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List Price: £22.99
Our Price: £13.37
Author:
Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis
By Cambridge University Press
 A must have for every astronomer, 2010-01-20
Turn left at Orion is a very well known guide to the night sky. As such it stands alone, every owner of a small telescope should have his or her own copy.
All the 100 ojects can be seen with the smallest telescope and they only get better with more power.
Product link Philip's Planisphere: Northern 51.5 Degrees - British Isles, Northern Europe Northern USA and Canada (Philip's Astronomy)
Brian Sheen - Roseland Observatory.
List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £3.75
By Philip's
This Planisphere focuses on the northern skies: Northern Europe, Northern USA, and Canada.
Simple and straightforward, 2010-01-12
Very nicely done. The planisphere being made out of plastic, it's more resistant to wear and tear. An older similar counterpart, from ESO is made out of cardboard, which is not the best idea. The fact that it also has a "How To" guide makes it easy to use even by a complete novice.
List Price: £19.99
Our Price: £14.16
Author:
Dorling Kindersley, Robert Dinwiddie
By Dorling Kindersley
DK Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe, 2010-01-10
Absolutely superb book. Very good photographs, and book is very easy to read.Good quality and good value.
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £3.25
Author:
Michael Talbot
By HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Refreshing Change, 2010-01-03
Refreshing to read an alternative view that makes sense of not only the physical reality we live in but also the more spiritual side. Science meets spiritual belief systems in a way that doesn't reduce things down to only what we know so far, but what could be possible,and builds a solid model integrating these possibilies. The author suggests that limiting scientists views of 'thats not possible' can hold up our knowledge and progress and its a shame that the 'scientific base' is down to a group of core individuals that seem to decide for the rest.
This book is an excellent read for those that are already thinking outside the box and just pushes the bounderies on what we may accept as reality and the truth of it.
I liked it ALOT!!!! :o)
List Price: £5.99
Our Price: £2.72
Author:
Miranda Lundy
By Wooden Books
Sacred Geometry by Miranda Lundy, 2009-08-27
I was looking for a replacement copy of a book I used to have (THE OLD STRAIGHT TRACK by Alfred Watkins which I did find and purchase) when I came across this "little beauty" and thought that since the subject was the same as Watkins' book, I might find it just as interesting and am looking forward to reading it, but not yet as I have just borrowed Volume 1 of John Evelyn's diaries from the library. (Evelyn was my 15 times great-grandfather.)
List Price: £10.99
Our Price: £3.58
Author:
Brian Greene
By Penguin
Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos with its questions about the limits of space and time and the texture of reality certainly looks a bit daunting to the uninitiated. Cosmic ripples, 11 dimensions to the universe and string theory that is somehow connected to a "Theory of Everything" are all a bit alien if you never really got to grips with Newton, let alone Einstein. It might look very heavyweight, but Greene is an excellent communicator and what he's writing about is perhaps the greatest intellectual challenge we face. There is no doubt that speculation about the nature of the heavens is very ancient. After centuries of thought "we still can only portray space and time as the most familiar of strangers". But enormous advances in understanding have been made especially over the last few decades. Whether we are high-flying city slickers or impoverished cattle-herders in the third world, speculation about space-time "takes on an almost mystical quality: we're considering the fate of the very things that dominate our sense of reality" according to Greene. Over the last century we have become much better acquainted with previously hidden features of the Universe, esp...
Excellent, 2010-02-18
Excellent, incredibly clear guide to the amazing advances that have been and are being made in modern physics. Packed with brilliantly thought up examples that really help clarify what should be mind numbingly complex ideas this book is to be infinitely preferred to Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time, which has dated very badly indeed.
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £3.92
Author:
Simon Singh
By HarperPerennial
An excellent read, 2010-03-05
I review few books but I am taken enough with this book to pick up my pen!
I found this book easy to read and very informative.What it amounts to is that you are taken through a history of cosmology from the very earliest times in an interesting way, from Erastothenes and others through Ptolemy then on to Copernicus, Kepler and on to more modern times. This historical approach gives you an excellent understanding of the issues and an understanding of the significance of new discoveries as they were made. I found the tables contrasting the way various theories met the observations and criticisms of their time very useful. It made me understand why even after Copernicus people did not have to be silly to reject the sun centred solar system postulated by him.
The same applies to the advances of the twentieth century developments described in the book all made even more interesting by snapshots of the characters of the people involved. One thinks of science as being objective but human subjectivity also plays a part in determining what is the fashionable theory of the time.
Overall I have emerged from this book with an understanding not only of the Big Bang but of how the Greeks with the simplest of equipment managed to estimate the circumference of the earth, the size of the moon, the distance to the moon and the sun; of the solar system; of the development of our elements most of which come from super nova which are very much post Big Bang and with us of course to-day.
Recommended even to those without any scientific background.
List Price: £10.99
Our Price: £4.59
Author:
Michio Kaku
By Penguin
You can't put it down., 2010-02-16
This is the third of Kaku's books that i've read, and is quite easily his best.
It is a book that confronts the biggest questions in cosmology and quantum theory head on, and addresses philosophical and theological implications in a sensible manner, but is nonetheless incredible for it. There is a richness of subjects here, all discussed in logically sequenced chapters, and the more you read, the more you discover.
Although this book is written for the intelligent layman, this is a popular book where Kaku, who is sometimes forced to hold back with interiewers in media appearances, 'cuts loose' with the depth of his understanding, and offers a personal take on the what the anthropic principle and Copernican principle, and the ultimate properties of this universe. The chapter on the development of Quantum Physics is as well-written and clear as any on the subject, and his anecdotes about other well-known scientists and their own journeys to their discoveries, as well as his own, are a welcome addition and flavour the largely cosmological enquiries with an historical and personal perspective, including his encounter with Richard Feynman after giving a talk on String Theory. This helps the book retain a human scale that helps appreciate the big ideas even more.
He also introduces Carl Sagan's counterpart to the Kardashev Scale, which is based on information rather than energy, but there is so much more, including a look at M-Theory and Branes, and even Richard Dawkins gets a brief mention.
The edition I have also has a glossary of terms at the back, and is the coup de grace for this very comprehensive, optimistic and wonderfully illustrative take on the cosmos.
A must-read for anyone who anyone even vaguely inquisitive about our universe.
List Price: £14.99
Our Price: £7.11
Author:
Stephen P. Maran
By John Wiley & Sons
Dummies in Space, 2009-10-28
Yet another first class book from Dummies. Easy to understand the complex science. I particularly liked the web links for up to date photos and information from the research laboratories.
List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £1.52
Author:
Marcus Chown
By Faber and Faber
The Never-ending Days of Being Dead, 2009-03-03
This morning I was finishing of one of the most enjoyable books I have read, that being Marcus Chown's "The never ending days of being dead"
The most interesting part of this book for me was learning about the concept of the "Omega Point Universe" This being a universe which contracts faster in one direction than all other directions. In such a universe, the temperature difference grow without limit, enabling an infinite amount of information processing before the universe ends in the Omega Point
I loved Chapter 11 - "The never ending days of being dead" and plan to look up more material from Frank Tipler as soon as possible. This particular concept is extremely similar to Anthony Peake's Theory in many ways. Chown explores the possibility that we may already be in a computer generated reality brought about by the future fate of the universe.
I was also fascintated to learn more about "Omega" That being a number that cannot be generated by a computer programme shorter than itself. Far more interesting that I first anticipated. Chown's style of wrirting is so addictive and so easy to understand, he makes it enjoyable to learn as he has a great sense of humour about the topics he discusses.
Interesting insights also into the opinion that we should be searching for E.T in the computer rather than the universe. The entire book was an absolute pleasure, every bit as educational and enjoyable as "The universe Next Door". I will definately go out and get a copy of "Quantum Theory cannot hurt you" as soon as possible.
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