A Walk through the Heavens: A Guide to Stars and Constellations and their Legends

by Milton D. Heifetz, Wil Tirion

Overview

What star is that? Where is the Great Bear? A Walk through the Heavens is a beautiful and easy-to-use guide to the constellations of the northern hemisphere. By following the unique simplified maps, readers will be able to easily find and identify the constellations and the stars within them. Ancient myths and legends of the sky are retold, adding to the mystery of the stars. Written for the complete beginner, this practical guide introduces the patterns of the starry skies in a memorable way. No equipment is needed, apart from normal sight and clear skies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107263741
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/12/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Milton D. Heifetz (1921–2015) was a leading neurosurgeon and inventor of the Heifetz aneurysm clip, the leading device of its kind during the 1970s and 1980s. Later on in his career, he became active in medical ethics, taking an early pro-euthanasia stance and writing several books on the topic. In this capacity, he was a visiting professor at Harvard University, Massachusetts, a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford and he taught a course in ethics at the Boston College Law School up until his eighties.

Wil Tirion is a full-time uranographer. He is famous among the amateur astronomy community for the numerous atlases and star charts he has created. Other successful books include Sky Atlas 2000.0 (with Roger W. Sinott, Cambridge, 1998), The Cambridge Star Atlas, 3rd edition (Cambridge, 2001), The Cambridge Double Star Atlas, 2nd edition (with Bruce MacEvoy, Cambridge, 2015), and The Monthly Sky Guide, 9th edition (with Ian Ridpath, Cambridge, 2013).

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Measuring distances in the sky; 2. A walk through the heavens; 3. Legends of the heavens; 4. There's more to see!; Constellations index.

Editorial Reviews

'This attractive work looks like a children’s book, and it will indeed, no doubt, be very appealing to interested children, but it is really for anyone who wishes to learn the basics of the subject. Written for complete beginners, it introduces the patterns of the northern hemisphere sky. … This book is a nice mix of reference value and general interest!' Ray Ward, Reference Reviews

'How should one introduce the constellation patterns to someone who wants to learn about the stars? This book approaches the complete beginner by taking them on a journey round the sky (hence the title), starting with a brief introduction to how distances are measured on the sky, even briefer but useful instructions for using the various illustrations, and a set of sky maps for the four seasons (for the northern hemisphere - a companion book treats the southern stars). … Overall, this is a very suitable and attractive book for the complete newcomer to astronomy, which gives just enough information to whet the appetite for more. The text is clearly written, and Wil Tirion’s sky maps are well up to his usual high standard.' Robert Connon Smith, The Observatory

From the Publisher