep love of astronomy that never left him amidst all the twists and frustrations of his further career.There are few biographies of astromoners in which the sheer joy of astronomy speaks so clearly.Levy also does justice to the scientific challenges involved in searching for Pluto.But Tombaugh's systematic sky survey had larger, cosmological implications: he was seeing the clumpy distribution of galaxies and challenged Edwin Hubble's opinion that the galaxies were distributed more uniformly.Tombaugh also had an adventure in pioneer rocketry, spending several years at White Sands in the 1950s, helping Von Braun's team develop some basic techniques that would become familiar to the public watching the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo programs.

I put Levy's biography to a unique, tough test.I read it after visiting the small town in Kansas from which Tombaugh came.I spoke with Tombaugh's nephew and with locals who had known the Tombaugh family.I went through the local newspaper file and and visited the school Tombaugh attended (and I even showed the latest issue of Sky and Telescope, with its cover story on Pluto, to Mrs. Miller's third grade class).I visited the now-abandoned Tombaugh farmstead and found the weed-hidden cement telescope mount Tombaugh had built for the telescope he used to make the drawings for which Lowell Observatory hired him.After such a personal exposure, there's a danger that a biography will fall short, ringing false in emphasis or slipping up on various details.But it's clear that Levy got to know Tombaugh pretty well.More importantly, he turns Tombaugh into an Everyman Hero for anyone who finds astronomy to be an adventure.

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Customer Reviews (3)

Insightful, detailed and very helpful
I found this book to be insightful, detailed and very helpful.It is the only book I've found that completely and competently addresses the subject of telescope control by computer.Its figures, tables and mathematicalformulae are useful, as are the instructions for system configurations.

I highly recommend this book.

Some fair explanation but lacks some of that grey matter
A nice try but it does seem to elaborate more on professional installations.It would be more benefical to explain more about half stepping and micro-stepping since most amateur's probably are doing thereown automation with a somewhat limited budget. Servo's are nice but theyshould be for a several thousand dollars. Bottom line is if you envisionthis book to show you how to make your telescope automatic forget it. Lookon the web there's plenty of cutting edge technology to engulf on.

geared towards profesional telescope installations
I have recently purchased this book. I found it more geared towards the professional telescope design. It should have been written with the amatuer astronomer/telescope builder in mind. I did find some of the information useful, especially the software hardcopies. The book was somewhat lacking in showing how to remote operate telescopes via phone line, internet, or packet radio such as that found at the Bradford telescope, Apache Point Observatory, and various other systems.I thought the original edition that came out quite a few years ago was better. I highly recommend that the original edition be acquired via library loan to get the most out of this book. The book can further be improved by including more automation systems and circuit designs such as an automatic dome rotation to track your telescope and reviews of the modern automated telescopes for the amatuer such as the LX-200. I think that I will have to write my own book showing the things that I have planned for my small observatory. ... Read more

Product Description
In the ten years since this award-winning book was originally written by Michael Porcellino, the field of astronomy and its discoveries has grown by leaps and bounds. From the astounding images sent back by the Hubble Space Telescope, to the bright comet Hale-Bopp from the fleet of Martian probes, to the long-distance explorations of the Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn--the universe has become more accessible than ever. And thanks to this revised and thoroughly updated new edition by astronomer and science writer, Patricia Barnes-Svarney, anyone with an interest can delve into its wonders.

From the very close up to the far reaches of space, THROUGH THE TELESCOPE presents a uniquely "user-friendly" view of the universe, and offers both novice and advanced amateur astronomers some of the best tools available to watch the nighttime skies.

You'll learn all about:* Setting up a good, user-friendly telescope system* How to look at the universe in order to really see it* Upgrading your telescope for peak performance* How to spot a star cluster, a nebulaOeven a supernova* Forming your own network of amateur astronomers.

Complete with a web site appendix and fully updated charts on eclipses and planetary oppositions well into the year 2000, this edition of an acclaimed book will be an invaluable users guide for aspiring astronomers entering the new millennium. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent guide
This is an excellent guide for the amateur astronomer, with copious information on both what to look at in the sky and what to buy to do so, including both binoculars and telescopes. It has copious information on every aspect of skywatching, down to the best filters to view the various planets through. It's very supportive of amateur astronomy, consistently pointing out the contributions that amateurs have made and continue to make to the science (one of the few sciences where this is still possible).

Quibbles: a few formatting problems, where the formatting notation shows up instead of italics or whatever was intended. And they repeat the urban legend about Galileo going blind from observing the sun (though admittedly I just recently found out that this is mistaken).

Other than that, it's an excellent book, though more of a reference than a "sit-down-and-read" book, which is what I did with it, at least for now.

Meanwhile, I wonder if some of the other reviews (below) apply to the earlier edition of the book, since I did not encounter the same problems.

A poor excuse for a book on amateur astronomy
I pity the novice who purchases this book with the intention of learning about amateur astronomy.The book is a demonstration of what happens when someone rushes it to publication, does not KNOW the subject and builds poorly on a work that wasn't very good in the first place. There are so many terrifically awful errors in this book, it would take another book to document them.Pictures of microscopes where telescopes shouldbe, refractor telescopes described as Dobsonians, etc, etc.The illustration/pictures are also slipshod, out of focus and poorly rendered.I cannot believe a suposedly reputable publishing house could release this "joke" of a text on amateur astronomy.It should be withdrawn from the market NOW and burned. -Richard Anderson

Badly in need of copy editing
It's amazing McGraw-Hill let this one out at all.There are typographical and syntactical errors on almost every page.I can't comment on technical accuracy, as I am a beginner at astronomy.But I do know when I've seenthe same photograph twice with different, and inconsistent, captions.Thepublisher did a real disservice to the author of this edition--and to thememory of the author of the original version--by rushing this to marketwithout at least showing it to a copy editor.

Warning: bad book!
This is the worst astronomy book I've encountered in forty years as an amateur astronomer!It is full of errors and has some of the poorest illustrations (out-of-focus, incorrectly labeled) I've ever seen in a commercial publication.Anyone interested in buying and using telescopeswould be much better served by NightWatch by Terence Dickinson, TheBackyard Astronomer's Guide by Dickinson and Dyer, or Phil Harrington'sStar Ware.

Excellent reference book
As an amateur in astronomy, I found this book very educative. It covers all aspects of astronomy - from naked eye view of the sky to deep space objects, binocular to large telescope obesrvation, etc. Though it waswritten in 1989, the book will continue to be a reference book to allinterested in astronomy. ... Read more

Product Description
Revision of Burke's highly successful original of 1985. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

Excellent <Mr. Burns Voice>
I have been watching the TV shows for over 20 years and finally read the book. It just fills in the gaps in the TV series and makes everything come alive. I loved the DTUC when I was in High School, I love it now that I teach High School.

Beautiful review of how the development of science and technology changed everything!
Watch the TV series as well.Burke's ability to connect the people, the times and driving motivations behind the ascendancy of Western science and how it then changed all areas of human life is beautifully presented.The one major flaw in the Kindle edition (not applicable to other higher rez devices like the iPod) is that all of the wonderful illustrations and photos are almost unviewable on the Kindle- zooming makes them even worse.

Worst abridgement ever
I listened to the 3-disk audio CD of this work and was irritated from beginning to end. Burke dashes from one discovery to another at breakneck speed with hardly an interesting detail to pepper the narrative. In the chapter on electricity, we leap from Faraday to Coulombe to Watt to Ampere with hardly a breath in between. Unlike in Connections, in which one discovery lead almost inevitably to the next, Universe, Burke leaps from one advance o the next on the lightest gossamer thread of a connection. Even Burke's wonderful narrative voice can't rescue this mess. The order of cuts on the last disk is scrambled, as another reviewer noted. But worse, Burke's last chapter, on understanding the way our thinking bumps against prevailing paradigms, was near gibberish.

Not having read the full version, I can't recommend it. But by all means stay away from this butchery!

Good service
This book was mailed directly to a friend as a gift. He reports that it arrived safely and was in good condition.

AP World History Review: An Excellent Read For The Persistent Reader
In The Day The Universe Changed's introduction, James Burke states that "Ever since Bacon and Descartes, we live with the expectation that knowledge will continue to change and with it the beliefs and values by which we live.This book examines eight moments in history when that happened in order to show that when the moment of change came, new institutions and modes of thought were generated and would persist to become part of our modern view (Burke 9)."This quote sets the expectations for the book and Burke subsequently delivers on all of them in the course of 352 pages.James Burke's clear and often ironic writing style raises deep philosophical questions that leave the reader thinking of all the `knowledge' that has changed and will change as time goes on.A little over two hundred years ago, the biblical version of creation was accepted as fact - the earth was, of course, made in six days.The earth was also, according to the Bible, about six thousand years old.Although some people still believe this now, most accept that the earth is billions of years old, and ascribe to one of the many secular theories regarding the creation of the world.In just a few centuries, our scientific `knowledge' has changed so much.What will people know two hundred years from now?What will they believe?This book raises questions such as these, and more.

Although some reviewers have said that the author overloads the reader with irrelevant details, this criticism misses the point.Although Burke does tend to be wordy and writes about seemingly unrelated details, he uses these details to illustrate his overriding theme- change as the only constant in history.Burke avoids the dry tone of the typical history text by drawing the reader into the minds of those living during a specific time period.The reader can seemingly witness the changes in history unfolding before him or her.This book is a good purchase for those interested in general history over a long period of time.I would honestly recommend this book to anyone wanting an interesting, humorous, and thought-provoking read.James Burke is clearly a master of history.
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