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This hardback volume is the seventh in the Cambridge Monographs on Atomic, Molecular and Chemical Physics series and is written by the Lithuanian theoretician Zenonas Rokus Rudzikas. The aim of this monograph series is to present ``authoritative reviews of mature areas of the subject'' and the reader will be left in no doubt that this is both a comprehensive treatment and one aimed at the advanced student. The treatment of the subject of atomic spectroscopy is from the theoretical with a view to provide the background for students but also to give a detailed description of the mathematical techniques to the experimentalist. The calculation of the spectra of the elements has important applications, not least in astrophysics, and although based on the simple energy-level picture of the atom, is a difficult process involving detailed models of the atomic structure. Rudzikas' treatment covers the structure and properties of both simple and complex electronic configurations with the most comprehensive and modern quantum description. The scientist not directly involved in detailed spectroscopic analysis of the elements or the fundamental causes of observed natural spectra, would find this work of limited value. It is both highly mathematical and of narrow subject area. However, even this non-expert reviewer can appreciate that Rudzikas' text is comprehensive and accessible enough to become a valuable tool for the atomic theorist and the advanced student.
This hardback volume presents a carefully written series of lectures which were given by leading researchers at the 27th Saas-Fee Advanced Course held in March 1997. The immediate thing about this book which struck the reviewer was that it does not read like a series of lectures. Although four contributors supplied the subject material the book has a consistent and progressive feel that is not often found in other lecture note series. The editors are to be commended on the excellent job of cohesion they have performed and the excellent quality of the figures.
Of course, astrophysics has a great need for the methods of fluid dynamics and radiation transfer. The application of these mathematical topics is crucial for our understanding of supernovae explosions, accretion processes, stellar pulsation, shock processes and convective motions. Many researchers have greatly benefitted from the methods of computational and numerical fluid dynamics. This volume presents both a firm description of these computational methods and their application in several important areas of astrophysics. The list of chapters is (1) nonlinear conservation laws and finite volume methods, (2) radiation hydrodynamics, (3) radiation hydrodynamics: numerical aspects and (4) applications and simulation of astrophysical fluid flow. After developing the basic equations of gas dynamics, conservation laws and radiative transfer, we are led through the common numerical methods such as finite difference and finite volume analysis. We also delve into the arena of magnetohydrodynamics and relativistic hydrodynamics. Mihalas, well-known for his excellent treatments of stellar atmospheres, then treats us to a discussion of radiation theory, transfer of radiative flux and the analysis of shock propagation. Muller finally presents a series of astrophysical topics such as supernovae core collapse, thermonuclear processes and astrophysical jet propagation which are studied theoretically using the detailed mathematical and numerical methods already outlined. Needless to say this book is highly mathematical and would be of limited use to anyone not working in the area of astrophysical fluid flow. It is aimed at the graduate student level but would also be a useful source of information for the seasoned researcher.
There is always a need for comprehensive summaries of astrophysical knowledge that both entertain and enlighten. There is also a need for repositories of information about physical mathematics and methods in observational astronomy. This volume, along with Lang's Astrophysical Formulae and Astrophysical Data (also from Springer) should be within easy reach of every modern astronomer.
In this third edition of Astrophysical Concepts Harwit admits that he has been forced, with the rapidly changing field of astronomical knowledge, to substantially update his book since its second incarnation over ten years ago. And he has done this job admirably with new chapters on the formation of stars and planetary systems and the origins of large-scale structure. Other chapters have also been comprehensively rewritten. Harwit's treatment of every field in astronomy is not unnecessarily mathematical but seeks to present the basic concepts so that scientists from outside the field can follow. It is a book which would find a welcome place with the professional observer or theoretician and would probably be valuable to the student of astronomy or the student of physics wishing to grasp some ideas from the astrophysical world. It is probably too advanced for most amateur enthusiasts, since it does contain a certain degree of mathematics and some reliance on basic physics knowledge.
There are new trends in everything today, and educational techniques have been trending and changing for a very long time. The teaching of astronomy, apparently, has been shamefully neglected. This invaluable book brings together a number of important surveys, made world-wide, concerning the identification of common misconceptions ranging from total ignorance to serious omissions in knowledge. Astronomy, of course, has more than its fair share of mythical misconceptions, language ambiguities, imprecision and misinterpretation. Fortunately, modern teaching methods can bring to the serious student the sheer facts with the help of electronic devices, dare we say, the television and PC screen. Exactly how to do this, and what to present first, second and third, is not a straight-forward matter. So much difficult physics and mathematics obscures the subject of astronomy, not to mention astrochemistry, bioastronomy etc. Regrettably, there are more little green men and unidentified flying objects, and more interest in astrology than ever before. Even science fiction, useful in one way, adds to the confusion.
Counteracting this, there is sufficient serious concern amongst professional astronomers to hopefully remedy the situation. A few shortcut remedies (curricula, methods etc.) are suggested in the book which would appeal to the average teacher, but this approach is obviously to be deplored. Billions of kilometres and billions of stars and galaxies are terms that come too easily to the uninitiated and untrained teacher. Anyone who has taught astronomy will remember the alarming knowledge of some youngsters. Only a glance at the list of participants of the present colloquium shows that whole areas of Earth are almost totally ignorant of astronomy and do not even have funding to attend meetings on how to do the teaching.
A deeper reading into the real situation reveals that public awareness of astronomy is also seriously lacking. This is reflected in the funding of astronomical research itself and the unawareness of many in public office. In a concluding commentary, Prof. Martin Rees aptly summarises, that ``an appreciation of science is vital not just for tomorrow's scientist and engineer, but for everyone who will live and work in a world even more underpinned by technology -- and even more vulnerable to its failures and misapplications -- than the present one''.
In 1996, seven scientists (Bland, Smith, Jull, Berry, Bevan, Cloudt, and Pillinger) published their results on meteorite flux to Earth (MNRAS, 1996, 283, 551). They derived figures close to those from the Meteorite Observation and Recovery Project (Haliday et al. 1989 & 1991), i.e. 83 falls greater than 10g per million square kilometres per year. Important work in Antarctica and Australia (Nullarbor) etc. is discussed in this special publication from the Geological Society. Also, review papers are presented on terrestrial craters and impactites, not an easy subject when a variety of processes, volcanism, tectonics and erosion, conspire to obliterate the evidence. It is even necessary to include Man in the obliteration process! The flux of extraterrestrial material to Earth is also studied today using astronomical statistical methods although this has its problems. For example, Halley-type comets may dominate the fluxes, but this can only be usefully studied statistically, and there is little actual data to work on. Earth-crossing asteroids, comets (including dark comets) and Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects, all provide a devastating spectrum of impacts, dynamical shatterings and fragmentations which in the long-term make the solar system pretty hostile. The book reports on galactic periodicity of terrestrial catastrophes, mass extinctions, global geological disturbances, including cratering, extinction, episodic sea-floor spreading, flood basaltic volcanism, oregeny, evaporite deposition and anoxia in the oceans (Napier -- sounds like a good subject for a novel, Bill!!). Geologists, geochemists, biologists and astronomers will heartily welcome Meteorites, a book on a topic dreadfully neglected until recently but, then, the early version of the subject was not really astrophysics at all!
It is difficult to keep abreast of observational astrophysics although this is a good time to attempt a summary of present work. The European Very Large Telescope has seen first light since the writing of this book, and many new instruments will be on the scene in the year 2000, the SOFIA airborne submillimetre observatory equipped with a 2.5-metre telescope, the VIRGO and LIGO gravitational detectors, and the VLT and Keck optical interferometers. The authors have enlarged the 1st Edition version published 16 years ago, and are to be congratulated on the up-to-date contents and appendices of their new, double-sized book. The level of the book is about first-year graduate astrophysics. The graduate student is presented with questions (and answers) at the end of each chapter. The Internet guide (Appendix E) is excellent and is taken from one of the author's extensive published collections with some useful revisions, so that it should be fairly up-to-date during 1999.
There is no question but that new physics is needed if we are to develop a convincing physical picture of the very early Universe (Longair p.492, final sentence of Galaxy Formation). As a reviewer (who always thoroughly reads the last words in any book!), this carefully considered state of affairs is not particularly encouraging. There is, however, no other way to do science than from the basic beginnings, the easy bits, the understood bits, and then to show up what is lacking. Professor Malcolm Longair is well-known for his clear expositions and for his enormous personal output of cosmological research. Once again, Malcolm Longair is treating us to a presentation of modern astrophysical cosmology aimed at giving a user-friendly introductory course for final-year graduates or first-year postgraduates.
The origin of galaxies is one of the greatest cosmological problems. Questions arise about the physics of the early Universe which, according to Longair, can potentially provide us with unique and direct information which cannot be imagined otherwise. The book is divided into Preliminaries (structure, galaxies, clusters of galaxies), The Basic Framework (space-time metric, relativistic gravity, Friedman world models, cosmological parameters, thermal history, nucleosynthesis), Primordial Fluctuations (big bang, dark matter, cosmic microwave background), and Post-Recombination Universe (evolution, active galaxies, star and element formation, diffuse intergalactic gas and Final Things). Longair does not believe in allowing students to get bogged down with difficult formalities and technicalities, but gives sufficient summary information and plenty of references at the sticky points. Most chapters end with a cheerful where do we go from here, or an indication of the direction of very current research, which is invaluable to all those who pick this book up for the first time and feel a healthy sense of awe. The reviewer cannot understand why every scientific university textbook is not written like this, but, then, there are few writers of Longair's calibre. The corner around which the New Physics is to appear may not be too far away thanks to researchers and writers like M.S.L. (Astronomer Royal for Scotland 1987-90).
This book by the well-known historian of astronomy and a specialist in historical astronomical instruments, Alan Chapman, examines an important period in British astronomy, the so-called long 19th Century, the post-William Herschel period up until two decades after Victoria Regina. Explanations are offered for the term Victorian in the title, and, in fact, Chapman's postscript leads us even further, into the 1990s. This is not a criticism and the secondary title would not be more apt. The book is a scholarly account of Victorian and Edwardian amateur astronomers, both the gentleman astronomer and the well-to-do clerics and businessmen, and their interaction with instrument makers, with the existing academic astronomical hierarchy, including the `professionals' actually paid by the grand amateurs, with the changing British society, and, importantly, with each other. Part 1 deals with the grand amateurs, exemplified by John Herschel, and Chapman throws light on the way astronomical science, in its infancy, affected Victorian attitudes. Some observational astronomical discoveries by Victorian amateurs (and their staff) matched, and even surpassed those from the great institutions in Europe and America. In Part 2, we are shown how a growing number of British amateurs from all walks of life were able to discover, inspire, instruct and learn from each other. The penny-a-peep lecturers (chapter 9) and the amateur telescope makers of the 19th Century spread the word that astronomy and the marvels of the Universe need not be confined to the rich, the academic or the privileged. Chapman cites familiar cases like that of John Flamsteed, Astronomer Royal (no university training), and less familiar cases like T.W. Bush (the baker), J. Leach (the cobbler), J. Robertson (the railway porter), R. Langdon (the village station master), each with a remarkable but poorly documented history. Although this list may sound like the member list of any of today's astronomical societies, this was a major breakthrough for the working classes. Of particular interest is Chapman's discussion of the interaction between the growing amateur societies (Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and York, apart from London) and the professional establishment as it existed. The role of women in astronomy is described (20 pages) prior to and after the 1890s period of emancipation. Not surprisingly, Chapman is forced out beyond the confines of his book title to make comparisons with today's amateur astronomers. The book contains 105 pages of references and notes, and a good index. Sadly for the Irish Astronomical Journal, Chapman refers to the IAJ without listing it in his abbreviated journals! There is actually very little on Ireland although Rosse, Pearson, Cooper, and a few others are followed in some depth. The Victorian Amateur Astronomer is highly readable and brings to life the grand old days of Parsonstown, Hartwell, Dun Echt, Ormskirk, Cranbrook, Regent's Park, Patricroft etc., with a wealth of previously unpublished biographical and anecdotal material, and an excellent commentary. This fascinating book gives us an invaluable record of the growth and the reasons for the development of some major amateur astronomical societies. Amateur astronomy is a success story which continues to the present day. One wonders whether there may be a return to the privately-owned grand observatory in the United Kingdom, perhaps down-loading data from spacecraft, when the professionals have dismantled half the Nation's astronomical institutes! Large `obsolete' telescopes and five-year old professional instrumentation often head straight for the dump or become buried in institutional basements. Chapman's book clearly demonstrates that all that is required is a new Earl of Rosse, a new James Nasmyth or William Lassell and several like John Hinds, W.R. Dawes, C. Herschel and M. Somerville!
Astronomers spent 150 hours with the Hubble Telescope imaging a region in Ursa Major about 5 square arcmins in the optical, and reaching about magnitude AB(8140) = 30, and recording a very uncertain number, possibly 2500 -- 3500, of objects. The region can be seen in Sky & Telescope for October 1998. Submillimetre-wavelength pictures of the field (JCMT telescope, SCUBA images, 450 & 850 microns) may be seen in Nature magazine for July 1998. We used to hear the resounding criticism, never in the history of astronomy has so much research effort been put into a completely blank piece of sky. It could be said of the first four catalogues of the Hubble Deep Field region produced in 1996 by Couch, Lanzetta et al., Williams et al. and Metcalfe et al., that if they were examined with a 19th century blink comparator, more than 20% would be thought to be variable, double or even multiple objects. Another criticism might be that at optical wavelengths we are only probing the rest-frame ultraviolet portion of the spectra of the galaxies of interest. The Hubble Deep Field discusses these points, amongst others, since judgements based on samples is not a problem that went away. The book contains much important, parallel work that went on before, during and after the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) examined the HDF too (Rowan-Robinson et al., Imperial College London). Also, the Lyman-break technique was applied to identify possible distant star-forming galaxies in the HDF at red shift about z = 3 (Giavalisco, OCIW). Altogether, there are 21 papers including thoughts about the Next Generation Space Telescope, and a 26-page, historical preamble on Hubble (the man) and Cosmology, serving as an appetiser of a sort from pioneer Alan Sandage. The HDF may be heralded as a milestone in years to come, and the book amply records the moment, but it is disconcerting that some astronomers, apparently unexpectedly, hit so much trouble with merging galaxies and blended images. High red-shifts (z = 2 to 4) suggested by tentative measurements using the HDF refer to objects less than one-third of the present age of the Universe, but most astronomers agree that further observations are required at higher resolution using perhaps another orbiting telescope or a ground-based interferometer at far-infrared or submillimetre wavelengths to make really useful, statistically-significant cosmological statements about the results. These and other problems are discussed in this important book about that unique HDF keyhole view of the very distant, and, apparently, evasively infinite, Universe. Incidentally, a second HDF is planned already.
It is commonplace to talk of the conflict between science and religion but do we really need to bother about this old battlefield? Questions posed two thousand years ago, or more, and reiterated today, would seem superfluous to many readers. However, Br. Consolmagno's book is a refreshing and scholarly re-think of this ageless problem, written, of course, from the point of view of a Christian who has gladly embraced modern science with a Ph.D in astronomy from MIT. Unfortunately, a conflict of some sort does still exist for most people, and it probably relates to how God could possibly be concerned about the human race in particular. Semantics plays a large part and faith an even larger one. The book contains amusing anecdotes about Faraday, Maxwell, Mach and Helmholtz, put in historical and scientific context. Always remarkably down-to-earth, Br. Consolmagno manages to elucidate the idea of vector fields using church pews and a lump of electric charge on his lap (and one for the preacher), and the concept of space-time using an ant walking on an apple. If the book suffers at all from naivety it is in giving the impression that umpteen zeros on a number is always related to mystical belief in an omniscient, omnipotent Creator. How many zeros or decimal places do we really need for that? How many inhabited planets to prove or disprove a religious belief during the past millennia or the next? The reviewer enjoyed the book. It was a healthy relief that Genesis, at least, can now be read as a three-thousand year-old book on astrophysics!
Fourteen thousand letters plus is a substantial number indeed! In trying to discover, using the Calendar, hereafter abbreviated CCJH, how many letters were written by Sir John Herschel himself, it was not easy although scholars will find the catalogue of data is extremely well prepared for this all research purposes. The Calendar contains all correspondence found by the Editors, both from and to, or relating to, John Herschel. Whether the great astronomer/scientist was the No.1 of Victorian gentleman scientists remains to be established, and this tome certainly is the starting point of such a path to its revelation. What is certain is that men of Sir J.H's scientific stature during the period in question were relatively common amongst the upper classes (a point which could obviously be better quantified). Discoveries were available if one applied ones energy and money, and this is undoubtedly true today although the funding comes from a different source, and ones peers are fewer in number. Sadly, the comments so far sound like the moans of someone unable to comprehend the success (financial) of pop-stars and the like. Perhaps, C, D and K are the press agents of Sir J.H., and only time will tell. In 1868 J.H. wrote a poem, ``To the Rainbow", an article on ``The variable stars, Eta Argus and its Surrounding Nebula", and an article on ``L'Inferno of Dante, Canto I" (CCJH, p.713). This was the writing of a man of importance, and, certainly, of a Victorian gentleman with both knowledge and sensibility. The lesson to be learned today is perhaps that we enjoy deifying (and crucifying, journalistically-speaking), and that we enjoy particularly studying and judging other individuals. We all need heros after all. John Herschel stood in the shadow of his father but shined brightly with perhaps the first magnitude. It is the reviewer's opinion that J.H. exceeded his father's scientific achievements in so far as it was J.H. who followed in true traditions of what was to become modern science, very close to what the present-day postgraduate astronomy student might be hoping for. Sadly, the correspondence of today's scientists is unlikely to become available since most of it is on e-mail! The CCJH is rather expensive and, hopefully, according to the Editors, may become available electronically. Let us hope within the public domain.
This is surely the definitive atlas for the general amateur astronomer with the bare bones of the sky to about visual magnitude 8.5, plus identification of most bright double/multiple stars, variables (very few), open clusters, globulars, planetary nebulae, bright and dark nebulae and galaxies (all Messier objects). Users should be careful of the magnitude limit since the charts are bound to be very incomplete fainter than magnitude 8. The charts were prepared electronically on a Sigma Tech Pentium System using a computer programme written in Borland Turbo Basic. The labeling and Milky Way contours (four!) were completed in Adobe Illustrator on an Apple Power Macintosh. Almost a feasible task for present-day amateurs! For deep sky enthusiasts, with no other source, there is a chart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies, and for the budding specialist, charts for Barnard's star, Proxima Centauri (both for 1900 to 2100 AD), the Pleiades, the north and south celestial poles and the Orion nebula region, all to a tantalising 10.5 magnitude limit. Even taking into account the atlases available on the Worldwide Web which truly plunge into the depths of space (and which are essential for many purposes), the Sky Atlas 2000.0 with 10 degrees equal to 182 millimetres will be an essential working companion. Only six (large print) pages of introduction and indexing are given, but the Atlas is intended to supplement sky catalogues (Equinox 2000), wherein equatorial coordinates of stars and celestial objects are to be found, and to be used with astronomical handbooks and circulars containing planetary ephemerides, positions of comets, asteroids etc. I would guess that most amateur observatories as well as many professional astronomers will want to own their own copy of this beautiful Atlas.
Astro-humanistic endeavours, as Olsen and Pasachoff term them, are the interactions between scientists and artists, and their colourful book, Fire in the Sky, aims at putting this polarized friendship in some sort of harmonious perspective. They are absolutely right that neither language, ethnic origin etc. nor education, social level, taste, occupation etc. divides humanity when it comes to standing in awe at the celestial heavens. We all wallow in the Hale-Bopp experience (even if only as portrayed on television), the space walks of the astronauts, the forthcoming Rosetta mission to Comet 46P/Wirtanen in 2011 AD (or some comparable space venture), and it is no surprise that the general public, including painters, poets and sculptors find the wallowing equally enjoyable, in fact, irresistible. The book, Fire in the Sky; Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and Science, with a title that is by no means pretentious but certainly long-winded, is excellent and informative. It is in a sense a keyhole view into society, largely European or Western (as the title says), and makes for fascinating reading. With 160 illustrations and two-third page (1-column) text, the book has room to be lighthearted and amusing, too. The authors, one a historian, the other an astronomer, have gone to enormous lengths to research their material and come up with many illustrations, classical paintings, oils, watercolours, mezzo-tints, engravings, notebooks, historical cartoons and photographs etc. The reviewer wallowed in this glorious imagery and cannot but feel gratitude to the two authors for their stupendous effort in producing this scholarly, readable and beautiful tome.
Despite its very appealing title this book is not about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The title comes from a single chapter in the book. The volume contains written accounts of lectures presented to the Royal Institution in their series of Friday Evening Discourses. Such lectures have been given at the Royal Institution since 1826 and have included some very revealing and historic portraits of progress in science and technology. The history of the Royal Institution requires no insistence on its excellence, having cradled the careers of some of the greatest names; Michael Faraday, Thomas Young and Humphry Davy. This next volume in the series of lectures includes the topics of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (Sir Arnold Wolfendale, Durham University), meteorites (Monica M. Grady, Natural History Museum), television beyond the millennium (Will Wyatt, BBC Broadcast), and molecular information processing (Peter Day, Royal Institution).
It is a novel and refreshing idea to produce in hardcopy any series of lectures designed with the public listener in mind. This enables a wider audience to appreciate some of the thoughts from the ever-changing world of science and technology. In particular it permits a communication platform for some of society's best speakers. The current volume contains much that will interest the reader who is interested in the broader picture of science. Arnold Wolfendale's article, from which the book takes its title, is an excellent summary of our achievements and desires to find that allusive evidence for ET. He expounds the rationale behind the famous Drake equation and discusses at length the results of the Viking missions and the ALH84001 controversy. Will Wyatt's article on the future of television is most enjoyable. After discussing the history of television he gives an eloquent vision of the coming digital TV age. The book is copiously illustrated with relevant material and gives interesting biographic details for all contributors.
This book is to be recommended to anyone who enjoys popular descriptions of all fields in science and technology.
This volume, from A. R. Choudhuri, Associate Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, has just been published in hardback and softback editions by Cambridge University Press. The subject of fluid mechanics is a requisite area in much of astrophysics, having applications in magnetic topology, gas/plasma convection and turbulence and accretion processes. Likewise the field of plasma physics is important in almost all aspects of modern astrophysics. This book addresses both fluid mechanics and plasma processes in a single volume and has been written with the astrophysicist in mind. The topics covered include neutral fluids (hydrodynamics, ideal fluids, viscous flows, gas dynamics, linear theory of waves, instabilities, turbulence and rotation), plasmas (orbit theory, dynamics of charged particles, collisionless and collisional processes, magnetohydrodynamics, magnetic topology and dynamo theory). A useful epilogue has been included that both presents some of the basics in topics not directly covered in the main text and discusses some of the important astrophysical areas that have benefited from the theories of fluid mechanics and plasmas.
The text of this book has been set at the graduate student level. Unlike many advanced text books of mathematical physics the emphasis is on presenting the mathematical framework and then discussing its consequences, sometimes at length. This will ensure that the student will grasp not only the theory but will come to understand its significance in different physical situations. Many examples of applications from astrophysics are included, though no previous knowledge of astronomy is assumed. Choudhuri's writing style is excellent and conveys a real feel for the science, often laced with metaphors and examples from our everyday experience. This is essential in a book of this kind because it retains the reader's interest through the details of the theory. The author is to be congratulated on such a well-written book. This book will make an excellent course textbook at the graduate level in astrophysicists as well as being useful to the advanced student of physics or applied mathematics.
Originally published in 1990, Friedman has now updated his book giving a detailed guide to 20th century astronomy. The author considers the progress in our knowledge of the Sun, stellar objects such as novae and pulsars, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. A useful introductory chapter discusses some of the instrumental techniques that have enabled the entire EM spectrum to be utilised in astronomy.
The book is written at a level to inspire the advanced amateur astronomer, sometimes relying on a grasp of fundamental scientific principles. This may mean that the beginner in the subject may become a little lost. Certainly the excellent illustrations and photographs help. Pencil drawings of leading figures in the development of 20th century astronomy (by the author's son) which accompany short biographical details add a welcome digression from the story being told. Friedman has sought to illuminate his depiction of modern astronomy with excerpts of his own involvement in key moments in research. This is admirable but the reviewer feels the book would have benefited by the inclusion of other such anecdotes related by other researchers. However, there is nothing to prevent this reviewer from recommending the book to anyone intrigued by the development and results of 20th century astrophysics.
In 1738 John Bevis, a physician trained at Oxford, began a series of observations with a view to producing an up-to-date atlas of the heavens along the lines of Flamsteed's and Bayer's atlases. Over several years he observed up to 180 star transits per night which formed the basis of the position tables in order to draw up the star charts. Once complete, Bevis raised funds for the production of the expensive engravings for his atlas by selling subscriptions to learned societies and interested benefactors in return for dedications to appear on the star charts. The engravings were completed between 1747 and 1749 and showed the entire celestial sphere down to eighth magnitude. Bevis' atlas contained 600 more stars than Flamsteed's Atlas Coelestis of 1727. But in the autumn of 1750, just as the atlas was about to be published, Bevis' publisher, John Neale of London was declared bankrupt and the plates were sequestered by the courts. The atlas, called Uranographia Britannica was never published and would certainly have been one of the greatest of 18th century star maps.
Before Neale had fallen into financial trouble he had made a number of impressions of the excellent engravings for the Uranographia. Some of these have survived in various combinations and in various collections throughout the world. The Manchester Astronomical Society were rather surprised to find a copy of Bevis' Uranographia Britannica gathering dust on their library shelves since before World War II. This copy, whose origin is entirely unknown, was in good condition and contained a full set of the fifty-one star charts. There are currently only sixteen copies of the atlas known to exist and the MAS copy is the only one owned by an amateur astronomical society. There are plans to place the atlas in the trustworthy hands of a Manchester library for safekeeping.
The MAS decided that it was time to bring the Uranographia Britannica to the wider attention of the scientific and historical communities and so have produced a CD-ROM of the atlas. The CD-ROM contains a document which is read by Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01 (also supplied). The user has access to an article about the finding and history of the MAS copy and can view each of the pages of the atlas. The engravings really are of superb quality and have been reproduced well. Conveniently, the authors have also supplied JPEG format images at very high resolution (and size) which can be printed (one assumes there is no copyright infringement!). The MAS is to be congratulated in bringing this fascinating and beautiful item to a wider audience. If you are interested in the history of astronomy, antique maps and engravings or simply curious to see one of the greatest forgotten celestial atlases of the modern era then this CD-ROM is a valuable and worthwhile purchase.
This title from the US company SynForest Inc. is based on the New York Times bestselling book The Home Planet. Using over 100 high-resolution images of planet Earth, space missions and astronauts, this multimedia package presents a slide show accompanied by specially-written atmospheric music. Images are accompanied by relevant quotations from US and Soviet astronauts, those who have experienced first hand the majesty of the planet from space. Also included are several graphic movies of Space Shuttle launches and Apollo missions. Although the images on this CD-ROM are indeed awe-inspiring and of excellent quality, this product is not educational in any sense of the word. No facts or explanations are presented to accompany the exploration of our planet and no real interactivity is used -- which is a shame. However, to be fair, the publication has not been designed with the fact-seeking enthusiast in mind. Rather, the CD-ROM can be used essentially like background music, providing an interesting and visually stunning backdrop on the user's computer. If you're looking for educational material about planet Earth you'll be disappointed with this product; but if you just want to be inspired by its beauty as seen from space, this is a reasonable publication.
SkyMap Pro has recently been released as version 5. Many readers will already be familiar with this excellent software from Chris Marriott. The package is able to display the sky as seen from any location on earth and for any date and time, past, present or future (in fact, the dates are restricted to those between 8000 BC and 4000 AD). This kind of software is often referred to as a ``planetarium'' program but this reviewer would insist that they are much more than that. A planetarium does not allow the user to control a wide range of telescopes (Meade Magellan I/II, Sky Engineering ``Sky Commander'', Meade LX200, Celestron Ultima 2000 etc.), enabling easy tracking of and driving to any object in SkyMap's substantial catalogue database. Another handy option is the ability to plot on each star chart an eyepiece ``field-of-view'' circle, from a list of telescope and eyepiece combinations . One can also overplot the concentric circles of the popular TedRad aiming device.
The reviewer liked the ability to use, as background images, files from the ``RealSky'' CD-ROM series or files downloaded from the Digitised Sky Survey web site. With the ease of access to large volumes of excellent data both on CD-ROM and via the Internet, it is refreshing to see software, which although not a multimedia publication, utilises these superb resources. The ability to plot the sky map over a photographic image is a superb feature of this software.
One of the most attractive aspects of SkyMap Pro is its access to such a wide range of comprehensive object catalogues. It can plot more than 15 million stars down to magnitude 15 across the entire sky. This is more than adequate for all but the professional astronomer. It has a database of over 100,000 deep sky objects including galaxies, nebulae and clusters. For those who need to know which catalogues are available , these are Tycho, Hipparcos, The Hubble Guide Star Catalogue, The General Catalogue of Variable Stars, The Washington Visual Double Star Catalogue, The Third Revised Galaxy Catalogue (RC3), The Principle Catalogue of Galaxies (PGC), The Strasbourg Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae and the Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC) Catalogue. Also included are catalogues and databases of all known comets and asteroids. If a catalogue you're interested in doesn't appear here then never fear. SkyMap Pro 5 provides the user with a simple procedure to add any catalogue file to the database by defining the required record fields (RA, Dec. etc.). This is a facility that is most useful, theoretically allowing the user access to data for every known astronomical object, but more specifically to follow a set of objects in a personal observing program. All of these catalogues, and any user-defined ones, can be searched easily and quickly to return ephemerides or other useful data on a given object. In fact, for some objects such as planets, comets etc., a table of ephemeris data (e.g. sunrise times, planetary phases, coordinates) can be prepared for a range of dates. This is very useful for planning observations.
The user interface for SkyMap Pro 5 is extremely easy to use. The main window displays the view of the sky, either at some predefined date and time, or at the computer's current time. A real time option updates the sky view at a user-defined interval. An extremely helpful option is to display the screen in red on black only, to retain night vision during observing. With a click of a button the user can select an object magnitude limit, zoom in or out, change the direction of the view (east, west, south, north), recentre the display, plot objects from catalogues and drag a box on screen with the mouse to display that part of the sky. The maps can be annotated by the user before saving or printing.
These facilities, along with printing and image saving (BMP format only) must make SkyMap Pro 5 one of the best sky charting programs available in the world today. And the price is also extremely competitive. For the serious amateur astronomer who wants a comprehensive package for finding and searching for astronomical objects, the observer who wishes to remotely control his/her telescope from their desktop computer, for the casual enthusiast who wants to know what time the Sun will rise tomorrow, or for the astronomy beginner who wants to learn about easily recognisable constellations, SkyMap Pro 5 will satisfy all. I would even dare to say that the professional astronomer would find the program useful for quickly checking observability of objects. This reviewer has no hesitation in highly recommending this title.
WWW Contact: Alastair G Gunn
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