Book Description

"This book is destined to become a standard reference work on Maya archaeoastronomy.... [It provides] a basic, sound, and utterly comprehensive introduction to the subject of ancient Maya astronomy."

—Andrea Stone, Professor of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Customer Reviews (4)

Star Gods, Calendars & Astronomy
This book is full of the most embarassing mistakes. While the drawings are wonderful the discussion of astronomy is a real problem. I'd suggest Anthony Aveni's work (many many books) as a correction to this work.

Art historian's master work
In her brilliant, beautifully researched book, Susan Milbrath uses her extensive knowledge of Mayan art to recreate the structure of the Maya's astronomy and cosmology and, even more importantly, to celebrate theirmysterious beauty. Star Gods is a splendid book written by an amazing arthistorian at the peak of her powers.

Art historian's master work
In her brilliant, beautifully researched book, Susan Milbrath uses her extensive knowledge of Mayan art to recreate the structure of the Maya's astronomy and cosmology and, even more importantly, to celebrate theirmysterious beauty. Star Gods is a splendid book written by an amazing arthistorian at the peak of her powers.

Five stars for Star Gods
Star Gods of the Maya is one of the best works on Precolumbian religion to be produced in recent years. It presents material about the astronomical interests of the ancient Maya in a manner which is accessible to theamateur but sufficiently well-documented to satisfy the specialist.Wellorganized and user friendly, it will probably become the desk reference ofchoice on this subject. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Revolutionary.
Before Martin Brennan and his team researched the Boyne Valley cairns and Knowth, few archeologists took the locals seriously when they told stories of the structures. Even after the studies were complete many archeologistswouldn't comment on what the team found. Now, years later, there is agrudging admittance that Brennan's astronishing work is correct. Theconcepts and the illustrations will take your breath away. Prepare to beastounded. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Saints Alive ! ...
I believe there can be intrinsic value in Art, and for whatever reason, I relate better to Art in which I can recognize 'true' expressions of 'the Human Condition.'IOW, I may have a limited breadth of soul, but I see much Modern Art as Absurd (or Disturbing).To cut to the chase, regardless of your Religious orientation or preference, there is much sense to the range of human expression found in this book, and best of all for my money, the wonder of it all.

However, the book title is literal, it is a book of Saints represented in Art.If you're at all put off by the ubiquitous nature of bygone Catholic days, 'got enough dogma,' you may not care for this book.If you are able to look past this, you may very readily see a wide and true spectrum of views of our common Humanity.

In all Art books, I prefer the narrative not going overboard, this book does it fairly nicely.The narrative includes bio info on the Saint depicted, but it also includes helpful Art criticism that is pragmatic and avoids esoteric verbiage best kept in Graduate Studies.It's a nice quality book, but the only fault I find with it is, I wish it'd been a larger format by several inches, I prefer the Big Picture.A pretty good value.

Hope this review helps.

What about that guy with the axe in his head?
Books with stories that you can leaf through, without reading linearly from cover to cover, are always fun, and for lovers of medieval art, Saints is one of the best. Lushly illustrated, and formatted somewhat like a travel guide, the mini-biographies summarize what is known about each saint. Representative art works are provided, accompanied bysidebars and annotations with arrows that point out key features. Saints in Art is a valuable resource for anyone wishing to decipher the symbology and iconography contained in the religious works, great and small.

everything i wanted
this book is awesome! it has info on over 100 saints commonly found in art. stuff like name, time and place of earthly life,what they did, patronage,special devotions, connections to other saints, when they became saints and their feast days are easily found on the sidebar. there is a little biography and thena collection of maybe three paintings and an explanation of who is in the painting and what they are doing as well as the meanings of the objects they are pictured with. for instance, if i ever see a painting of a woman with her hair down pictured with a container of oil or ointment i will know it is mary magdalene. a t-shaped cane is an emblem of St. Anthony Abbot, etc. super useful saint painting decoder.

Holy writ!
This title originally comes from the popular Dizionari dell'Arte series by Italian publishers Electa and we should be thankful that the Getty has taken on the task of translating these fabulous reference books into English.Saints in Art is an important source not only for the iconography and hagiography of the principal saints in art but on the great visual history of European painting (with an emphasis on Italian).Lavishly illustrated.I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Book Description
Fire in the Sky collects many representations of comets and meteors in Britain during the eighteen and nineteenth century when a large number of works inspired by these celestial objects were produced. Over 100 photographs--and two sections of luscious color plates--beautifully portray the inspired output of some of the world's most talented artists, fully capturing the phenomenon that obsessed not only a nation but an era as well.Olson and Pasachoff reveal the many different ways that comets and meteors have appeared in paintings and literature and link these works to the achievements of British science in the wake of Newton and Halley.They also examine the different symbolism that writers and artists have attached to these spectacular objects.Throughout, Fire in the Sky conveys how the development of new technologies, and the burgeoning interest of the general public in science and art, dovetailed with an interest in nature and a strong literary tradition of comet and meteor symbolism. Beautifully illustrated and packed with engaging stories, this book will delight anyone with an interest in the art and astronomy of comets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Non Fiction
The Six Million Dollar Man guy takes a crack at a coffee table book, this time about astronomy and Mars.The possibilities of organic compounds being found on the red planet were making news at the time, so I suppose this was part of that.Not a whole lot of substance here, but it is attractive enough for a quick flip through.

A very good book
All I have to say is that you should get this book if you have any interest in Mars at all. ... Read more

Book Description
This challenging treatise by Sir Fred Hoyle,astrophysicist, begins by instructing us how to avoid "being sucked into amaelstrom of respectable ignorance. Whenever the word 'origin' is used,disbelieve everything you are told." Then, in a progressive, fathomable,fascinating discourse, he posits his beliefs about the organ of theuniverse, beginning with an explanation of the ice ages and his theory ofthe giant comet, the disintegration of which, Hoyle maintains, contributedto the origin of religion. Under expert guidance, we see how this eventgave rise to the belief in Mohammed, early Christianity, and impacts on thethinking of medieval times. ... Read more