Bibliography
In preparing the pages of The Online Planetarium Show, we used a number of interesting books and came across quite a few books for younger children that make astronomy especially fun and interesting. If you would like to explore more about astronomy, we think that the books on this list will entertain as they teach.
Titles marked with STARS stood out to us as especially excellent.
General
These are books for all ages and interests that might be helpful in your continuing exploration of astronomy. Many of the books in this category are aimed towards younger children and are not intended to be resources. But there are many others, too, that will capture the interest of anyone new to astronomy.
- Berger, Melvin. Discovering Mars: The Amazing Story of the Red Planet. New York: Scholastic, 1992.
- An interesting discussion of Mars geared towards younger readers; plenty of unusual facts mixed in with a good deal of scientific information.
- Branley, Franklyn M. Star Guide. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1987.
- Contains a good deal of basic information about stars and constellations; especially useful for those interested in starting a new hobby -- gazing at the stars.
- Couper, Heather and Nigel Henbest. How the Universe Works. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1994.
- Excellent supply of hands-on experiments for younger children or for parents interested in teaching their children about space; incorporates the projects with real-life astronomy.
- Moore, Patrick. Space Travel for the Beginner. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1992.
- Looks at how spacecraft and probes are being used to explore a variety of celestial objects and bodies; the material goes beyond merely basics and is a fascinating introduction.
- Simon, Seymour. Mars. New York: Mulberry Books, 1987.
- Simon's books are designed for the younger reader, but they are an exceptional introduction for anyone new to the field. Including many pictures, they contain a surprisingly large amount of useful, interesting information about their particular topics.
- Simon, Seymour. Stars. New York: Mulberry Books, 1986.
- Simon, Seymour. The Sun. New York: Mulberry Books, 1986.
- Simon, Seymour. Uranus. New York: Mulberry Books, 1987.
- Vogt, Gregory. The Space Shuttle. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983.
- Contains a fairly in-depth look at the Space Shuttle and a detailed description of the Shuttle Student Involvement Project -- a NASA contest for high school students.
The Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the wonders of modern astronomy. While there are other books about the HST, Neal's is superb -- a fact-filled NASA publication that takes an especially in-depth look at the Telescope's construction. It receives our starred rating!
- Neal, Valerie. Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- An outstanding resource, crammed with photographs of the HST assembly with information about how astronomers observe space; also, a complete catalogue of facts, figures and stories about the Space Telescope. Its only drawback is that it was published before the Telescope's launch, so it lacks information about the problems and repairs.
Biographies
The five figures featured in our biographies are among the most famous and influential scientists of all time, so there are many volumes on all (except on Hubble). We have chosen one or two of the books for each astronomer that we would recommend.
- Armitage, Angus. Copernicus: The Founder of Modern Astronomy. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1957.
- Gives an excellent flavor of Copernicus's great work, De Revolutionibus, and provides a sampling of the Copernican proofs.
- Bixby, William. The Universe of Galileo and Newton. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1964.
- Written in a more narrative style, this volume is an excellent one that portrays the discoveries Galileo and Newton. It provides a good perspective on how important Galileo's discoveries were to Newtonian theory.
- Drake, Stillman. Galileo Studies: Personality, Tradition, and Revolution. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1970.
- Drake is the author of a number of excellent biographies of Galileo. He does not follow the traditional historical approach of looking at how Galileo influenced modern science, instead focusing purely on his individual contributions.
- Fisher, Leonard Everett. Galileo. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992.
- Written for younger readers, Fisher's version of Galileo's story is filled with plenty of information but is written without a specific viewpoint. We prefer the two above because of their attempt to take stances on the historical importance of Galileo.
- Parker, Steve. Galileo and the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.
- Geared even more towards children, with its frequent sidebars and copious illustrations, but another very complete biography.
- Christianson, Gale E. Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebular. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995.
- A very well written, in-depth look at his personal life and scientific achievement. To our knowledge, this is the only biography of Hubble available; if you know of any others we should see, please e-mail us at 3461@advanced.org.
- Tiner, John Hudson. Johannes Kepler: Giant of Faith and Science. Milford, Michigan: Mott Media, 1977.
- Takes an interesting look at Kepler's scientific career and emphasizes his primary interest in religion. Quite an enjoyable and informative read.
- Andrade, E. N. da C. Sir Isaac Newton: His Life and Work. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1954.
- Newton is well summarized in Andrade's thin volume. His detailed description of Newton as a young grammar schoolboy was so fascinating that we placed a great deal of emphasis on it in our version of Newton's life.
- Bixby, William. The Universe of Galileo and Newton. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1964.
- Again, this work is an excellent narrative of the lives and achievements of Galileo and Newton that is particularly well suited for high school students. Looks at how Newton's contributions revolutionized our world.
Planets and Galaxies
A number of good overviews of planets and other objects in our solar system are available. We have also recommended a series of books for younger children and an outstanding one dealing with the moons of our solar system.
- Kelch, Joseph W. Small Worlds: Exploring the 60 Moons of Our Solar System. New Jersey: Julian Messner, 1990.
- Contains information on the moons of every planet, with many photographs from the Galileo and Voyager spacecraft, plus a catalog of facts and figures for every moon. This book is one of our favorites.
- Muirden, James. Stars and Planets. New York: Kingfisher Books, 1993.
- An introduction with many facts and figures and with plenty of photographs. A good place to pick up very basic information about the planets.
- Simon, Seymour. Galaxies. New York: Mulberry Books, 1988.
- As with his other writings, Simon packs an incredible lot of information and many photographs into these short books. Great for children or as an introduction to space.
- Simon, Seymour. Jupiter. New York: Mulberry Books, 1985.
- Simon, Seymour. Saturn. New York: Mulberry Books, 1985.
- Time-Life, Inc. Space & Planets. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Inc., 1992.
Mythology
Many ancient legends are remembered today because great mythological figures are supposed to lie in the sky. We primarily the Horn book as the basis for the Roman myths about which you read.
- Horn, Annabel. Using Latin. Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1961.
- This is a first-year high school Latin textbook that teaches through stories and myths. All of our myths (except for Jupiter) are based on specific stories in the book. You will have to be prepared to do your own translations!
The Big Bang
The notion of a big bang is incredibly hard to grasp. The inconceivably short explosion that is said to have started it all and the expansion of the universe need not remain looming questions in your mind. These two books will do much to help you understand these great mysteries.
- Silk, Joseph. The Big Bang. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1989.
- This well written volume that looks at the theory of the big bang from a purely scientific, not popularized, standpoint. Though fascinating for those interested in cosmology, it can delve into difficult ideas and become quite technical at times.
- Trefil, James J. The Moment of Creation: Big Bang Physics. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
- Another look at the intriguing idea of a big bang; exceptionally in-depth yet clear and impressively well organized.