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Paul is Currently Reading

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Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier

by Stephen E. Ambrose

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Dec 25, 2011 03:39PM

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Lying For The Lord: The Paul H. Dunn Stories

by Lynn Packer

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Oct 27, 2023 02:17PM

Paul rated a book it was amazing

The Complete Guide to the Herschel Objects: Sir William Herschel's Star Clusters, Nebulae and Galaxies

by Mark Bratton

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Paul said: " This is a book that doesn't just come along once in a lifetime or once in a century, but once in two centuries. To my knowledge, not since William Hershel created his catalogs between 1786 and 1802 has there been a comprehensive volume written by som This is a book that doesn't just come along once in a lifetime or once in a century, but once in two centuries. To my knowledge, not since William Hershel created his catalogs between 1786 and 1802 has there been a comprehensive volume written by someone who has personally observed each and every one of the Hershel objects (and like Hershel, without the aid of electronics). Add to this the fact that Mark Bratton is an "observer's observer" who knows how to organize an observing book in a logical, straightforward manner. No organization by RA and Dec. here. The book is organized by constellations, which for most observers, is the way they think of the sky.

The illustrations are also organized in a useful way. Instead of filling the volume with gorgeous Hubble images (which the observer at the eyepiece will never see), the illustrations are either DSS images or (most happily) sketches done by the author himself. At first blush, you might think it would have been nice to have an illustration of each of the Hershel objects, but who would want to buy a multi-volume set that weighed seven pounds just to see hundreds of pictures of elliptical galaxies. For the most part, the illustrations chosen detail areas of the sky that have several Hershel objects in the same field. This can be extremely helpful in the field.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of observing with Mark can tell you of the animated way in which he describes even the most mundane of the Hershel objects. The fact that he has personally observed each object produces much more accurate descriptions of their visual appearance, than someone who is extrapolating from a photograph what "should" be visible in the eyepiece. The fact that he includes his own observation notes alongside those of Hershel is especially helpful. On an observing trip with the author, I was able to see several Hershel objects, which would otherwise have gone unnoticed, based on his meticulous descriptions of them, from memory.

With the advent of go-to scopes and digital setting circles, it is unlikely that there will ever be another human being who accomplishes this herculean task, let alone putting it into a very well organized and readable book. Every other volume I have seen on the Hershel objects covers at best only a few hundred of them. This is really the definitive reference for the entire Hershel catalog. It is a long awaited and very satisfying addition to my astronomical library, and more importantly, just picking it up and glancing through it fills me with an intense desire to go out and observe. ...more "

Dec 25, 2011 04:28PM · see review

Paul’s Quotes

“This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

tags: atheism, intelligent-design, puddle

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“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

[Kung Fu Monkey -- Ephemera, blog post, March 19, 2009]”
― John Rogers