Science> Astronomy> Stars> Books

Stephen Hawking, the most important theoretical physicist since Einstein, recaps for the lay reader the theories--such as supersymmetry, M-theory, superstring theory, and black holes--that scientists have been puzzling over since the publication of his bestseller A Brief History of Time.

It's a beautiful, clear night and you decide to look up, once again, at the thousands and thousands of stars you have seen all your life. Each is anonymous in the vast sweep of the heavens. It's impossible to distinguish one bright star from another, one constellation from the next, without help. Here it is. The product of 20 years face-to-face with the sky in all latitudes of this blue planet, The Great Atlas of the Stars was created to give the lay-person and amateur astronomer a map of the principal constellations and grand stars seen in the whole Northern Hemisphere. It covers the 30 most important constellations of the 88 visible from Earth.

The third edition of Nightwatch continues its tradition of being the best handbook for the beginning astronomer. Terence Dickinson covers all the problems beginners face, starting with the fact that the night sky does not look the way a modern city-dweller expects. He discusses light pollution, how to choose binoculars and telescopes, how to pronounce the names of stars and constellations, telescope mounts, averted vision, and why the harvest moon looks especially bright. Most of the lovely photographs in the book were taken by amateurs, which gives the section on astrophotography a particularly inspirational gleam.

"We are children of the night," proclaims Chet Raymo in his excitingly original and many-layered guide to the universe and our place in it. Not so very long ago, the night sky was an intimate part of people's lives. That intimacy has eroded over time, but Raymo's new book offers readers the chance to recapture a personal connection to the heavens.