Astronomy for most of us is the joy of looking up into the night sky and view the vista of stars and planets clearly above us, but try to find a simplified explanation for what you are looking at is not that easy - Astronomy for Dummies appears on my bookshelf from a way back.Baffled by jargon?
Scientifically challenged?
No, but looking for something that will educate, entertain and help you enjoy the night sky - Simple Stargazing is a book for you. Almost completely jargon free and technically/scientifically only 3 or 4 parts needed to be explained throughout the entire book.
It shows you what you should find, how to find it, what it should look like in very easy steps.
The quarterly sky sections show you the night sky in spring, summer, autumn and winter - explaining how the sky moves and what it meant to the human race over the millennia - and in jargon free English!!
The style of writing is that of almost a conversation with you.
The explanations of how the constellations got there names and olde worlde plates alongside the star configuration is very complementary.
The use of photographs that show the sky as is and alongside or opposite the same photograph with the "dots joined" is a clever use of the medium.
I have one small criticism - the occasional description of a named galaxy or nebula, but the accompanying photograph is another galaxy or nebula could be a little confusing.
One noted error, the Transit of Venus took place on the 8th June 2004 and not 4th May as stated in the book.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 7 to 70+ - this is an ideal purchase as it covers both the Northern & Southern Hemisphere in great and easy detail.
It should become a classic astronomical standard reference for most amateurs.
