Galaxies

by Timothy Ferris

Book Overview

Beyond the Milky Way and toward infinity, Timothy Ferris navigates an exploration of the universe, guided by stars and galaxies that have been photographed through telescopes at the greatest observatories in the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0941434028
• ISBN13: 9780941434027
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 10.1" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

The stars in their courses...

Heaven's net casts wide.Though its meshes are coarse, nothing slips through.-- Lao Tzu If ever there was a physical manifestation of poetry, the starry sky at night, the panoply of objects that populate the heavens, would come close. The character of Dr. Arroway in Carl Sagan's Contact exclaims, upon seeing the glorious objects of the universe up close during her epic flight, 'Poetry! They should have sent a poet!'This book, Galaxies, is a book on a grand scale, as is its subject. It is a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book the size of a small coffee table, the pages measure 13 inches by 15 inches, a huge footprint of a book, with most of the photographs and diagrams sized full-page. Timothy Ferris, at the time of this book was first published, was a professor of English at Brooklyn College CUNY. He has since gone on to fame as a science writer, particularly in the field of astronomy, and now teaches astronomy and science writing on the other coast, at UC Berkeley. Largely due to clear writing, diligent research that is thorough, and a good eye for visuals (astronomy is a visual science in many ways, and Ferris selected the photographs for this book himself) Ferris has put together a tremendous introduction to the subject of galaxies, impressing with the scale of the book the tremendous size and scale of galaxies.Being an English professor, he of course had a wide knowledge of literature, and this is apparent from his choice of side notes, quotes and references, which populate not only the captions and taglines, but interpermeate the text on a regular basis. Here in the midst of scientific discussion one will find quotes from Shakespeare, Thornton Wilder, St. Juliana, Heraclitus, Ben Jonson, and more.The first section deals with the basic definitions of what a galaxy is, the discovery of galaxies, and our place (and their place) in the cosmos. From here, Ferris takes us on a brief tour of the galaxy from the inside, using of course our own Milky Way galaxy, the only galaxy we can know from the inside. By looking at the constituent elements of a galaxy--stars, nebulae, star clusters, supernovae and black holes--Ferris introduces us to the life cycle of stars and some of the dynamics of galactic formation and evolution. Some of the more stunning photographs of this book are in this section, particularly the nebulae (gaseous formations that represent both the beginning and the end of life cycles of stars).From a tour of our own galaxy, Ferris proceeds to the Local Group of Galaxies, and begins a discussion of the different kinds of galaxies. Our own, the Milky Way, is a fairly large spiral galaxy. This is not the most common type, however, nor the most rare. Our galaxy has attendant galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (named so because they are only visible from the Southern Hemisphere; named in honour of a European explorer who trekked down there), which are mostly blobs of stars, with no formal structure as a spiral would have. The

This book will stretch your imagination

I read this book maybe 20 years ago as a little kid, and I still think about it. It really stimulated a lifelong interest in astronomy and cosmology. If you aren't schooled in astronomy I think it will open your eyes and present to you a view of the universe that will change the way you look at things forever. If I could find more copies of this book, and it were cheaper, I would hand it out like candy to the numerous people unschooled in astronomy I've met in the last 20 years, who, I am sure this book would greatly enrich. The strength of this book is its photographs from various observatories around the world. I have not--in 20 years of looking, found a collection of astrophotographs that comes close. They are inspiring! Other manmade illustrations in the book vividly illustrate just where we are in the universe. Mr. Ferris also does an admirable job taking you by the hand and poetically explaining what is really out there when you gaze into the night sky. You will be amazed by what you don't now know.If you can get a copy, get it, read it, enrich yourself, show it to your kids, and don't let it go.

The most beautiful book in the world. . .

. . .is what one reviewer said when this book was first published. It's a claim which is hard to dispute. The hard core scientist might not appreciate it's "coffee table" book format -- but heck, the book wasn't written for such a person in the first place!Filled with readable and comprehendable text and citations ranging from Thorton Wilder's "Our Town" to St. Julian's "Revelations of Divine Love", this book will prompt even the most unscientific mind to gaze at the sky with new wonder.But beyond the layout, beyond the scientific information, beyond the citations, the book is best described by its absolutely stunning deep-sky photography. It is mind-boggling to me how someone could look at the night sky and question the existence of God."He who made the Plei'ades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning,and darkens the day into night,who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name" -- from the book of Amos the Prophet

A visual feast

This is a wonderful book if you can find it. The photographs are spectacular--for example, a two-page spread of the Hercules cluster in which every one of the hundreds of objects in the photo is a discrete galaxy.This is a must-have for every astronomy buff. It makes a great coffee-table book as well.