The Sky Observer's Guide

50 Years Old, Still The Best

This book has not been updated in about 50 years so it does have some things wrong. As an example, at last count (2016-03-15) Jupiter has 62 moons and this book says it has 16. Its list of future events to look for (such as eclipses) ends in 1990 or thereabouts. That’s OK. You can get all that information on Wikipedia or with a Google search, just remember that the book was last updated in the 1960s.

What this book does brilliantly and better than any other I’ve read (I’ve read many and taught astronomy classes) is explain what’s in the sky, how to find it, how to look at it, why things appear to move the way they do, the types of amateur instruments, what to reasonably expect to see with modest amateur instruments; all done in a style that can be read by a child or appreciated by an adult. I first read this book when I was 5 years old and I just kind of stumbled on it here in the Apple iBooks Store a few days and enjoyed reading it cover to cover all over again.

It is dry and matter-of-fact. There are no characters to follow, no Anime-inspired drawings, no attempts at humor or cultural touchstones. It’s a reference book and written that way. I find it engaging because it brings the subject matter alive in a very understandable way. It’s not “Jack and Spot Look at the Stars” but it’s not a college astronomy textbook, either. There are many pictures, drawings, and diagrams.

This book is for you if:
•You want to get into amateur astronomy, whatever your age.
•You want a gift for a young person to pique their interest.
•You are wondering if you should get binoculars or a telescope, or what type of telescope.
•You want to get or have a telescope and have no idea how to use it.
•You want to become familiar with constellations and other easily-identified things “up there”.
•You’re wondering why the earth has seasons, the moon has phases, or want clear and simple explanations about other basic phenomena related to the motion of the earth and other objects in space.

I wish that this book would be updated. Leave the text and pictures, etc. alone, just update the numbers, dates, and other facts to the post-Voyager/post-Hubble/21st-Century era. Perhaps include a little more about Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes (since they’re so popular now), modern eyepieces (as an example, Plossls didn’t become popular until the 1980s), and some notes about planetarium software in the section about planispheres.