 Great starter, 2009-03-08
I'd delved into night sky-watching some 15 years ago and I now wanted to resume and take it further. Having checked a couple dozen titles, i found this to be the best starter. It doesn't have exhaustive details on binoculars, telescopes and astronomy but rather gets you straight into exploring the stars with the naked eye, which is all the fun! The section on myth didn't quite grab me, perhaps because I've had enough mythology as a kid, thank you very much, but this is the best book to get your bearings on constellations quickly, simply and effectively. After that you choose where you want to go. The only thing missing, and therefore the 4- instead of 5-stars, is information on locating the planets. Even though the title has some blah on why they haven't included this, I wasn't convinced as I have seen such information in another title.
 buy it, 2005-02-03
If your like I was - unable to make out pictures shown in constellations and require a giant to help you join the dots up in the sky to actually see images - then get this book. It easily points out the shapes and shows you how to find your way around the sky at night. The legends are great and is always useful to impress ppl with.
a magical mystery tour...step right this way, 2009-09-09
====== PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BOOK IS FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ONLY =====
The title suits this book so well, as that is how reading this book feels... "A Walk through the Heavens" an awesome stroll through the night sky on a big friendly adventure. That last part wouldn't make quite so good a title though. I really enjoyed starhopping , finding more and more constellations and stars in the night sky, through the seasons, and then flipping to the back to read up on the mythology section. This book is very user friendly and requires no prior knowledge and i have to admit that having read other books, since.. introducing the night sky, i wouldn't have stuck at it without this making the journey so enjoyable and comprehensible. It includes many different star routes to the same constellation to make it very easy to find as well as reinforcing your awareness of it in the sky. It also includes the mythology of constellations (western and eastern , adapted for family viewing) and teaches you a simple method to measure apparent distances in the sky using nothing but your hand.
I do feel a pronounciation section would have been very helpful and more about the planets and how to find them..so it loses a star, but the quality of its teaching in finding the stars is very good and the book has a friendly and passionate tone, throughout. I bought this book , from nothing more than mild curiousity, at the start of the year and have now bought my first pair of binoculars.
I actually sent my copy to a friend in Canada to teach her, so that we could share our view of the sky..but as i miss it so much, i realise that I'm going to have to buy another copy.
Does what it says on the tin, 2003-02-09
Either take a look and then go out for a walk, go out for a walk come home and look up what you were looking at, or stick your nose right out the window and look, this book is a fine read, and shows you how to hop from star to star, and it also tells you a little about the legends and myths of the stars.Well worth the money and ideal as a "dippy in" book too.
The most productive half-hour in my garden, ever!, 2007-01-15
For years I've gazed up at the stars and wondered how I could start to find out about the constellations; if only I'd known about this book I'd have had my answer.
It's brilliant, half an hour in the back garden and I'd found the Big Dipper, Polaris, the Little Dipper, Cassiopeia, and several others. Similarly, for ten years I'd seen a series of three stars in the sky and wondered what they were, now I know; the belt of Orion!
Simple steps, clear diagrams, measuring techniques, everything that you need to start is here. If you want to get to know the night sky, you could do no better than start here.
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