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| FirstLight's First Ten Years |
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| 29°39' N, 82°21' W Altitude: 50 Meters (more or less) |
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| FirstLight is the official, monthly publication of the Alachua Astronomy Club (AAC), Gainesville, Florida USA. Copyright © 1987-99. All rights reserved. |
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Book Review, Will Black Holes Devour the Universe?
& 100 Other Questions & Answers About Astronomy
by Don Loftus
Melanie Melton (Kalmbach Publishing Company).
7¼x9¾; 104 pages; 6+ illus.; softbound $14.95 plus shipping.
I always thought it would be a great idea to write a book that would answer most of the basic questions people ask at star parties. That way we could all read it and be ready to answer questions with intelligence and authority. Well, someone beat me to it!
The book, Will Black Holes Devour the Universe? & 100 Other Questions & Answers About Astronomy, by Melanie Melton is written with non-astronomers in mind. Melanie Melton is the Education Program Director at Mount Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles, California Her book deals with the type of questions the public seems to ask all the time. Her format is to list the question, the answer, a simple explanation and then more details if necessary. It is a good format; straight forward and to the point.
For example, question 16: Does every planet have a moon? The answer: No. Simple Explanation: In our solar system the two most inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no moons. Some more details: In this answer she lists the number of moons for each planet as of 1994 and mentions some of the confusion about the number of moons around Saturn and how spacecraft have affected the moon count.
As the name suggests, there are 101 questions and answers. These are split up into eight headings: Questions about the Sun, Planets, Earth, Moon, Spacecraft and Space Travel, Stars, Black Holes, and Galaxies.
I have found the book to be a good basic review of astronomical principles and facts. I think it will help prepare anybody for answering questions from the public.
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