I have been acquiring books as I re-enter this hobby of amateur astronomy and I found several that I will be reviewing. Oddly, the books that I am attracted to are mostly out of print and I’ve acquired mostly second hand copies.
This said, I saw this title from O’Reilly books, “Astronomy Hacks“, by Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritch Thompson that was published in 2005.
It’s a very good title and this isn’t one of those “read it a day” books. It is more of a “use it all the time reference” books that, even though dated in it’s material, is still full of great wisdom.
I’m only part-way through this title, which is available for Kindle or second-hand in paperback (which is what I purchased). A Kindle edition is likely a good option if you carry a tablet with you but I plan to use this mostly as a periodic reference so it is your choice of which to get.
I won’t do a detailed review here, but mostly this is a “first impressions” on reading through and skimming the title. First off, this is not a quick read at over 400 pages. This book is stuffed with serious knowledge and is a treasure house of amateur knowledge. I would rate this as a worthy successor title to what Sam Brown started with his wonderful books for Edmund Scientific.
The book breaks down everything it covers into “hacks”, but don’t expect this to be a quick paragraph or two for each hack. The subject matter are discussed in great detail and with a rich background of discussion and sources cited. This is WELL researched, but note that this was written in 2005 and most of the web sites cited and the technology discussions are framed for that time period (or no longer exist!). Even the book web site is no longer active (and Robert has passed away as of January 2018 while his wife still writes a daily online journal and is a lovely and strong woman). Robert’s web site is still maintained by friends and is a great resource as well.
If you are startled by strong opinions however, this book isn’t for you. Robert and Barbara speak directly and plainly as to their viewpoints and some may not agree with their views on controversial subjects in this title, but they are characteristically blunt and direct in their writing and I found it refreshing, even if I didn’t always agree with their conclusions (only in a few cases).
Their take on double-stars made me smile and while that type of observing isn’t my forte’ either, I did get a laugh at how they addressed it. I did find their discussions on telescopes and their own personal judgement of a wide range of telescopes interesting and they do NOT hold back on their opinions. I was rather surprised at their take on 80mm short tube scopes which was to say that they were not impressed with them and stated their case as to why ( I will leave that to you to read in this book! ). Their logic and thoughts on telescopes are well thought out and they don’t mince words if they like or dislike a particular type of telescope.
I did love their discussion on “Grab and Go” telescopes and I’m glad I now have one that approaches their ideal. They approach amateur astronomy from a “Get in the Field” point of view and to get as much observing time in as possible. And they are big on getting organized and having plans for their more formal observing trips and sessions. This all discussed in great detail throughout the book.
The chapter on drawing at the eyepiece was masterfully discussed and I was taken by their breakdown of why astrophotography cannot catch all of the aspects of a deep sky object and their in depth discussion of how and why the human eye works as it does. The “dual nature” of deep sky objects with the colorful side of astrophotography and the aspects only a human eye directly observing the object can catch were fascinating reads and I think this alone would be required reading for anyone getting into this hobby.
I still have more to learn from this book and suspect it will be teaching me for the rest of my life. I came away from my first pass through the book realizing that I really *thought* I had an understanding of amateur astronomy and after a sample read of this book, I came away humbled. I’m even now more reluctant than ever to speak with any authority on the subject given such a well written tome as this and highly recommend this for any serious amateur to have as a well-worn reference from two very experienced Amateur Astronomers.