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List Price: £9.95
Our Price: £5.49
By Phaidon Press Ltd
 Fascinating, 2006-07-28
I was completely amazed with this book. It really is fascinating getting a different perspective on everyday objects and I spent hours looking at all the photographs: the photo quality is excellent. The book makes an ideal present for anyone interested in either science or photography and you can go through it page by page or dip into it whenever you have a moment.
List Price: £12.99
Our Price: £6.57
Author:
Ian Ridpath
By Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd
So Simple, Even I Can Find What I'm Looking For!, 2004-05-13
I am one of those people who has trouble finding specific constellations, and is never quite sure whether I'm looking at Jupiter or Venus. I carry around little scraps of paper from the newspaper so I can figure out which planets are visible . . . but have a hard time reading the scraps in the dark. With this book, I can see when and where each planet will appear through 2012. I can also get all the help I need to know what constellations are up there now, and which ones will be present when. As a result, I can finally introduce the starry heavens in an appropriate way to younger people. I already know a lot about astronomy, but the night sky was beyond me. No longer! Whew! Although my four children did not get much help with the heavens from me, the grandchildren will receive great benefits from this resource. Even if you are good at identifying objects in the night sky, this book will be a valuable, convenient reference for you. Enjoy the lore that our ancestors appreciated by seeing new aspects of the night-time sky!
List Price: £45.00
Our Price: £38.25
Author:
Steven Weinberg
By OUP Oxford
A Must have For Every Theoretical Physicist, 2008-03-19
Wow! This is the first review of the book in the whole of internet. I got a copy of Steven Weinberg's Cosmology today though Amazon and am happy! Reminds me of the day back in early 2000 when I pre-ordered Weinberg's Supersymmetry and the day I got it was full of intellectual thrills. All the other texts had a very superficial treatment of Supersymmetry and this was also the case with Cosmology - until now, when the biggest physicist in the post-world-war-2 era wrote on the subject!
Any review of Weinberg's texts is far from complete without having to say something about the Preface. The reader will remember the preface of his book on Gravitation and Cosmology where Weinberg tells us how dissatisfied he was with the usual approach to studying Gravitation and how he sees General Relativity as a consequence of constraints imposed by the quantum theory of massless Spin-2 particles. The reason for Weinberg to write the texts on Quantum Field Theory was also spelled out in the preface - he wanted to address a deep question: "Why Quantum Fields?". In the preface of this book, the author tells us that he wanted to share his experience of learning the latest development of Cosmology, since lots has happened in this area recently. Plus of course, he indirectly (and correctly!) points out how incomplete the usual review articles on Cosmology are.
That indeed is true! And this book precisely will help the reader in learning Cosmology in a way where equations are actually derived and not just mentioned with a reference. Usual treatment of cosmology is vague and superficial and in this text the reader will find not only the full derivation but also good explanations.
The book can be divided in 2 parts. In Chapters 1-4 the reader is introduced to topics ranging from the Robertson-Walker metric to the expanding universe to inflation. The reader has to be familiar with General Relativity to start reading this book. There is a small Appendix in the book on GR: however it should be seen as a write-up for establishing conventions. The remainder of the book (Chapters 5-10) consider advanced topics such as anisotropies, growth of structure and multi-field inflation. Weinberg mentions that he did not want to cover speculative topics and this seems to make sense for such a book. (Though I would have loved a section on the Cosmic Anthropic Principle)
To summarize, this is simply the best reference for Cosmology and Weinberg has once again written a text, noboby else could have.
List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £2.00
Author:
Deborah Cadbury
By HarperPerennial
Space Race, 2006-11-29
It was the greatest race of the 20th century ... the race to rule the heavens ... a race between the two superpowers, Russia and the USA. It is an explosive thriller of international espionage and treachery. A dual biography of two driven men with one ambition; the brilliant Russian rocket designer Sergei Korolev and the German rocket genius Werner von Braun.
Falsely accused under the brutal Stalin regime of disruptive activities and forced to give a false confession, Korolev was sentenced to 10 years in the worst of the Gulag camps (network of labour camps) situated on the fringes of the Arctic Circle in Siberia where thousands died each month. Korolev survived and eventually good sense prevailed as the Russians realised this brilliant man had the ability to translate fundamental principles of physics into rocket design. But so fearful were the Russians that the West could assassinate Korolev he was known only as the "Great Desiner" and constantly shadowed by the KGB.
Werner von Braun was the designer of the fearsome V-2 rocket that had targeted London during the Second World War. When the conflict ended the USA for political and military requirments cynically secured his talents along with his fellow German scientists. But it wasn't until John F Kennedy was elected president that his dream of a Moon landing came closer.
After many risky and often fatal experiments, two men finally left the cradle of Earth and left their first footpints on another world ... the airless Moon
Set against the dark days of the Second World War and the Cold War years Space Race is a truly splendid read ... a gripping read. I found it hard to put down. I am sure you will too.
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £0.01
Author:
Piers Bizony
By Icon Books Ltd
Extremely interesting, 2007-09-06
I bought this book on a whim after a brief review in the BBC Focus magazine. I'm not much of a reader as I find my degree studies take my enthusiasm away from reading other material.
I have just finished it within 3 days and I was blown away. It is (in my opinion) very well written and gives an amazing insight into a fantastic age in space travel that is almost forgotten. It also helps the user understand the power stuggles in Washington when funding needed to secured.
Overall, this book does James Webb very proud - what an amazing man.
List Price: £12.99
Our Price: £7.14
Author:
Christopher Gordon De Pree
By Alpha Books
What a great intro to a spectacular science!!!!!, 1999-07-06
I am a 13-year-old who has been interested in the astronomical sciences for many years. I've read many books on astronomy and cosmology, but the Complete Idiot's Guide to Astronomy is the best I've read for quick facts, and not just a bunch of words jumbled up that makes absolutely no sense at all. This book discusses many great things. Such as:~discussions elaborating on important events, projects, isasues, or people in astronomy ~definitions of key terms used in astronomy ~startling astronomical facts and amazing trivia ~highlights important statistics, scientific laws and principles, measurements, and mathmatical formulas. And all of that information just comes out of small boxes on the sides of the pages!!! So you can just imagine how much other information comes out of the actual text of the book!!! Great read for anyone iterested in astronomy or interested in becoming part of this amazing and ancient form of science as a profession..like me!!!
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