Discovering the Universe 8th Edition by William J. Kaufmann (PDF)

Description

Discovering the Universe is the bestselling brief text for descriptive one-term astronomy courses (especially those with no mathematics prerequisites). Carried along by the book’s vibrant main theme, “the process of scientific discovery,” the Eighth Edition furthers the book’s legacy for presenting concepts clearly and accurately while providing all the pedagogical tools to make the learning process memorable.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐As an amateur astronomer of 40 years I bought this used book as a backup book for my observatory for our astronomy club members and my family to use. William J. Kaufmann and Neil F. Comins wrote a very good book. Easy to read and lots of great questions for the astronomy student to tackle. William has a good style that reads well, not super advanced technical that would be very good for a senior high school student or freshman college course.Some math and formulas but not too difficult.Lots of great pictures. The book keeps your interest and makes you want to read more as you learn each topic.I liked the astronomers toolbox where specific astronomy tools and formulas to compute various equations. Also in the back is a great appendix listing data on the planets and their satellites as well as the nearest and visually brightest stars….a great quick reference.Some of the various topics discussed ( There are more) are Discovering astronomy, Discovering the night sky, Earthly cycles, Eclipses, Gravitation, Origins of the Sun centered universe,Kepler’s and Newton’s Laws ( done very well and important!),Light and telescopes,Optics and telescopes, Radio Astronomy, Spectra, Atoms,The Solar System,The evolution of stars and their life cycles, galaxies, quasars, The expanding universe vs. the steady state. This is only a partial selection. The authors wrote much more and covered all the important bases. A great read for the average layman without getting too technical. As I said great for a senior high school student or college student taking astronomy 101.I checked out the supplied free Starry Nights Discovering The Universe Software 5.0 software. It loaded well on my MS Vista laptop. However I was not impressed with it. Not able to get full screen Messier objects, galaxies, clusters and planets all at one time. I know this is the freebie software and you can get the upgrade Starry Night Pro for $59 on line. I like my Sky 6 Bisque planetarium software much better.The newer edition is probably better with updates and more info on newer found exoplanets. This older edition at low cost is fine as a backup reference book and a book for students to answer both regular and more advanced astronomy questions. Would of given 5 stars but the free software was just so so…maybe 3 stars tops. Together the package 4 stars. Try to get the later edition at low cost. If not able to, this older edition is fine as much of the material is still good and will not change. Maybe more information needed on new exoplanets. A good backup observatory book and study guide. 4 stars and recommended.

⭐This was the assigned text for a college Astronomy class I took. I really enjoy the book. It is well written, easy to read, yet provides a lot of information. It’s a rare college text that is actually interesting to just sit down and read and flip through. Great photography and illustrations throughout. I will be keeping this book for personal reference.One note: Older reviews say the book comes with a CD that includes an electronic copy of the book and/or StarryNight software. The 2014 (10th edition) paperback does not come with any CD but if you look carefully inside the book’s Preface you can find a the companion web site which includes some extra slides, flashcards, quizes, star charts, etc. The book also says you can request a download key for StarryNight but I haven’t figure out how/where you are supposed to do that yet. An electronic copy of the book is not included anymore and you’d have to buy the premium electronic textbook as far as I can tell.

⭐This is an extremely detailed and informative book on Astronomy. I don’t mean that as a compliment. Imagine that you ask someone for directions to the library. They tell you to turn right at the next traffic light, continue three blocks, then turn left and the library will be on the corner. Fairly straightforward, correct?Well, if this book was giving the directions, it would say “Turn right at the next traffic light, where you’ll see a restaurant that serves really good happy hour drinks and which is owned by a guy you went to college with who was an art major, but then decided to become a chef. He makes a great tri trip on Tuesdays. Then you’ll pass a yellow house. Then you’ll pass a blue house. Then you’ll pass a tan house. Then you’ll see a house with many shrubs…”Then this ridiculous book would go on to explain the biological names for the shrubs, their current condition, how much fertilizer they should have, etc. Then it would give physics equations for every aspect of the ride to the library. I don’t need to go on with this description do I? This is one of the most ridiculously labored reads out there.I had it for an “Intro to Astronomy” class, which was a joke. It required that you already knew Physics equations and had a background in Astronomy. Even after re-reading each chapter twice, it still made my head spin – and I was a 4.0 student. Thanks to this book, I now get irritated when I look at the night sky instead of marveling at it like I used to.The book also does a great job of referring you to images on other pages, so that you can’t read a single page without having to page to another to see the image they’re talking about. The author knows his business, but he’s an incredibly taxing read. If only Neil deGrasse Tyson would write a textbook. Now THAT would be a teaching tool!

⭐I had to buy this book for my astronomy class this summer and my student bookstore was selling it for a MERE $80. Please stand by while I weep tears of BLOOD because I’m poor.My boyfriend suggested checking the internet and it was Amazon to the rescue. I was able to get it for super cheap and above that, it’s really an excellent book. It’s colorful, INFORMATIVE!!, and kept me interested.I’d really suggest this to anyone either taking an astronomy class or someone who’s just interested in space in general. This is an excellent resource: it has lists of dates for upcoming meteor showers (for years to come), explanations for everything you could ever dream of or ask (including time travel and possibilities therein), and glossy, beautiful pictures and diagrams (easy to follow and understand)

⭐There is nothing wrong with the content of the books. Interesting and well written. The size of the book format wise is also ok. What deducts one star on the review is the flimsy pages. It reminds me of phone book of old times. It is virtually impossible to read this book e.g. laying in bed as the book pages doesn’t provide enough structural stability. I have found that having the book flat on a table is the only way to go about it.

⭐This is a book of excellence, concise, clear, interesting and informative, with great graphical representations as well. Anyone interested in knowing more about our very special universe and of course ourselves in it will love this book. Highly recommended to any budding Astronomer or a seasoned one as well.

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