Book Reviews

The Ballet of the Planets: A Mathematician’s Musings on the Elegance of Planetary Motion

March 14, 2012

Book Review by Eva Gallant When I read the title of this book, I thought I was going to be treated to a graceful ballet of planetary motion etched out in chapter verse. In my mind’s eye, our solar system is an elegant stage and we are simply ticket holders to a heavenly performance.

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Book Review: Celestial Delights: The Best Astronomical Events Through 2020

February 22, 2012

Recently, we announced an invitation for anyone who would like to review space books for Universe Today. We here at Universe Today were overwhelmed by the huge response from readers all over the world. And now, we’re so glad to feature the first book review submitted by Dave DeHetre, an astrophotography enthusiast from Kansas. Here’s [...]

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Phil Plait’s Five Guides to the Universe

February 10, 2012

All writers love to read, and our friend Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer is no exception. And since we often get asked what space and astronomy books we’d recommend, let us point you in the direction of a new interview with Phil where he shares five of his favorite books about the Universe. It’s on [...]

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New Book: Night Sky Companion 2012

January 17, 2012

For those of us interested in the night sky, what could be better than having an astronomer for a friend? Well, how about if that astronomer friend has written a book detailing everything you can see in the night sky for every night of the year? Universe Today’s very own Tammy Plotner has written that [...]

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Book Review: Martian Summer

November 18, 2011

The Mars Phoenix Lander has long since gone quiet on the frigid, dusty plains of Mars. Its legacy however remains. It will go down as the first mission to land in the Martian Polar Regions, the first to be led primarily by a University.

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Book Review: The Apollo Guidance Computer

October 21, 2011

Springer/Praxis has produced a small library’s worth of books about the Apollo Program. A recent offering from the publisher focuses in on the Apollo Guidance Computer. This topic, for the uninitiated, can be more than a little intimidating and if it is handled wrong veer off the path of a book about space flight and [...]

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Book Review: The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA’s First Space Plane

October 10, 2011

The space shuttle program is over. The orbiters are being decommissioned, stripped of the components that allowed them to travel in space. For those that followed the program, those that wished they did and those with only a passing interest in what the program accomplished a new book has been produced covering the entirety of [...]

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Book Review: A Dictionary of the Space Age

September 12, 2011

Writing a dictionary is not the same as writing a novel. While it might seem difficult to mess up a dictionary, even one with terminology that is as complicated as that used within the space industry – getting it right can be challenging. For those that follow space flight having such a dictionary can be [...]

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Book Review: Lunar and Planetary Rovers

September 3, 2011

Ordinarily if a book attempts to cover crewed and unmanned missions – the book is a compilation of space flight history in general. This is not the case when it comes to Springer/Praxis’ offering Lunar and Planetary Rovers. Written by Anthony Young, the book details both crewed (the Apollo “J” missions) and unmanned rovers (Pathfinder, [...]

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Two Into The Blue: One Engineer’s Gemini Reflections

September 1, 2011

It is probably one of the least understood, but most crucial, (in terms of landing a man on the Moon) programs in U.S. space flight history. After just fifteen minutes in space (and all of it sub-orbital) President John F. Kennedy tasked NASA with sending astronauts to the lunar surface. NASA completed the Mercury Program [...]

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Q&A with Brian Cox, part 3: ‘Wonders’ and Popularizing Science

August 18, 2011

Professor Brian Cox is the Chair in Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS) at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. But he’s also active in the popularization of science, specifically with his new television series and companion book, Wonders of the Universe. Universe Today [...]

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Win A Copy of Brian Cox’s New Book, “Wonders of the Universe”

August 17, 2011

This week we’ve been talking with Professor Brian Cox about physics, space exploration and the future. He also talks about all those things in his two television series, Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe. Cox has written a companion book to Wonders of the Universe, and thanks to HarperCollins, Universe Today [...]

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Lunar Settlements

August 4, 2011

So you want to go live on the Moon and you want to know the best way to make it happen. As it’s still awaiting a base camp, then you’d have to start from square one. For this, check out Haym Benaroya’s book, “Lunar Settlements“. It’s a collection of edited papers and posters put forth [...]

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Falling to Earth

July 15, 2011

People have walked on the Moon. A lucky few. Most have readily shared their experience; some did so with a keen eye to making a personal profit. One who did not was Al Worden lunar command module pilot for Apollo 15. As he explains in his autobiographically styled book “Falling to Earth – An Apollo [...]

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Burt Rutan’s Race To Space: A Primer For Things To Come

June 27, 2011

Voyager, Proteus and SpaceShipOne have become aerospace legends. As has the man who established them all – Burt Rutan. Zenith Press has released a chronicle of the man and his machines entitled Burt Rutan’s Race to Space: The Magician of Mojave and His Flying Innovations. The book provides a chronicle of all the air and [...]

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Win a Copy of “Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries”

June 8, 2011

What are the top 100 discoveries in the history of astronomy? In his book, “Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries,” noted astronomy journalist Govert Schilling tells the story of 400 years of telescopic astronomy. He looks at the most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope, highlighting how astronomers discovered new planets, mapped nebulae, determined the [...]

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Guest Post: Newly Born: the Science of Astronomy

June 8, 2011

Editor’s Note: Astronomy journalist Govert Schilling has written a book that looks at the 100 most important discoveries since the invention of the telescope 400 years ago, called “Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries.” In Schilling’s distinct style, he takes the reader on an adventure through both space and time. Schilling has written this guest post for [...]

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Win a Copy of “Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds”

May 16, 2011

Meteorologists have a tough time predicting weather on Earth let alone knowing what the weather is like on other planets, but discoveries from spacecraft, observatories, and laboratories have revealed some of the mysteries of weather across the Solar System. A new book by Science journalist Michael Carroll, “Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and [...]

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Guest Post: Drifting on Alien Winds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds

May 16, 2011

Editor’s note: We all want to explore other worlds in our solar system, but perhaps you haven’t considered the bizarre weather you’d encounter — from the blistering hurricane-force winds of Venus to the gentle methane rain showers of Saturn’s giant moon Titan. Science journalist Michael Carroll has written a guest post for Universe Today which [...]

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Around the World in 84 Days – The Authorized Biography of Skylab Astronaut Jerry Carr

May 15, 2011

Flying into space requires money, good fortune and desire. Some astronauts relied upon the government for money, had good fortune when luck was needed and felt the desire to push themselves ever onward. One such astronaut is Jerry Carr whose biography, “Around the World in 84 Days” by David Shayler demonstrates the validity of these [...]

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