Realm of the Universe

I have always been a fan of George Abell's astronomy text, 'Realm of the Universe'. The first edition of it encountered was the third edition, published in 1984. It has gone through several more editions, and yet it remains true to the basic structure of the subject. This is a text intended for the non-scientist; it is a text often used for liberal arts students in one-semester courses on astronomy. It involves mathematics and formulae, but relies more on the intuitive sense of astronomy and is not heavy on technical terminology or confusing descriptions of use only to other scientists.Astronomy is a very visual science, and this book takes full advantage of the many photographs returned by the Hubble telescope, planetary probe expeditions, and first-class telescopic images from around the world. It presents graphics, charts, and images of non-visual spectrum data in easy to understand formats. The first section is entitled 'The Celestial Clockwork' -- here Abell looks at the history of astronomy (which is intimately woven into the history of timekeeping, both in terms of hours of the day as well as seasons of change), then introduces some broad concepts such as gravitation and star movements. This section also looks at eclipses, anticipating the later section on earth and moon.The second part looks at 'Radiation from Space' -- this actually means, what can we see from space? Abell is not talking about harmful radiation here, but rather the light and other electromagnetic signals we get from stars, planetary bodies, celestial objects, and even the background radiation in the universe, which is likely the signature of the Big Bang. Abell also looks at observation devices -- optical telescopes, radio telescopes, and space-platform and probe observation devices.The third section deals with the Realm of the Planets -- earth and moon; the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars); the Jovian planets (the gaseous giants of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and the ambiguous Pluto, as well as addressing the question of further planets); the various other bodies (debris, Abell terms them) in the solar system, such as asteroids, comets, solar atmosphere; finally, Abell discusses theories of the origin of the solar system and general properties of all planets.The fourth section goes further afield into the Realm of the Stars. Abell investigates the motion and distance of stars, the aspects and properties of starlight (visual and extra-visual spectrum), properties of stars, general distribution, and finally takes the opportunity to look at the possibility of life on planets around other stars.The fifth section is in many ways a continuation of the fourth, dealing with the Life Cycle of Stars. In addition to looking at the general pattern of the evolution of stars and the differing fates of stars, from nebulae and initial accretion to middle age to the destruction as dwarf stars, pulsars, neutron stars or even black holes, Abell looks at the t