Rating: 
Summary: ...stargazer fall from the sky
Review: This is a very unique and enlightening book about how much amateurs can enjoy and contribute to the science of astronomy. Since there is so much to observe in the universe, amateurs often spot phenomena that are missed by the professionals, and are aided by their love of astronomy as a personal passion rather than a job. In fact, there are growing cases of the professionals teaming up with amateurs for large projects. Astronomy is also probably the only science in which amateurs can obtain equipment almost as powerful as that used by the pros.Ferris includes many interesting character sketches of noteworthy amateurs who have made real contributions to the astronomy of science, indicating how many different types of people from all walks of life can share these passions. The structure of this book is very rewarding as Ferris covers in great detail the full realm of possibilities for the amateur, from unexpected surprises right here in the solar system to the extreme cosmology of quasars and galactic superclusters. Just watch out for a few cases of cloying sentimentality at the conclusion of some chapters. One sappy example of the children-are-the-future variety closes chapter 9; while Ferris mangles the history of the Aztecs and Mayans in Chapter 8. The absence of scientific illustrations is another difficulty. However, the day is saved by Ferris' everyman writing style that can encourage the interest of all people, and his appendices are incredibly useful to amateurs from beginner to expert. This book has succeeded for me personally, as Ferris has encouraged me to reacquaint myself with a lost childhood passion. A telescope purchase lies in my near future.
Rating:
Summary: Every Man A Galileo
Review: This is an informative and at times whimsical work about outer space, specifically who is doing the observing and what is being observed. The material goes considerably beyond the title, as only one chapter actually treats of near earth objects [NEO's] at depth, and I am still confused over the author's distinction between "amateur" and "professional" astronomers. With those caveats in mind, "Seeing In The Dark" is a fine overview of astronomy for those of us who have been out of school awhile and think of Pluto as the edge of the meaningful universe.
As a boy I was intrigued by astronomy and at age 10 owned an off-the shelf hand telescope that, in my recollection, simply made the bright stars brighter. I once tried to observe the crescent of Venus through my mother's hand mirror and a magnifying glass. I did get to see the rings of Saturn, finally, through the 8" telescope at the Buffalo Museum of Science, and to this day I divide the world into those who have seen that spectacle firsthand and those who haven't. Popular astronomy in the 1950's was lunar and planetary: the supposed canal system of Mars, for example, was still an issue of debate.
I lost my interest in the 1960's when astronomy became less optical and more electronic. Real observations and photos of heavenly bodies are egalitarian. Spectroscopic charts, radio waves, radar exploration and the like required time, sophisticated education, and money. Every decade or so something would catch my fancy: Apollo 11, Viking, Pioneer, Hubble, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Cassini. But why should an amateur like myself spend money and time at something already being done with more precision at Arecibo in Puerto Rico or Mt. Palomar in California, or from a satellite in space, for that matter?
Timothy Ferris argues in so many words that the modern astronomical-industrial complex, so to speak, is too big and too expensive to perform some of the most critical work of present day astronomy. The author provides a plethora of examples, such as planetary weather. Most planets have atmospheres with characteristics not entirely unlike the earth's own. The atmospheres of the large outer planets [and in at least one case, a planetary satellite] have predictable patterns of wind currents and even storms that produce lightning. Mars, we have come to realize, has significant dust storms and seasonal markers. To monitor these systems, however, requires daily observations over months and years. With the crush of competition for seat time for the monster telescopes and the costs involved, such meticulous and time consuming planetary observations are gradually falling into the hands of the dedicated [and exquisitely patient] amateur backyard astronomers. The older, smaller, and midrange telescopes have come into a new age of usefulness, where persistence is of equal value to optical power. And, as the author observes, the marriage of a modest telescope with digital photography, computer controls, and Internet access to professionals, has created a formidable network of information gatherers.
Nowhere is the amateur's value of more importance than in the discovery and tracking of NEO's, asteroids whose orbits regularly criss-cross the earth's. Observation of these dangerous bodies and forecast of collisions is extremely difficult for several reasons. NEO's are hard to see [in some instances, at the 29th magnitude], only small tracks of their orbits are currently known, and they are notoriously vulnerable to gravitational influences from the earth, the sun, and even Jupiter. Science has developed a public coding system for risk from each known object, and I would venture a guess that readers will find particular stimulation from Ferris's discussion of the "Torino Scale." [As I was reading this work, I checked the day's "Torino forecast" on NASA's web site, the very day that NASA used a "Torino 4" rating for the first time, for Asteroid 2004MN4. As this occurred the same day as the Asian tsunami, little or no press coverage was devoted to the event, though astronomers around the world focused on the potential risk of a 2029 collision. The odds for 2004MN4 were downgraded to Torino 1 a few days later.]
Suffice to say that NEO's are the "high needs child" of space observation, and every verifiable observation by an amateur astronomer enables NASA and international tracking systems to add another fraction of certainty to a body's orbit. Ferris intersperses observational details of heavenly bodies with interviews of the men and women who do the observing. His use of the word "amateur" is stretched like taffy. Some of these unsalaried observers have spent six-figures in outfitting their equipment or, in some cases, pursuing doctorates to expedite their work. Some have walked away from lucrative professions and made wholesale disruptions in personal and family life on behalf of serious stargazing. In some cases "amateur" does not do justice to what is more appropriately an "obsession."
Ferris summarizes what we have come to know about planets, stars and galaxies in the past few generations of advanced study. Again, if one has not addressed astronomy systematically since school days, this work is an excellent primer on our current state of understanding the heavens. There is a thorough 25-page appendix that treats of basic stargazing information, including issues of light pollution, choice of equipment, and basic star charts, as well as a summary of periodicals and web sites. I regretted that there are no photos of any kind in the book, so we never get to see with our own eyes the quality of work produced by the amateurs in our communities. Perhaps the author was deliberately setting out to pique our curiosity, for yesterday I found myself investigating the features and price tag of a small telescope at the Brookstone's in my local mall. It's been a long time since I've done that.
Rating:
Summary: Another superb book from our best science writer
Review: Timothy Ferris has an unusual gift for explaining complex subjects in a highly readable, even felicitous, style. The first book I read of his, Coming of Age in the Milky Way, was a thoroughly entertaining history of how we gradually came to understand the impossibly vast scale of the universe. It evoked awe of our strange and wonderful cosmos while staying refreshingly free of the antireligious crankiness and oddly mystical naturalism of Carl Sagan. Seeing in the Dark focuses on areas of astronomy that any of us could plausibly make contributions in - planets, asteroids, comets, the sun, the moon, even SETI. It is fascinating to learn how amateurs continue to make important discoveries and, indeed, how the professionals still depend on them to help expand our understanding of the solar system and beyond. But what I gained most from reading this book was the realization that I don't really have to own an expensive telescope and live in the open desert to enjoy stargazing. I especially appreciated such personal stories as Ferris viewing a lunar occultation of Saturn with a small telescope from his deck in San Francisco. He had to maneuver the tripod into a far corner, wait until the planet drifted into view between his house and a tree, then cope with a bright streetlight by pressing his eye tight against the eyepiece - but it was indisputably worth the effort. This book inspired me to pull my cheap little 2.4 inch refractor out of the garage where it had languished for fifteen years and look again at Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons. It has re-awakened my youthful fascination with outer space and I am greatly appreciative.
Rating:
Summary: Another superb book from our best science writer
Review: Timothy Ferris has an unusual gift for explaining complex subjects in a highly readable, even felicitous, style. The first book I read of his, Coming of Age in the Milky Way, was a thoroughly entertaining history of how we gradually came to understand the impossibly vast scale of the universe. It evoked awe of our strange and wonderful cosmos while staying refreshingly free of the antireligious crankiness and oddly mystical naturalism of Carl Sagan. Seeing in the Dark focuses on areas of astronomy that any of us could plausibly make contributions in - planets, asteroids, comets, the sun, the moon, even SETI. It is fascinating to learn how amateurs continue to make important discoveries and, indeed, how the professionals still depend on them to help expand our understanding of the solar system and beyond. But what I gained most from reading this book was the realization that I don't really have to own an expensive telescope and live in the open desert to enjoy stargazing. I especially appreciated such personal stories as Ferris viewing a lunar occultation of Saturn with a small telescope from his deck in San Francisco. He had to maneuver the tripod into a far corner, wait until the planet drifted into view between his house and a tree, then cope with a bright streetlight by pressing his eye tight against the eyepiece - but it was indisputably worth the effort. This book inspired me to pull my cheap little 2.4 inch refractor out of the garage where it had languished for fifteen years and look again at Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons. It has re-awakened my youthful fascination with outer space and I am greatly appreciative.
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