Astronomy: The Definitive Guide to the Universe

by John Duncan

Whether you're an inveterate star-gazer or a new student of astronomy, this lavishly illustrated book will enhance your knowledge and understanding of the universe. It inlcudes the most recent images from theHubble telescope and Cassini probe, and thus provides and authoritative but accessible overview of the latest exciting developments in space research.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Duncan
John Duncan, d. 1941 John^^^Duncan: Science
John Duncan (1866 - 1945) John^^^^Duncan: Scottish artist
John 8^ Duncan: Scottish Travels in Western Africa

Reviews

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astronomy is my favorite subject, and this book did a really good job of categorizing each different area of it into easily understandable pieces. It starts back in time, talking about the early humans and their understanding of astronomy, then progresses through the ages up to the present day. Afterwards, it starts talking about actual astronomical objects, starting with the sun and each planet of the solar system, then progressing to bigger and bigger things, including stars, constellations, nebulae, galaxies, and finally the universe. It goes very in depth about each topic. It talks about a lot of complicated topics, but still manages to explain them pretty well in an understandable way. Overall, if you are considering learning about astronomy, or just find space to be interesting, this would be a very good choice for your next book. Easy 5/5 stars.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty good for describing our universe at a very high level. It talks about many of the missions we have undertaken in our solar system. It also gives a pretty high level over view of the physics and theories behind why things are they way they are. Nothing too complicated in this book.

The book starts out by giving a brief history of astronomy as a whole; from the ancients to the space age. It then begins talking about our Solar System, planet by planet. At the end of each chapter on each planet, it has a comparison of that planet (temperatures, size, mass, distance from sun, moons, etc...) with Earth.

After finishing the Solar system, it moves even further, going to Stars, Galaxies, Nebulae, and the Universe as a whole.

I liked this book, and I would recommend it to anyone that is somewhat interested in astronomy and wants to learn about the subject at a high level. I, personally, would have liked more physics or theories in the book.

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew I recognised this author. I quick check of the author's name tells me I recently finished another one of his astronomy books.

This is a good guide for beginner, amateur astronomers, and a nice coffee table book for those with more knowledge. The pictures are beautiful and glossy, and it remains light on the physics for casual readers who may stop by.

For those with a more in depth knowledge, you won't learn anything new, but if you're more after beautiful pictures, then it won't hurt to pick it up.

[J.E. Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is beautiful! The images are gorgeous and make up for the textbook-style writing. It's informative and easy to comprehend. It covers all of the planets, gives brief insights to early astronomy, and includes information about constellations, galaxies, etc. For the extensive amount of information that is on the subject of astronomy, this author did an excellent job compiling enough information to touch on most of the basics.

[Aryan Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice
alles gute idee vor dem buch

[Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely illustrated