Astronomy: From the Earth Tothe Universe 5/E

It has a lot of great illustrations. Some concepts are written in a format that is difficult to follow.

I first heard of Professor Jay M. Pasachoff when I decided a few years ago to write a book, then develop it into an original fictional film project about the 27th Century. My first stop in my endeavor was to go to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to find out what unlimited funds and seven hundred years could buy me in ship design. Then, I wanted to know what I would find once I got there so that I could write a great story that would be considered contemporary fiction in the 27th Century. I searched all of the space and science magazines. Nothing. Then I went to the library. Very little. Then, I went to the Internet. A little more. Then I went to the bookstore. Then I opened a book edited by Professor Pasachoff, called "Stars And Planets." There is absolutely no better roadmap to the stars in the known Universe - and I have looked everywhere for the best.Then, only recently, I became aware that Professor Pasachoff actually has a "textbook" out called "Astronomy: From The Earth To The Universe."I became intrigued and based on a very good recommendation, I decided to buy it...Two days after I opened this hidden treasure for the first time, I am finally able to put it down long enough to tell everyone about it.There are now two books that I totally recommend to everyone who is interested in seeing reality through the eyes of God as best as humans can perceive that reality. One is the Bible, and the other is this very book by Professor Pasachoff. I have learned more about the Universe from this book than I have through three decades of "Star Trek." No collection of books or videos can match this organized presentation, a single-source "greatest hits" assembly of the thoughts of our best scientists and pictures from our best instruments (including many from the Hubble Space Telescope).This is a well-illustrated, brilliantly presented book that has almost a thousand pages, all friendly to the novice amateur astronomer (or movie producer).The only pitfall is that it removes the need to build advanced, expensive spaceships to actually explore the wonders of the Milky Way Galaxy. Why bother, when all humanity really needs to do is read this book?

I used this book for an astronomy course I took, and it helped me wonderfully in developing a foundation on the subject. This book covers just about everything in astronomy, and the updated edition fills the reader with the excitement of how rapidly astronomy is advancing. A wonderful book as a study aid and as a reference.

I got this book back in 1982 ... I enjoyed the ideas and thoughts brought up on astronomy. Now, much of the information is out of date. I see there is a newer version and I look forward to seeing what is in the 1999 version.

Thanks to this book, I am now an amateur astronomer. I have a lot of astronomy resources but this is the one I use over and over again. This book is designed for someone without any experience and is an excellent guide for showing someone where to look. Within just a little while the reader will be looking at galaxies, nebulas, and globular clusters... Bob Flater