Product Description
The Ptolemaic system of the universe, with the earth at the centre, had held sway since antiquity as authoritative in philosophy, science, and church teaching. Following his observations of the heavenly bodies, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) abandoned the geocentric system for a heliocentric model, with the sun at the centre. His remarkable work, "On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres", stands as one of the greatest intellectual revolutions of all time, and profoundly influenced, among others, Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Planetary distances is "the chief point of all"
Copernicus puts the sun in the center of the universe. This is a great achievement not on metaphysical or philosophical grounds but rather because it provides new quantitative information about the universe, namely planetary distances.

Suppose the earth is at the center and we have created a model for how the planets move with epicycles and stuff, as Ptolemy did. Such a model can give no information about planetary distances, because we could scale the orbit of Saturn, say, to make it twice as big and it would still look exactly the same seen from earth.

But suppose now that we have a similar model but with the sun at the center, which is what Copernicus provides. The (relative) planetary distances are now determined, because if we scaled the orbit of Saturn then it would look the same seen from the sun but different seen from earth. So with the earth in the center we cannot determine planetary distances because we are the center of scaling, but with the sun in the center we would notice scaling and thus the planetary distances are locked, or, as Copernicus puts it, "this correlation binds together so closely the order and the magnitudes of all the planets and of their spheres or orbital circles and the heavens themselves that nothing can be shifted around in any part of them without disrupting the remaining parts and the universe as a whole".

Thus he can claim triumphantly that earlier astronomers "have not been able to discover or to infer the chief point of all, i.e., the form of the world and the certain commensurability of its parts. But they are in exactly the same fix as someone taking from different places hands, feet, head, and the other limbs---shaped very beautifully but not with reference to one body and without correspondence to one another---so that such parts made up a monster rather than a man." (I'm using the translation from Goldoni's excellent article in the Mathematical Intelligencer.)

Other benefits of the Copernican system include obvious and immediate explanations of the following:

Retrograde motion, including: why retrogression coincides with opposition and maximum luminosity (for superior planets); why retrogression is more frequent the further the planets is from us; why the retrograde arc is greater the closer the planet is to us.

Why inferior planets have bounded elongation.

Peculiarities of Ptolemy, including: why Ptolemy's planets all have a solar component (viz., to explain bounded elongation or why retrogression coincides with opposition) but the moon does not; why orbital periods are not constant as seen from the earth.

A trip back in time
Very good book. It really took me back to the 1400's, when everyone thought the earth was the center of the universe, and the sum and stars revolved around the Earth. The style of writing, and the enormity of the meesage was very illuminating.

I have to admit, though, after getting into the math and the scientific explanations, it gets pretty dry. I've only gotten 1/2 way through the book. But, because it's actually written by Copernicus, it is fascinating.

And, he made all these observations almost a century before telescopes were around.

PS i was led to read this, because of the book, Galileo's Daughter, which discusses the life of Galileo, his invention of the telescope, and the persecutions he faced.

Awesome.
OK, first of all, "GangstaLawya" seems to not be taking into account the fine work of Kepler, Newton, and Einstein when he suggests that we "remain agnostic" on the issue of heliocentrism. True, Copernicus himself does not excactly refute Ptolemy here (he actually was more worried about how other astronomers and Protestant theologians would react to his heliocentric system than how the Catholic church would see it... and his model wasn't fully accepted until over a hundred years after his death), but this model was later augmented by Kepler and Newton to the point where it does work better than Ptolemy's. And with all due respect, the Ptolmaic system is extremely convoluted, needlessly complicated, and downright ugly at times... so even if there's a simpler way of looking at things that works just as well, that's still a conceptial improvement. Occam's razor, y'know?

But I digress. As with most of my reviews of books like this, my concern isn't necessarily the actual book (which is usually self-evidently worthwhile), but with the presentation. I must say that it's a little awkward to see Stephen Hawking's name appear on the cover in larger type than Copernicus' and not get anything more than a very short introduction by him that doesn't say very much. In fact, there is not very much of a difference between this edition and the one published by Prometheus Books; the text is exactly the same and contains all the same diagrams. The cover is flashier (and says "Stephen Hawking!") and the type is cleaner. That's it. Those are the only real differences. In fact, the only reason I can see for this edition existing is Running Press (and Stephen Hawking) making a few bucks.

Despite all this, there isn't really anything here that detracts from the work. So basically, you can buy this copy or the Prometheus Books edtion and it won't matter; you'll get pretty much the same thing and pay pretty much the same price either way. I'll leave it up to you whether you want the flashy cover (complete with Stephen Hawking's name on it) or the plain one because that's really about as deep as the choice goes.

What A Joy As Well As A Work of Art
Never before did I know a man could explain the heliocentric universe as well in this book.Of Course, Copernicus explained it centuries before my birth.But, it seems so foolish to believe the geocentric view, and I'm Catholic.Read "Dialogues" by Galileo to get the full picture ofwhat these two men said, it it truly fascinating. ... Read more

Product Description
Do you want to know what's going to happen on this planet when the end of times begins? If your answer is yes, then you have to read this book. Within, you'll find a step-by-step guide that will teach you how to prepare yourself psychologically and spiritually for the most amazing ride of your life. ... Read more

Product Description
“Highly personal and philosophical . . . the next best thing to reading Copernicus.”—Publishers WeeklyIn 1543, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus lay on his deathbed, reportedly holding his just-published masterpiece, The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in his hands. Placing the sun at the center of the universe, Copernicus launched modern science, leading to a completely new understanding of the universe, and humanity's place within it.

But what did Copernicus really believe? Some argue that he anticipated the vast secularizing impact his ideas would have on history. Others contend that Copernicus was a man of his time and, on the whole, accepted its worldview. William T. Vollmann navigates this territory with the energetic prose and powerful intelligence for which he is known, providing a fresh and enlightening explication of Copernicus, his book, and his time, and the momentous clash between them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

How one of those humanities guys looks at science
Probably how he looks at all us technology guys too!

Technology guys need to get past our thin skins and ignore the well-written, deep-disguised digs, ostensibly (and literally) aimed at all sorts of scientists back in the days of Copernicus, to include belittling the Man himself from time to time.Vollmann is an excellent writer, and brings to the world of 16th century astronomy more than just a colorfully descriptive style, but also a profound compliment for what science does through the ages.He's a fiction writer "normally," and uses color effectively -- otherwise, he couldn't sell much fiction!Think about how matter-of-fact so much of what is published in science fields today, and wonder how much more interesting they might be if a fiction writer took a turn at nonfiction as Vollmann did!

True, there are much better texts on any of the science topics treated in "Uncentering the Earth."True also, the author probably did deep research on those specific pieces of science about which he wrote, sometimes in considerable detail; and these spots of good reporting sometimes seem poorly connected with each other.Still, the reader might be delighted that a fiction writer could actually pull this off.Nevertheless, if the readers seek a detailed account of Copernicus and his work, or of the advances of science in the 16th century, or of which persons passed along what bits of knowledge at that time, then this book will probably not do.Understandably so.If instead one would like a fresh (and sometimes slightly insulting) way to look at this particular famous person of Copernicus for perspective, then "Uncentering" might be just the distraction.

It can be frustrating in this work, though, to pin down specifically why the author admires Nicolaus Copernicus.Although he speaks those words a couple times through the book, the reasons are fuzzy and somewhat unconnected with the text around it (see if you can find them!)This reviewer personally concludes that Mr. Vollmann believes that Copernicus changed astronomy (and hence science?) into a predictive way of thinking, rather than a reactive way.That's would be an excellent compliment indeed.

The Universe Screams


I completely understand the negative reviews this book has received.But I would like to defend this book, which I believe is worth the time and effort.

This is a disappointing book if you are reading it for the wrong reason.The wrong reason is if you are reading this book as an astronomy buff who wants to learn more about Copernicus.Again, that is a very understandable mistake to make.By all appearances, it looks to be a serious academic discussion of the work of Copernicus and its role in the scientific paradigm shift.

The right reason to read this book is not as an astronomy buff but as a William T. Vollman buff. I can't get enough of Vollman's writing.And he can't seem to stop writing so it's a good match (this is a writer, for example, who has completed an over 3,000 page essay on the nature of violence).Vollman has the gift of being able to encompass the full depth of the human experience in every sentence he writes.When he writes of ecstatic happiness, he manages to imbed it with hints of cruelty and suffering.When he writes about tragedy and death, there are twisted traces of sweetness and cathartic joy.

I'm a fan of the history of science and good science writing too.And while this book might not be the most straightforward way to learn about Copernicus, there is factual information here about Copernicus' "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres."We are also given Vollman's meditations on the nature of scientific revolutions and the way science as a process will always be hampered by human imperfection, by our individual investments in our beliefs, and by the stubborn drag of institutional momentum."'Revolutions' was profoundly dangerous in its epoch, and hence profoundly necessary."

Why would Vollman take on this task?He tells us this book is the result of an "exercise in explicating a subject slightly beyond my intellectual competence."But, when he marvels at the effort, "the immensity of the force required" and the "solitary years" behind Copernicus' work, we get a sense of the parallel process driving Vollman's own desires to nudge the universe.

Very Disappointing
I bought this book with high hopes of finding an interesting and illuminating look at how Copernicus revolutionized astronomy. I was so disappointed that I did something I virtually never do: after about 90 pages, I put the book away with no intention of finishing it. Vollmann is a writer of note, but in this case his writing is so mannered and his exposition seemingly so convoluted that the reader quickly grows fatigued. At least, this reader did.

Snoozefest
This is the most uninteresting book on science or a scientific personality that I have read in recent times. I was looking forward to reading about the middle ages, the environment in which Copernicus grew up, the scientific world view at the time, the social mileu, what Copernicus himself was like, what his religious beliefs were, how he arrived at his conclusions, and what his book meant in terms of courage and conviction in that time. And, of course, a lot of actual science.

Instead we get such hard to read, boring, insipid prose dissecting the text of his work that it's a real effort to turn each page. I felt like giving up at every turn till I was half-way through but only sheer will and expectation that it would get better kept me going. But I gave up at the half-way mark.

I had learned very little that stayed with me and I had hardly enjoyed it. For those interested, Bill Bryson's "A short history of nearly everything" is one that succeeds quite well at this attempt to dispense science to the laymen.

save your money and time
If you are interested in what Copernicus did, save your money and time and don't buy this book.Instead, get ahold of Thomas Kuhn's masterful account "The Copernican Revolution".

This book is one of a series in which non-scientists present popular accounts of mostly great episodes in science.I say mostly great because there seems to be a certain amount of political correctness in the choice of scientists to write about in the series.But I digress.

Some of the books in this series are successful, for example the one by Madison Smartt Bell on Priestley, Lavoisier, and the chemical revolution.But when you have fiction writers expounding technical subjects, there is potential for trouble, and that is what we get with Vollmann's book on Copernicus.

Vollmann's explanations of the technical aspects of Copernicus' work are superficial and hard to grasp.Kuhn is much better.Vollmann also has a complusion to say snotty things about everyone involved, about their thoughts, motives, habits of mind.One would think that the ancients who constructed early science and astronomy were a bunch of idiots who had to wait for Copernicus to come along, who of course was a dolt because he was "obedient" to Aristotle for the most part, and was incapable of writing clearly to boot.Kuhn is incomparably better at explaining the philsophical, religious, scientific, and historical contexts in which the ancients, Copernicus, and the other early moderns worked.For example, you get a real sense of why the ancient earth-centered system was the reasonable system, that the ancient heliocentric precursors of Copernicus didn't have much in the way of evidence or reason on their side.You get a sense from Kuhn of just what it was that made the heliocentric theory attractive to Copernicus -- the changing context of observational astronomy, and above all the clarity which the heliocentric view gave to the matter of the oddities of the motion of certain of the planets.

If you really want a sense of the greatness of ancient scientific thought, of ancient astronomy, of the magnificence of the accomplishment of Copernicus and his followers in the modern scientific revolution, get ahold of Kuhn's book. ... Read more

Product Description
This classic hymnal developed by the Stamps-Baxter publishing company and released in 1956 remained as one of the top 10 music books sold by the Zondervan corporation for many years and continues to be one of the most popular hymnals in its class. Featuring old-time gospel standards with choral arrangements typeset in shape note style, this original captures the singing style taught in the Stamps-Baxter music schools. Songs include: 'Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus ? 'Tis The Old Ship Of Zion ? A New Name In Glory ? A Savior To Be Proud Of ? A Soul Winner For Jesus ? Abide With Me ? After The Sunrise ? Aint It A Shame ? All Hail The Power ? Almost Persuaded ? Amazing Grace ? Anchored In Love Divine ? Are You Washed In The Blood? ? Asleep In Jesus ? At The Cross ? Away In A Manger ? Baby Jesus ? Bearing The Cross To Win The Crown ? Beautiful ? Beautiful Isle ? Blessed Assurance ? Blessed Be The Name ? Blessed Jesus Loves You Too ? Blest Be The Tie ? Break Thou The Bread Of Life ? Bring Them In ? Bringing In The Sheaves ? Christ Arose! ? Cleanse Me ? Come And Dine ? Come Unto Me ? Death Is Only A Dream ? Do Lord ? Doing Little Things For Jesus ? Don't Forget Jesus ? Don't Put Off Salvation Too Long ? Don't You Want To Go? ? Down In My Heart ? Down On My Knees ? Doxology ? Drifting Too Far From The Shore ? Enough For Me ? Every Time I Feel The Spirit and many, many more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good old-time gospel
This hymnal brings back memories from my childhood, with old southern gospel favorites.The Heavenly Highway Hymnal has gone over very well with the older popluation at my church.However, it is written in shape notes, which the younger members complain are hard for them to read.The only real drawback I find is the size. The hymnal comes in 2 formats, a large print edition for easy reading, and a smaller "regular" edition.The larger book is almost too large to fit on our lecturn, while the smaller hymnal is so small even members much younger than myself say it is difficult to read.A nice mid-size edition would make this a more desireable purchase.

Shape note hymnal.
First ran into it at a gospel sing accompanying the big festival in Mountain View Arkansas back in the 70's.The church that hosted the sing had it as their regular hymnal.I've had and lost several copies since then.The newer editions don't have the songs I loved.

If you love country or bluegrass gospel music, it's a good one to have.I won't say that you MUST HAVE it, but I'm always glad to have a copy around. Doesn't have everything.No "Watchman Tell Me" for instance. But lots of others, Kneel at the Cross, Gospel Ship, We'll Understand It All By and By.

There are a couple of other editions, not as good for someone who loves the the particular genre.None with the brown paper cover, as far as I know.

... Read more

Product Description
One of the great paradoxes of modern times is that the more scientists understand the natural world, the more we discover that our everyday beliefs about it are wrong. Astronomy, in particular, is one of the most misunderstood scientific disciplines.With the participation of thousands of undergraduate students, Neil F. Comins has identified and classified, by origin and topic, over 1,700 commonly held misconceptions. Heavenly Errors provides access to all of them and explores many, including:· Black holes suck in everything around them.· The Sun shines by burning gas.· Comets have tails trailing behind them.· The Moon alone causes tides.· Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, is the hottest planet.In the course of correcting these errors, he explains that some occur through the prevalence of pseudosciences such as astrology and UFO-logy and some enter the public conscience through the "bad astronomy" of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other science-fiction movies.. Perhaps most important, Professor Comins presents the reader with the methods for identifying and replacing incorrect ideas -tools with which to probe erroneous notions so that we can begin to question for ourselves . . . and to think more like scientists.Amazon.com Review
Does the weather get warmer in summer because the Earth moves closer to the sun? That many people believe this is a perfect example of common sense leading to scientific misconception, the kind of misconception Neil Comins strives to set straight in Heavenly Errors. Comins is particularly eager to stamp out errors about astronomy, his field, and in his book he explores--and corrects--1,500 "commonly held" astronomical beliefs. Along the way, he investigates the nature of misconceptions, how and why we acquire them, and how to guard against them. He identifies external culprits, such as science fiction films, the Internet, and advertising, and examines how the psychological traits that help humans survive are poor tools for understanding "the real nature of the universe." A writer and teacher, Comins can clearly explain astronomical concepts to non-scientists. This book, however, seems geared to freshman astronomy students, and not to the general science reader. --J.B. Peck ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

No learning from the starry man; dead is all his human truth



This is precisely the type of book that gives academics a bad name, and opens the door for "popularizations" written by journalists The blurb by Michael Shermer of Skeptic magazine speaks of "pseudoscientific errors through the ages", and sonaive potential reader might have the impression that the book treats misconceptions about the nature of the cosmos through the centuries and their rectification, perhaps in the manner of Singh's excellentBig Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.) .Not a bit of it; this author simply sets up a series of straw men, often his own students (who of course, being students, will indeed reinforce teacher's sense of how clever he is), and demonstrates that indeed a few $ million of state salary, training, and tenure affords him greater competence than them in a micro-specialization. P. 54 features a biological colleague's brave attempt at satisfying Comins, which is duly excoriated; it would be interesting to see a similarly detailed map from Comins about, say, gene expression.



Pp. 197-224 features the author's "guide to the perplexed", the 21 commandments of science. (16, "develop intellectual humility", is one he might usefully abide by). What is truly shocking is the philosophy of science illiteracy; Thomas Kuhn is not mentioned. In general, WB Yeats for once has it right:


"Seek, then,
No learning from the starry men,
Who follow with the optic glass
The whirling ways of stars that pass -
Seek, then, for this is also sooth,
No word of theirs - the cold star-bane
Has cloven and rent their hearts in twain,
And dead is all their human truth. "

Heavens above!The stars don't twinkle?

This book refutes many fond misconceptions of the universe, such as "twinkling" stars, our Sun always rising directly in the East and only the Moon causing tides.

Next, though it is not addressed in this book, we'll be told the Earth isn't flat and it doesn't rest of the back of a giant turtle, which stands on the back of an even larger turtle, which stands on an even larger turtle ... and so forth ALL THE WAY DOWN.

Comins misses the whole point about popular delusions.It's not that some of our most cherished beliefs are wrong;it's "Why do we get such nonsense and how do we survive with so many wrong ideas"?

For example:The light from stars really does "twinkle", just as the nursery rhyme says.The U.S. military believed this, so DARPA sponsored research to eliminate twinkles.It was so successful that the procedure is now used to eliminate the "twinkle" when using optical telescopes at places such as Kitt Peak observatory, near Tucson.

Two conclusions may be drawn:a)the starlight we see really does twinkle, andb)there's a good scientific reason for it.

Comins emphasizes solid scientific facts for the myths he demolishes, which is commendable.He offers intelligent explanations of the universe as it is now known.Some of his examples seem trivial;but, sometimes it is precisely minor errors that grow into major misconceptions.

His deft demolishing of myths many people have about the earth, moon, stars and the universe--all physical realities--raises an even more interesting question:"If people are so credible, how can democracy exist?"

Perhaps the answer is something akin to the "missing" 96 percent of the universe--Democracy, like the universe, is simply beyond belief, but if you believe, it works.Wait a moment:Isn't that what he set out to disprove?

It's worth remembering when hearing politicians, used car salesmen and astronomers;people always seek answers, real or imaginary.We really do see twinkling stars, but it's not what it seems on first glance.It's the most valuable lesson you can take away from this book.

Heavenly Errors
This book might be great for a first or second-grader. It contains trivial information that possibly appeals to readers whose educational ambitions are far from being realized. Instead of debunking historical misconceptions such as (1)the speed of light is instanteneous (Aristotle, Kepler), (2) a star's brightness is due to its distance alone(Newton), (3) meteors are of terrestrial origin - 'thunderstones' or materials catapulted from volcanoes, or (4)the absense of gail-force winds proves that the earth is stationary... we instead get lectured that (1) the position of a planet excerts negligible influence on a new-born child,(2)the heat radiated from the sun is not generated by something burning, (3) winds do not cause the tides, etc. Give me a break.

Really wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars--better than middle
Considering the misinformation of the general public on astronomical matters (and matters in general), this book casts a welcome light on some of them.The author, further, has a web site listing even more misconceptions, given by students in his classes as well as contributors from his web site audience.The author also delves into the Why of how these misconceptions have arisen in people's minds.

The book is not perfect, and in fact could lead to the furtherance of some other misconceptions.For example, he lists a flat No to the question of whether black holes are black.A correspondence with the author indicates he was thinking of small black holes--with considerably less mass than the moon.Such small black holes would indeed glow, via Hawking radiation, but larger ones would indeed be black by anyone's standards, including those multi-solar-massive ones hypothesized to be at the centers of galaxies.However Prof. Comins' reply did rid me of my misconception that it is only for a short period of time that small black holes glow.

Alluding to the fact that the moon keeps the same side toward the earth all the time, the book states that in the lunar sky, the earth "won't budge, no matter how many days, weeks, months, years, or decades you watch it".In actuality, due to the eccentricity of the moon's orbit and the tilt of its axis relative to its orbit, the moon's center librates as seen from the earth, and as seen from the moon, the earth moves in the sky with a range of 16 degrees East-West (8 degrees either way from center) and 13 degrees north-south.As a result the earth could get to be 20 degrees from where you first saw it.That's 10 earth diameters, or 40 earth-viewed full moon's width, so it really more than "budges".Prof. Comins explains in correspondence that he "chose to be glib about this point because it would take quite a lot to describe issues related to libration from scratch with only a small gain in insight by the general reader."Yet one of his listed misconceptions was of the center of mass of the moon's core being at the geometric center of the moon; that difference is only about 1/2 mile, out of the 2000-mile lunar diameter.

In the book, Prof. Comins states that it is never safe to look directly at the sun without a proper solar filter.He doesn't exempt looking at the corona during totality of a solar eclipse.In his correspondence, he states "Concerning looking directly at the Sun during a total eclipse, it is definitely not safe to do so.A close friend of mine lost a significant amount of his vision doing so.Looking directly at the corona during a total eclipse is still extremely dangerous.Keep in mind that the Sun is in totality for only a matter of minutes, and as soon as it comes out, its brightness is dangerous."While I can understand the impact of personal tragedies, it's also true that people travel thousands of miles to view totality directly.I have done so four times and viewed the totally eclipsed sun with the unaided eye and even through a telescope.And to do so, one cannot have a filter, and my eyes are unscathed, as are those of many hundreds, or thousands, who go on eclipse cruises and expeditions.They have accurate predictions of the timing and accurate timers, and call out to all to "look away" at the appropriate time.As the NASA web site on eye safety during solar eclipses states: "In spite of these precautions, the total phase of an eclipse can and should be viewed without any filters whatsoever. The naked eye view of totality is completely safe and is overwhelmingly awe-inspiring!" ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

These Are Awesome!
13-year-old London chick Melanie Beeby, or Mel, is killed when she's hit by a swiped car. She winds up at the classy Angel Academy where she makes new friends, learns cool stuff like martial arts, meets the very cute Orlando, and joins the History club where she travels through time and must protect Londoners from a major bombing. It gets even better when you read the next two! ... Read more

Product Description
A fascinating exploration of gender issues and feminist agendas of the New Woman movement of the late 1800s.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

WHY has Sarah Grand been ignored this century?
If you are a Victorian novel aficianado as I am, you should thoroughly enjoy Sarah Grand's sprawling, strange story. The eponymous twins are bizarrely, intriguingly atypical as far as nineteenth-century characters go. Grand gives a picture of feminism in its embryonic stage--the woman was certainly before her time, as are most of her female characters. Fear not, however; this is no simple "men-bad-women-good" tale. Nastiness and nurture are fairly evenly distributed between the sexes. Although the story meanders at times between its main branches, it is well-written and worth resurrecting for the 1990s. My main quibble is that Grand's voice tends to take over at certain moments (especially when she's getting angry about her society). But please read this book anyway, especially for its shockingly non-Victorian ending. ... Read more

Product Description
Detailing the photographic equipment and astronomical instruments needed to capture celestial images, this guide shows how astrophotography can be accessible to all photographers. Included is a detailed introduction to basic astronomy with information on mapping the sky, locating celestial bodies, and planning an expedition to photograph astronomical phenomena. Photographers learn how to determine the color sensitivity of various films and achieve the best possible exposure, how to ensure a captivating composition, and how commercially processed prints can support their artistic vision. Whether photographers wish to capture deep sky or solar system subjects, the dual focus on photography and astronomy and the helpful sidebars and charts will ensure great images, enhanced creativity, and a greater appreciation of the night sky. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

More than meets the eye
Another dimension to photography is explored by Bert P. Krages.This book is intended to guide the reader on evolving their skills in astrophotography on an introductory level and fulfills this genre nicely.Photographing deep space objects such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae are not part of the scope of this book.The equipment needed for such projects can easily reach beyond the ten thousand dollar mark when you factor in a quality telescope, a ccd camera, adapter and motor drive; another book could be written on this alone.All chapters are based on photographic equipment almost all photographers already have, making this an appealing endeavor.
A brief lesson in astronomy is given since this knowledge is helpful in becoming more efficient, especially when tracking certain celestial objects.Equipment such as lenses are dissected and advantages and disadvantages are discussed.Film and filter selection and exposure have a chapter dedicated to them as does tracking techniques.Photography through a telescope is touched upon and insight is given for those looking to pursue this adventure.Overall, an informative book, well written and recommended.

Not for any Astrophotographer - Artists maybe !!!
If you are looking for a book that will teach you the essentials of astrophotography, or a book that will help you get those elusive images using a 35mm SLR, THEN THIS IS NOT IT.

Its amazing how misleading titles can be - this book talks about astrophotography but i have yet to be convinced, other than a lot of artistically composed fancy landscapes and mountains with some random astronomical object in the background you will find very few examples of real long exposure deep sky objects, nebulae or galaxies, or anything astronomically important.

This book is more about FANCY photography meeting astrophotography - a good example is page 12 where the image is supposed to be an example of a large angle view - well its large angle alright - a beautiful image of aferris wheel set in a carnival park the moon is somewhere in the distant background doing god knows what. The image on page 77 goes even better - a beautifully composed garbage dump with an overcast sky hiding the sun passes for "incorporating the sun into an image without a flare" - how ridiculous can you get.

CCD - forget it, it gets a bare mention, so does most of the current equipment, lenses adaptors etc - anything you would consider important like filters for polluted city sky's, or solar / lunar filters are perhaps "not artistically important" to mention.

A lot of the examples are astronomical rubbish and are just intended to look good - not reveal any astonomical phenomena or detail or techniques.

IF YOU WANT A BOOK ON ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY LOOK ELSEWHERE - if you are looking at artistic compositions for your nightly escapades you may consider this - one the whole A WASTE OF MONEY FOR THE SERIOUS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER.

Heavenly Bodiesis Great!
This is an awesome book for anyone interested in learning about astrophotography.The book is easy to read and well laid out.The great thing about this book is it shows that anyone can do astrophotography without spending a lot of money on gear.It is full of information on how to get started, what you can use, how to plan for potential shots, etc.The author even included some well timed wit here and there.The photos in the book are very good and inspiring, especially the cover shot!This is a great book for any outdoor photographer whether you have ever considered doing this type of photography or not. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Vibrant Life, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1064 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Power walking: next time you go for a walk, invite a heavenly Friend to join you.
Author: Gwen Scott Simmons
Publication: Vibrant Life (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 22Issue: 3Page: 16(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Heaven, Guardians of the Directions, Wheel of Time, Brahmā, Deva, Naraka, Desire Realm, Yama, Four Heavenly Kings, Human Beings in Buddhism, Animals in Buddhism, Kalpa, Sumeru, Mappō, Fourteen Unanswerable Questions, Asura, Preta, Trāyastriṃśa, Tushita, Twelve Heavenly Generals, Three Ages of Buddhism, Avici, Anavatapta, Kalapas. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 143. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: In religion, Heaven is the English name for a transcendental realm in which it is believed that people who have died continue to exist in an afterlife. The term "heaven" may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond, the traditional literal meaning of the term in English. The term in English has also typically been used to refer to the plane of existence of an afterlife (often held to exist in another realm) in various religions and spiritual philosophies, often described as the holiest possible place, accessible by people according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith or other virtues. The modern English word Heaven derives from the word heven around 1159, which developed from the Old English heofon around 1000 referring to the Christianized "place where God dwells" but earlier meaning "sky, firmament" (attested from around 725 in Beowulf); this is cognate with other Germanic languages - Old Saxon hean "sky, heaven", Middle Low German heven "sky", Old Icelandic himinn "sky, heaven", Gothic himins, and existed in variation with a related word having an -l suffix: Old Frisian himel, himul "sky, heaven", Old Saxon/Old High German himil, Dutch hemel, and modern German Himmel, all of which derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic *Hemina-. While there are abundant and varied sources for conceptions of Heav...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=13811 ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
++++
Cambridge University Library

T182248

With a half-title.

Warrington : printed by W. Eyres, 1787. [4],175,[1]p. ; 12° ... Read more

Product Description
Noted teacher and gospel scholar David J. Ridges brings the Doctrine and Covenants to life with his well-known teaching skills. As with his other books in the Gospel Studies Series, the full text of the scripture is included, and in-the-verse notes provide a highly effective, unique teaching tool. Notes between the verses provide additional insights and teach principles and doctrines. Join the thousands of readers who have experienced spiritual growth from reading and pondering the books in this series.ISBN: 1-55517-820-0, SIZE: 6x9" paperback ... Read more

Product Description
May you live in interesting times, the saying says. And so we do. But with interesting times come interesting - and sometimes excruciating - challenges. We chose to accept this path on earth even though we knew there would be challenges, temptations, and heartbreak. We decided it was worth it. We fought a war in heaven to obtain the experience of having a body and using our agency, the most powerful tool we wield against Satan. In Challenges and Choices, Alan Mangum gives six keys to understanding and using our agency in both the times the sun shines on our lives and the times the storm clouds gather above us. ISBN: 978-1-59955-095-4, SIZE: 6" x 9", Paperback ... Read more

Product Description
"The greatest adventure that can be experienced in this life is a true walk with God. This book is about a circle of people who given their lives to that pursuit, and the incredible Journey it has been."– Rick Joyner ... Read more

Product Description
This series of cassettes on Science and Discovery recreates one of history's most successful journeys-4000 years of scientific efforts to better understand the physical world. Science has often challenged and upset conventional wisdom or accepted practices; this is a story of vested interests and independent thinkers experiments and theories change and progress. Aristotle, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Einstein and many others are featured. Narrator Edwin Newman is a celebrated journalist, author and lecturer. For 35 years, he was a television journalist for NBC News and he's familiar to millions as a moderator of presidential debates. Edwin Newman narrates this look into the fascinating history of astronomy. It is a history which begins at a time when people still believed that earth was the center of the universe and humankind the whole reason and purpose for the rest of creation. From Brahe and Copernicus to Kepler and Galileo, Newman shows the long intellectual journey that created a new relationship between our world and the stars. ... Read more

Product Description
"When I first shared each of these visions, I was inundated with requests to copy and translate them, and they quickly went around the world. Now, almost two decades later they are being rediscovered, and this book is the result of growing demand for them again. Much that was prophesied in these visions has come to pass, and the rest seems to be upon us. They now seem more relevant than ever."– Rick Joyner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

calling
Great 50 day devotional that will strengthen your inner man.God wants us to have a sure and strong foundation.The foundation is in Christ Jesus and His word.God wants us to know the truth, and that is found in the word.

End time prophesy
Rick is so vivid with his vision interpretation. Gotta start from the first books and work towards this one.

More Visions from Joyner
"Visions of the Harvest" is a book of "three prophetic visions and a Spirit-inspired allegory" that augments Rick Joyner's other books of prophecy.This book includes four sections which addressdifferent specific spiritual issues including christian unity, economicdisaster, spiritual warfare and the enemy's attack on the church, and anallegory called "Escape from Christendom" by RobertBurnell.

Although "Visions of the Harvest" did not have thebroad scope of Rick Joyner's better known "The Final Quest," thiswork did address some specific issues that deserve attention andconsideration.

If you are interested in what God is saying to today'sprophets, begin with Joyner's "The Final Quest," and move throughhis books."Visions of the Harvest" is exactly what the titlecalls it -- glimpses into what the future may hold and what ourresponsibility is in the future. ... Read more

Product Description
"This Book is about the greatest adventure a person could ever live- the true New Covenant life. Walking in the benefits of the New Covenant is worth much more than we could win in any lottery. The illumination of these benefits, with the result of Christians starting to live in them, will no doubt be one of the highest impact events of all time."– Rick Joyner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Outstanding book
This book arrived quickly and in good shape. The contents of the book speak to the season the people of God are now in. A great read! I would order again from this vendor. Nice job! ... Read more