Cambridge Astronomy Guide

Book excerpt: The Cambridge Astronomy Guide is intended for lovers of astronomy who wish to do more than just look at the night sky or marvel at glossy pictures of it. It tells you how to get outside and actually practise astronomy, even if you own nothing more than a simple camera. Astronomy, more than any other science, offers amateurs the opportunity to make meaningful and lasting contributions to the field. This Guide explains in simple non-mathematical terms how you can take stunning star photographs and then put them to use making valuable contributions to the science of astronomy. Ben Mayer's odd-numbered chapters provide a fascinating account told with much humour of how one raw amateur got started and quickly progressed to become one of the world's best known and in many ways most successful amateur astronomers. Bill Liller's even-numbered chapters provide a more extensive commentary on much of what Ben writes, plus some additional material which gives the professional point of view.