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Title: Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, and Using Telescopes and Accessories by Philip S. Harrington ISBN: 0-471-10593-7 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: 24 May, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.65 (31 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: This book is an outstanding resource
Comment: I purchased the first addition of this book 3 years ago along with a number of other astronomy titles, as I was just getting started in the hobby. Harrington's book is useful to both the beginner and advanced amature astronomer. He provides detailed and up to date reviews of a wide variety of products available on the market today. He also provides a good deal of information that enables one to focus on the type of equipment that will best meet their needs. I recently purchased this new addition, and found it to be very useful in keeping abreast of what is new in the marketplace. Of all the astronomy books I've purchased, this along with "The Backyard Astronomer" are the most useful.
Rating: 5
Summary: essential astro gear guide
Comment: There are a few books no amateur astronomer should be without. One is Peterson's Field Guide to the Stars and Planets, which packs more useful information into a smaller package than any other book I know of. A second is The Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Dickinson & Dyer, which covers the basics of the hobby in a more expansive, descriptive format.
A third member of this short list has recently been republished in a new edition: Star Ware, Second Edition (The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, and Using Telescopes and Accessories) by Philip S. Harrington, 1998 John Wiley & Sons. Star Ware is aimed mostly at beginners, teaching in a lively and informal style the basics of how telescopes work and how to use them, but there is a fair amount of information of interest to advanced amateurs as well.
The book begins with two chapters about telescope optics and different types of telescopes, with something of the history of telescopes along the way. Chapter 3 covers the pros and cons of each type in some detail, ending with a quiz where you add the point values of your answers to show what type you should buy - fun, as long as you don't take it too seriously. Chapter 4 is a still more detailed look at the offerings of different manufacturers, again sorted by type. Phil goes easy on the major manufacturers, judging from some of the tales of woe I've heard; but the treatment is fair and useful. Chapter 5 compares the myriad eyepieces available to go with these scopes. Both these chapters have appendices where the information is laid out in convenient tables.
Chapter 6 covers finders and filters, other books and software, cameras and CCD's. One thing I would have appreciated would be a similar appendix covering all the competing software packages, what they do well and which was the best for each purpose. As I wrote two months ago, I have purchased a number of these packages and started to evaluate them; maybe I need to write this comparison myself.
Chapter 7 was the most interesting to me - a description of projects you can make, from a collimation tool to a video camera bracket to a binocular chair - the latter I want to get started on Real Soon Now. 'Till Death Do You Part' is on care of your scope, and repeats sage advice against unnecessary cleaning, as well as how to collimate your optics.
The last and longest chapter, 'It's Time to Solo!', covers the targets to point your scope at (moon, planets, comets, sun, deep-sky), a description of a few dozen of the best deep-sky objects, and a brief introduction to astrophotography. This will be of less interest to advanced amateurs, who probably have more detailed sources of this type of information. One might question why to include this in a book about equipment, but it probably does make it more useful for the beginner who may buy only this book.
Parts of the book overlap with the Dickinson & Dyer book mentioned above, but the treatment of telescopes and eyepieces is much more detailed. Overall, a fine book, highly recommended for a beginning amateur, and recommended for an advanced amateur looking to buy a new scope or eyepiece.
Rating: 5
Summary: A must have for beginners or any Astronomy library
Comment: Phil Harrington's book is the perfect primer for those interested in astronomy or contemplating a telescope purchase. It is very easy to follow and fun to read as he de-mistifies many of the terms those who are new to astronomy might not be familiar with. The book even includes a test you can take to determine the best type of telescope to purchase, taking your budget and your viewing location into consideration. I own the 1st and 2nd editions and have loaned them both to many who have contemplated a scope purchase. This book is probably the best money I ever spent on the hobby! Thanks Phil!
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