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Title: Nearest Star : The Surprising Science of Our Sun by Leon Golub, Jay M. Pasachoff ISBN: 0-674-01006-X Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: 30 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Loaded with information
Comment: Many books that popularize certain scientific topics for a broad readership tend to be rather chatty and include several historical and biographical snipets. Not this book; it's densely packed with scientific information on its subject matter. From theories on the what happens in the sun's interior to the observed effects that solar activity has here on earth, this book covers most of it in fair detail. It is written clearly and the topics are well organized. Several colour plates, charts and diagrams do much to illustrate the ideas presented. Complete with a glossary, a list of references and an index, this book is well put together. It can serve as a springboard for readers who would like more details on certain specialized aspects of the workings of our nearest star. An excellent read!!
Rating: 3
Summary: Good but tries to cover too much
Comment: This is a remarkably wide-ranging overview of topics relating to the Sun. It is, in fact, probably rather more wide-ranging than it needs to be. Rather than focusing on the subtitle, it includes chapters on eclipses and earth's climate as well as seemingly rather pointless asides on topics like carbon dating.
The core, however, is quite good, covering the history of solar science as well as our current understanding. A standout chapter covers planned space missions that will investigate the Sun, something I found particularly interesting since I am currently working on one of them (STEREO) and have worked on others in the past.
In summary, when it's good it's very good, but it tries to cover more than it needs to and disappoints in that respect.
Rating: 5
Summary: you may never look at the sun the same way again
Comment: Popular science books have to walk a difficult line between scientific detail and an accessible level of simplification. Golub and Pasaschoff do an admirable job here of elucidating what is a highly technical and intricate field. I was reading from only a high-school level of physics knowledge but found most of the book to be comprehensible. Some points left me wondering but sometime I would like to reread and try to work these out. The authors writing style is commendably clear and delineates well what is known, what is likely and what is yet to be discovered using a set of great diagrams and also some beautiful colour slides. Frequently, you may find yourself wondering, "how can they possibly know in such detail about such a distant object?" Fortunately the authors provide excellent and entertaining histories of how our understanding of the sun has developed over the millenia and these are often the most interesting part. The best thing about the book overall though has to be the authors' enthusiasm for the subject which truly imparts to the reader a sense of awe and wonder for our nearest star. Although the subject matter is not as exotic as you might find in The Elegant Universe or Brief History of Time, this too is a highly entertaining and well written exposition of contemporary science for the layman.
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Title: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Sun by Kenneth R. Lang ISBN: 0521780934 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 15 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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Title: Journey from the Center of the Sun. by Jack B. Zirker ISBN: 0691057818 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $31.95 |
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Title: Solar Observing Techniques by Christopher Kitchin ISBN: 185233035X Publisher: Springer Verlag Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $44.95 |
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Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Sun (Complete Idiot's Guide To...) by Jay M. Pasachoff ISBN: 1592570747 Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Celestial Objects for Modern Telescopes : Practical Amateur Astronomy Volume 2 by Michael A. Covington ISBN: 0521524199 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 26 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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