Archives for the 'books' Category
Jules Verne
Published on 9 Feb 2008 at 2:31 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under books, history, science fiction.
One of the first introductions that most people have to science fiction, including myself, is the work of Jules Verne. He was born 180 years ago, yesterday, on February 8, 1828. Though he was originally writing for adults, his work is often seen as children’s fiction. That is a shame, because he really […]
Braille astronomy
Published on 19 Jan 2008 at 5:53 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under books.
This is the supernova remnant N49. It is a composite image created from combining images from the Spitzer infrared telescope (the red image), the Hubble space telescope (the white and yellow parts), and the Chandra X-ray telescope (the blue features). It is a wonderful image. It shows the nebula across many wavelengths […]
Seeing in the Dark
Published on 17 Sep 2007 at 2:18 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, books.
Long before I decided to be a physics and astronomy professor, long before I decided to study astronomy, I was fascinated by the sky. When I was in junior high school, my Dad subscribed to Astronomy magazine (which was fairly new at the time). In college, I studied and read about astronomy […]
My new Sky and Telescope is old
Published on 6 Sep 2007 at 7:31 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under amateur astronomy, books.
I got my new Sky and Telescope magazine in the mail today. When I opened the packaging, my first thought was, “Wow. What did they do to it?” Then, I had a feeling of deja vu. You see, the October 2007 Sky and Telescope that I was holding in my hand […]
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Two books by R. M. Meluch
Published on 28 Apr 2007 at 1:04 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under books, science fiction.
Recently, I read two very interesting books by R. M. Meluch, an author that I had not previously been familiar with. The first of these books was The Myriad. I liked it so much that I read the follow-on book Wolf Star, but that book was independent enough that the books could be read […]
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2007 Observer’s Handbook
Published on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:31 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under books.
My 2007 Observer’s Handbook arrived today! This is put out each year by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. I’ve gotten one every year since the mid 1980’s. Eventually, I joined the society just to get the thing sent automatically (along with some other benefits). And, though I am in Texas, I am not their […]
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Two science fiction novels by Jack McDevitt
Published on 24 Oct 2006 at 3:56 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under books, science fiction.
My last post was about a space elevator. Interestingly, there is actually a science fiction novel that has such a device in it. This is Deepsix by Jack McDevitt. I like McDevitt’s novels, or at least the few that I’ve read. He does a good job of working science into science fiction. In this novel, […]
