Connecting with the Cosmos

by Donald Goldsmith

Experience the joy and awe of connection to the universe. Humanity’s success in controlling nature has led to a loss of our connection to the natural world. Astronomer Donald Goldsmith gives readers nine easy steps to connect directly with the universe by observing cosmic phenomena with their own eyes. Readers will learn to look at the stars with feelings of friendly recognition, leading to a sense of joy and awe currently missing from most people’s lives. Each of the nine steps involves a brief observation of the sky or another natural phenomenon (such as light, rock, etc.) and o A simple, moderate and advanced level of activity o Accessible information on what to look for and what it means o A meditation to relate what is seen to our place in the universe Readers can make their own connections by personally experiencing the mystique of the universe. Examples o Watching the sun rise and set on the same day to get a sense of a daily cycle o Watching the moon wax and wane, and the tide rise and fall o Observing the movement of the sun across the sky over a day, a week and a month o Seeing light through a prism and observing its refraction o Identifying Venus, the morning star and evening star o Observing the composition of a grain of sand, whose atoms came from the stars

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2002

About the author

Donald Goldsmith is an astrophysicist, popular science author and screenwriter. He is the president of Interstellar Media. He is also the winner of the 1995 American Astronomical Society's Annenberg Foundation Award for Education and the Klumpke-Roberts Prize for his contributions to the public understanding of astronomy.

He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1969.He taught at Stony Brook University before becoming a full-time popularizer, and has written, co-written, or edited a number of popular science books.

His book "Origins," co-written with Neil Tyson, was the companion volume to the four-hour PBS series with the same title. Dr. Goldsmith worked on Carl Sagan's "COSMOS" series, and on Neil Tyson's series of the same name, and was the science editor and co-writer of the six-part PBS series "THE ASTRONOMERS." He has written many popular articles for journals such as Scientific American, Natural History, Discover, and Astronomy.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goldsmith explains astronomical phenomena in ordinary terms that anyone can understand and then follows up those clear explanations with activities (far more than nine, since some have multiple parts and/or variations) that anyone can do to observe the universe and feel a deep connection with it. Since I read this during a very busy time in my life, I wasn't able to devote myself to the activities. But I hope to be able to buy this book and go through each of them slowly to feel better connected and more meaningfully embedded on the Earth and in the universe.