Rating: 
Summary: Undoubtedly helpful
Review: As I told in my previous review (bernardo@esfm.ipn.mx, 1998), Burnham's Handbook continues to be a daily reference for most amateur astronomers because it hasn't been surpassed, even rivalled.We all know that the coordinates it gives are not the current ones. We all know that some of its data is out of date. We all know that its typing is old-fashioned. We all know that its pictures are not digital. But we all also know that it is one of the most useful astronomy sources around.
Rating:
Summary: A book with overwhelming information...
Review: Being an amateur astronomer I bought this and the other two volumes recently and I have found it indispensible. Im writing this review keeping solely the tyro's in mind, since one knowledgeable in astronomy would have already had this book. If you are getting interested in astronomy, this is the book to buy - it will surely deepen your interest. Get the book and take a journey through the starts that Burnham offers you in the first few pages. There are plenty of astronomy books for amatuers with fantastic photos. And sometimes it can be intimidating to know what to buy. Burnham's book is worth every penny (and it doesnt cost much either). It does not contain colorful photos (though contains plenty of b&w photos taken from Lowell/Palomar and other observatories). All 88 constellations are dealt with in detail. First a list of double stars are given in each constellation followed by details of each bright star (including spectrum analysis for some). The book is set in "type-writer" font, so it gives a special feeling of reading some research paper. A unique feature of this book, which is probably not found in any other astronomy book I have come sofar, is that, it also contains a perspective of a given constellation or star by several different cultures. Most astronomy books stop with Greek and Roman myths - giving a feeling that no other culture was knowledgeable in astronomy. Coming from Indian background, I found it very intriguing that Burnham mentions several stories and myths from Indian folklore (including those that I heard from my granny!). For eg, Varahamihira (c 100 AD?) in his "Brihat Samhita" compares Ursa Major (aka called "Seven Sages") to string of pearls. I was surprised to see Burnham mention this. One other way I use the book is to first locate some star in the telescope (by lazily moving it around), notice the color, constellation and other characteristics, then look into the book about the details and compare with what you saw. Thats a fun way of learning. Though more experienced astronomers would observe that some Burnham's values are of older epoch, this should not really bother a beginner. Burnham has certainly packed a wealth of information into three volumes. Again this is a book that will accompany for life on observing the wonders that are up above the sky.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Books......
Review: Burnham is a "given" among amateur astronomers. Until quite recently there was no work other than this that contained so much useful information in one place. It's also much more than just a reference. Despite his twenty years at Lowell Observatory, Burnham seems to have remained an "amateur" in the highest sense. His love of the night sky is plainly communicated not only in his entertaining digressions into myth and poetry but also by the obvious effort he put in before the days of PC's and word processors. I began by using these books to get information on objects I already had in mind, but very quickly, the inconspicuous and the usually overlooked began to take on a "real identity" when Burnham spoke about them. The sky became immeasurably richer. Burnham died destitute in 1993. I'm in his debt. He's that wise and experienced friend standing at my side sharing what he knows.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Books......
Review: Burnham is a "given" among amateur astronomers. Until quite recently there was no work other than this that contained so much useful information in one place. It's also much more than just a reference. Despite his twenty years at Lowell Observatory, Burnham seems to have remained an "amateur" in the highest sense. His love of the night sky is plainly communicated not only in his entertaining digressions into myth and poetry but also by the obvious effort he put in before the days of PC's and word processors. I began by using these books to get information on objects I already had in mind, but very quickly, the inconspicuous and the usually overlooked began to take on a "real identity" when Burnham spoke about them. The sky became immeasurably richer. Burnham died destitute in 1993. I'm in his debt. He's that wise and experienced friend standing at my side sharing what he knows.
Rating:
Summary: Essential for the amateur astronomer
Review: Burnham's Celestial Handbook is one of the most important books an amateur astronomer can own. Despite the fact that it is almost twenty years old it remains a gold mine of information. I personally couldn't live without mine
Rating:
Summary: Will enrich your study of the heavens
Review: By all accounts, I am an amateur astronomer, and I stress the word amateur--it being perhaps even still too grandiose a term for my level of knowledge. I do not own a high-powered, high calibre telescope; in fact, my current setup is so dismal I usually get sneered at by the astronomy club outside of the observatory on eclipse nights. (This is the geek's equivalent to locker-room bravado: "How big is your 'scope, dude?") Now, what I do have, like most of you reading this, is an intense, true love for the appearance of the night sky, and the humility that comes from that love. Ever since playing with my grandpappy's telescope ("Don't break that! Put that back!") when I was very young, I've had a constant and abiding devotion to the aesthetic timetable of the heavens. I've sough out books to best help me expand my knowledge; books that would recognise that, no, I am neither a mathmetician, a physicist, nor an astronomer. Yet, I also didn't want yet another _The Universe for Complete Eejits_ type of big-book. Shamefully, I avoided Burnham for ages. After all, it was thirty years old, the typeface looked like something out of my dot-matrix printer from 1984, and I shyed away from its three vol. size. This was a mistake. Burnham's books--despite what time has effaced from them--remain a necessary purchase for anyone in pursuit of the stars and the spaces in-between the stars. His documentation will satisfy the maths and category crowd, and his folkloric references (my fav. bits) will leave you stammering with surprise knowlege. His calling down on the literary and philosophical heritages of Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, Native American, and Chinese cultures are astonishing acts of a well-studied mind. The encyclopedic organisation of the book makes it handy for references. Again and again I return to these volumes to learn, remember, and reference. For what's it's worth to say, I have a fairly sizable personal library and new guests to my flat sometimes peek around at the various shelves. Burnham's always gets the most attention I've noticed: like the stellar pup in a crate full of dogs, people pick up the Burnhams and admire them, peer upon them, and vow to buy them. I think it would be safe to say that, no matter to what extent your knowledge is of the subject, you will learn and appreciate the effort Burnham put into these books. They rank among the great efforts of scholarship for scholarship's sake, reminding me of those solitary men and women who personally compiled dictionaries of their home-town's dialect. Burnham provides a trustworthy cornerstone for any home astronomy library.
Rating:
Summary: Will enrich your study of the heavens
Review: By all accounts, I am an amateur astronomer, and I stress the word amateur--it being perhaps even still too grandiose a term for my level of knowledge. I do not own a high-powered, high calibre telescope; in fact, my current setup is so dismal I usually get sneered at by the astronomy club outside of the observatory on eclipse nights. (This is the geek's equivalent to locker-room bravado: "How big is your 'scope, dude?") Now, what I do have, like most of you reading this, is an intense, true love for the appearance of the night sky, and the humility that comes from that love. Ever since playing with my grandpappy's telescope ("Don't break that! Put that back!") when I was very young, I've had a constant and abiding devotion to the aesthetic timetable of the heavens. I've sough out books to best help me expand my knowledge; books that would recognise that, no, I am neither a mathmetician, a physicist, nor an astronomer. Yet, I also didn't want yet another _The Universe for Complete Eejits_ type of big-book. Shamefully, I avoided Burnham for ages. After all, it was thirty years old, the typeface looked like something out of my dot-matrix printer from 1984, and I shyed away from its three vol. size. This was a mistake. Burnham's books--despite what time has effaced from them--remain a necessary purchase for anyone in pursuit of the stars and the spaces in-between the stars. His documentation will satisfy the maths and category crowd, and his folkloric references (my fav. bits) will leave you stammering with surprise knowlege. His calling down on the literary and philosophical heritages of Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, Native American, and Chinese cultures are astonishing acts of a well-studied mind. The encyclopedic organisation of the book makes it handy for references. Again and again I return to these volumes to learn, remember, and reference. For what's it's worth to say, I have a fairly sizable personal library and new guests to my flat sometimes peek around at the various shelves. Burnham's always gets the most attention I've noticed: like the stellar pup in a crate full of dogs, people pick up the Burnhams and admire them, peer upon them, and vow to buy them. I think it would be safe to say that, no matter to what extent your knowledge is of the subject, you will learn and appreciate the effort Burnham put into these books. They rank among the great efforts of scholarship for scholarship's sake, reminding me of those solitary men and women who personally compiled dictionaries of their home-town's dialect. Burnham provides a trustworthy cornerstone for any home astronomy library.
Rating:
Summary: MUST have
Review: Even if these 3 books are a little bit outdated (1983), it is still in irreplaceable source of information on all the celestials beauties to be seen on an amateur telescope
Rating:
Summary: Dated, but still my favorite
Review: For the first few months that I owned these books, I went to bed each night reading them. The quantity of information makes these books the most useful astronomy guides (short of a good atlas) I have ever seen, but it is the extra comments (from theological to philosophical to historical) that make them truly wonderful. Much of the information is badly dated, but if I had to recommend one book to someone who loves to look through telescopes, this would be it, hands down.
Rating:
Summary: I did not know that.
Review: I am currently in the process of reading the three book series where I have found has indepted descriptions and charts of all of the current heavenly bodies our of our solar system from its declination, right ascentions to each and ever known conponent of the latter. I would as of now recomend this book for everyone whose plans on the Astrophysics feild for a guide for all Astronomical Veiwing.
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