Astronomy

DK Eyewitness Books

by Kristen Lippincott

Discover the fascinating world of astronomy, from moons and stars to planets and galaxies.

Featuring more than 200 colorful pictures and illustrations, Eyewitness  Astronomy  provides children with a perfect introduction to the world of astronomy. From describing how we viewed the stars and planets in the ancient times to the latest astronomical discoveries, this reference book presents all the key concepts of astronomy in simple language. 

Children will discover the host of planets and stars that occupy our Universe and can unearth fascinating insights into the Moon's connection to Earth's oceans. They can also read about how humans ventured into space and developed technology to see even beyond our own galaxy.  

For any budding astronomer, scientist, astronaut, or simply a curious, young mind, Eyewitness  Astronomy  provides everything they need to know about the infinite amount of space that surrounds our planet.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Childrens, Reference, Space

72 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 1994

About the author

Dr. Kristen Lippincott is a Director and founding member of The Exhibitions Team, a consortium of museum professionals specializing in heritage consultancy, project management, curatorial and conservation issues, and 2-D and 3-D design. Until 2006, she was Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum for six years; and, before that, she was the Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

She came to the museum world with a strong academic background, having received her doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1987. She has published extensively on subjects relating to art history, cultural history, the history of science, and on scientific instruments. She has been awarded a series of prestigious academic awards and fellowships, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship, and two Samuel H. Kress Fellowships.

In the academic year 2003/2004, she was a Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s Center for Renaissance Studies at the Vila I Tatti in Florence. She is currently completing a book on celestial mapping and the changing iconography of the constellations from antiquity to the Renaissance.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eyewitness Astronomy book is ideal for leaerning about the basics on Astronomy, the illustrations are excellent and the information interesting and well explained, very good value for money.

[Timothy McNeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those good idea/bad idea books. In the good corner, DK does try to give as full an account as possible in a short amount of pages. In the (somewhat larger) bad corner, the information is too often without connective tissue to really draw it together into cohesive points. Also in that corner is the fact that much of the science is maddeningly under-explained (I passed the physics classes I went to, so I think I should be able to grasp the science presented for an eight year old).

Still, the book does an admirable job of covering the basics and introducing key players in the discoveries; I would have preferred more focus on the discoveries and less on the persons, but I am probably in the minority. It also seems mostly up to date (and much better than the book about the planets of the solar system from 1954 I have somewhere in my house).

I do have some quibbles, though.

p. 27 notes the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory as being located in Ukraine. Probably best to just note it being in Crimea for future editions.

p. 34 notes that NASA is planning on sending "more astronauts to the Moon." This is kind of true in that NASA would really like to do it. They just haven't figured out how to build the vehicle(s) to do it. (They probably have, but they aren't doing a good job of convincing me of that at their site.)

p. 43 ...What the hell?! What happened to the Nickel-Iron core for Earth? Or Iron-Nickel alloy core for Earth? Because even if the core of the Earth is pure iron, it should be written as "Solid iron core". Was this a choice made just to differentiate it from the outer core? It just seems misleading to me. Which probably just means that I have a flawed understanding of the only planet on which I have ever lived. And at no point is there any discussion as to what the core means to Earth, which kind of bothers me.

Quibbles.

There is more than enough information to recommend the book (especially for scientifically minded children), but it could have used more focus on simply delivering the information rather than including as many shiny baubles as possible.

And it noted the Adler Planetarium at the top of its Places to Visit list. So points for that.

[ade_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tipiis namun kaya akan informasi. Buku ini berisi tentang sejarah, perkembangan dan beberapa hal lain yang berkaitan dengan astronomi. Pada setiap halamannya terdapat gambar-gambar yang mengilustrasikan setiap topik bahasan. Pembaca juga lebih mudah mencari keterangan-keterangan lebih lanjut dengan data pengindeksan yang baik dari buku ini. Kekurangannya, ada pada tampilan lay-outnya, dimana setiap halaman rasanya jadi terlalu penuh dimata, sampai pada beberapa bagian bikin bingung: "Ini bacanya mulai dari mana dulu yaa...?". Selain itu, beberapa informasi yang disampaikan masih relatif sama dengan buku-buku yang bertema sama.
Dengan ketebalan hanya 64 halaman, dan uraian-uraian yang rinci dengan dilengkapi ilustrasi berwarna, recommended khususnya bagi para pecinta astronomi dan umumnya bagi orangtua dan guru (tingkat sekolah dasar) untuk dibacakan kepada anak-anak dan/atau para siswa-siswinya.

[LiLa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dibaca dengan perasaan sedikit stress untuk menemani lembur akhir bulan.
Kalau beberapa buku lain langsung memaparkan berbagai informasi tentang tata surya dan benda langit, buku ini menyajikan informasi sejarah dan perkembangan dunia astronomi di hampir setengah bagiannya. Pembahasannya disajikan sekitar 1-2 halaman untuk tiap topik.
Ada juga pembahasan mengenai beberapa peralatan atau teori penunjang astronomi mulai dari masa awal hingga masa sekarang.
Pembahasan tentang berbagai benda langit (planet, bintang, nebula, komet, dll) baru dimulai sekitar 15 lembar terakhir. Beberapa benda langit dibahas tidak terlalu detail.

Yang menarik buat saya, buku ini menggunakan beberapa kata yang terasa asing bagi saya. Tapi kalau dicek ke KBBI termasuk kata baku. Jadi informasi tambahan yang menarik juga sich buat saya :)

[MARGOT WELLS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the book is about people using the sky in many different ways. People been use the sky for generations to tell stories, exploring and times.
"The beginning of astronomy go back thousand of years ago,"(The study of the heaven) P.6
Ancient people study the star to plan when to harvest their crops, use the sky as direction to travel and religion belief.
I also like it add about the solar system and telescopes invention impact of how we view the solar system as heliocentric.
"Galileo.. use his discoveries made with the help of his newly invented telescope."(Intellectual Giant) p. 21
This book you may learn some things about the universe and it may interest you to know about the stars, planets etc.

[Keri Rohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronomy is an informational book about the planets, stars, and so much more. I would recommend this book for upper elementary students in grades 4-5. I love how this book covers a variety of aspects of astronomy from the telescope to the actual planets in space. This is a great book for anyone is itching to learn more about astronomy.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great short book about the universe. Very easy to digest but also has lots of smaller points that go in more details if ever you want more advanced information. I finished it in less than 2 hours and I learned a lot from it! Definitely recommend from any fan if the universe, stars or planets!

[Pinar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Çocuklar için hazırlanmış ve az sayıda sayfa içinde bol resimli ve oldukça fazla bilgiyi sıkıştırmayı başarmış bir kitap.

[David Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligent

[Maria Celis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lippincott, Kristen. DK Eyewitness Books: Astronomy (2013). Touted as the “most trusted non-fiction series in the market”, this extensive children’s non-fiction picture book ensures that nothing is left out, including numerous photos of artifacts and other astronomy-related images lining the pages alongside exhaustive snippets of facts about the universe, planets, astronomers, observatories, and their technologies. Lippincott, founder of a prestigious museum professionals organizaton, blends in all the knowledge that specialists can provide to a young reader, although the abundance of information blurbs can be overwhelming. Teachers and libraries can benefit to have this book and the rest of the hundreds of DK Eyewitness books as a visually-pleasing reference resource, although individual reading may be suggested as a segmented and guided leisure activity considering the amount of information available in each page. Ages 8-13.

[Kelli Varich · Rating 4 out of 5]

DK Eyewitness's "Astronomy" is full of information on topics ranging from constellations to moon rocks. The text is paired with large images and graphics, making it more accessible for a young student who's dying to learn more about our universe. Its variety of topics and images make it a great resource for gaining knowledge or even for a class report. At the back of the book you can find a glossary, helping to simplify some of the complicated jargon that accompanies astronomy and space. The index on the last page makes finding specific topics easier, and faster. One of my favorite spreads is the "find out more" page near the back, full of connections between the information in the book and real life -- like how the static and "snow" on a television that's changing channels is partially due to microwave radiation from space. There's also a list of places around the world to visit to go way deeper into the subject, as well as websites so no international travel has to take place.

[τλιϓλ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in Arabic language, I must say that lots of information are new to me though I love to read about astronomy and any thing related to it. Really wonderful book and i recommend it to everyone who love this field

[Meadow Frisbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, loved all the information on the equiptment used in the past and present.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good resource for children, lots of pictures and explainations about history, facts, and descriptions of the science of astronomy

[WSL Library]

X2

[John Morr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about astronomy equipment and what astronomers do. It goes through each planet. I recommend that you read this book.

[John R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronomy is vividly illustrated book that begins with ancient astronomy. For ancient astronomy, as with each topic, there is one primary informational paragraph and a dominant illustration. Also each topic (spread across two pages) has several smaller auxiliary type paragraphs with their own illustrations. For example with ancient astronomy, the main illustration is on Stonehenge. The smaller informational writings cover Babylonians, the Roman god Jupiter, and a information on Egyptians planting and harvesting crops based on the stars. This makes a visually and informational book, but it is not a classroom textbook, with exercises an questions. The featured subjects go on to cover types of telescopes, astronomers, the solar system, each planet of our solar system has its own two page presentation. At the end there are supplemental pages: "amazing facts", a Q & A page, "cutting edge astronomy", "find out more" and a glossary. In this book it is the illustrations that will capture the readers' attention. They are a combination of actual photos, one is of an orrery (a mechanical model of the solar system) as large as a grand piano, and artist created work with emphasis on technical details.
This book is recommended for complementing middle school classrooms and libraries. It is a book more likely to be 'perused' as to be read cover to cover. Also could be a great birthday gift for a middle school student.
Recommended grades 7th to 11th.
This "DK Eyewitness Book" was chosen because there is a series on scientific subjects (fossils, energy, reptiles, etc.) though DK has books on a wide variety of topics- "Great Musicians", "Knight", etc.
For ETEC - middle school science series.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical look at the study of the heavens, ancient astronomy, geocentric universe , Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, telescope history and design , spectroscopy, space travel, sun , moon, planets, beyond our galaxy

(1994/ 2000 update)