100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Square 15 for the 16 Festive Tasks- Science and Astronomy for Newtonmass

What We See In The Stars is a wonderful book with a lot of good information laid out in an easy to read format, great for a beginner astronomer or someone who has taken an interest in astronomy. 
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Laid out in successive sections, the importance of astronomy and our understanding of the stars in laid out and written in common language accompanied by wonderful artistry.  The stars are outlined in their importance in history, mythology, culture and science as well as our understanding of what lies beyond.  

Through reading, I developed an understanding of how we see space from the Earth and how this has developed over time.  I was surprised to learn that the Islamic people were among the first to name the stars and their names have been Latinized over time.  I loved looking through Ptolemy's Constellations and learning their stories along with the stars that make them up and how they fit in with Greek mythology.  The modern constellations added many constellations that I had no idea were recognized, such as the microscope, the telescope and the giraffe.  The section of our own galaxy,  the milky way was intriguing. There are beautiful depictions of the moon, it's phases, geologic features and seasonal names. This section also discusses the sun, seasons, eclipses and goes into detail about each planet.  

A gorgeous book that encouraged me to get outside at night and look up to see what can be discovered.