What's on Your Bookshelf?
"When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes." - Desiderius Erasmus
No matter how great Internet resources are, nothing beats the satisfaction of flipping thorough the pages of a book. I've listed here some great books that belong on every amateur astronomer's bookshelf. Each one offers great value for the price. Check them out at your school or free public library (Astronomy is 520 in the Dewey Decimal System.) or search online for used copies at Astromart's Classifieds or ISBN.nu
To paraphrase David Levy in the foreword to Starlight Nights, "Many books explain how to observe the night sky; these books explain why."
Peltier had a passion for observing. He discovered 12 comets and 6 novae, and made more than 132,000 variable-star observations. Raised on small Ohio farm before rural areas were electrified and before radio broadcasting began, Peltier shows what can be done without modern "necessities" like the Internet, GOTO mounts, CCDs and planetarium software. We are spoiled by comparison.
Peltier mentions several favorite books that he learned from. They are out of
copyright, and are available from the Internet Archive or Google Books:
The
Friendly Stars by Martha Evans Martin - Peltier's first
astronomy guide
Star
Atlas by Winslow Upton
Celestial
Objects for Common Telescopes, vol 1 by Rev. T. W. Webb
Celestial
Objects for Common Telescopes_vol 2
Stars
and Telescopes by David P. Todd
Pleasures
of the Telescope by Garrett P. Serviss
Curiosities
of the Sky by Garrett P. Serviss
Star
Lore of All Ages by William Tyler Olcott
Fieldbook
of the Stars by William Tyler Olcott
Astronomy
for Amateurs (a.k.a. Astronomie des Dames) by Camille
Flammarion
Peltier did not mention New
Star Atlas; however, it is a companion to Celestial Objects for Common
Telescopes
These books were all publish around the beginning of the 20th century.
Our understanding of the universe has change a lot since then.
In
1925, Edwin Hubble proved that nebulae are too distant to be part of
the Milky Way. In 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto. The
existence
of canals on Mars was not disproved until 1965. Some
information in
the books is outdated, but surprisingly a lot is still valid.
Like
current guides, they list eight planets. (wink!)
Another antique book that is still useful is Star
Names and Their Meanings by Richard Hinckley Allen.