365 Starry Nights : An Introduction to Astronomy for Every Night of the Year

We first spotted this at the Cape Canaveral bookstore and later purchased it to use as a text for our 14-year old's homeschool astronomy.1. The best aspect of this book is how closely it ties "astronomy facts" (like star magnitude/sequence/size/age/etc) into what we see in the sky that night. For example, an explanation of star clusters appears while we're looking at the constellation Taurus, because that's where the Pleiades and Hyades are. A discussion of stellar distances appears when we look at Sirius and wonder why it's so bright, and so on. To us, at least, that makes the "astronomy facts" much more interesting and relevant.2. It strikes a nice balance between the "let's look at constellations!" style and the college textbook of facts style that so many astronomy books struggle with. It starts out very simply, and maintains a easy reading style throughout, but also contains complex facts, like the analysis of light curves (the same sort of thing I see posted on the wall in the astronomy department at the university where I work).3. [non-homeschoolers can skip this part] We like the day-by-day format. 10-15 minutes to read and prepare, 15 minutes to go outside and look at the sky, and 5-10 minutes to write up the day's observations afterwards. Do that 3-4 nights a week for a year and you've got a high school science lab credit. Super easy to do at night with a teenager that doesn't want to go to bed but doesn't want to get out the math book at 10 PM. Also, since it's at night, its a homeschool subject that working Dads can take the lead on. The only problem of the book's format is cloudy days. When that happens, we have to figure out which skipped days were important, which to review, that sort of thing.

It might be for every night of the year, but if you're a total newbie, you can't start on *any* night of the year. It's best if you can start on January 1st. The three stars I am giving this text is not so much a criticism of it as it is an indication of my unfortunate impatience. Also, if you start on January 1st, you would need to stargaze every night for 365 days since the book's format is like a Christian devotional that you go to daily for your "bread." But it's unlike a Christian devotional in the way that each night seems to build to the next night: if a night is missed, it isn't clear that I would have the background for the following night, although the previous night can be simply read. This is an interesting approach. Finally, note that this book is all about *seeing* the sky. The author says that his interest in the sky is primarily aesthetic rather than scientific. So, if super-scientific books on stargazing turn you off, this is the one to get. Recommended as a Christmas/Xmas gift for kids and adults new to astronomy.

I have been in amateur astronomy for 17 years. "365" was one of my first books, and the one I purchase for friends who are clueless about the night sky. A wonderful introduction for the novice, or review for the experienced. Read it through and you'll be ready to give a planetarium show under the stars (or even in a planetarium). Its greatest shortcoming is the lack of an index, for which I remove one "star" from the rating. As planets are the "wanderers," you'll go elsewhere to find and study them (several web sites can help, or the astronomy magazines). The hand-drawn star charts in the book certainly suffice for learning the night sky. Again, the astronomy magazines are helpful in containing current charts for the season.The book is not meant to read one night at a time, but in general guides you to what is a fun aspect of amateur astronomy: that the sky provides a calendar, a sense of changing seasons. This is the strength of the book: why your view of the sky changes over time, that is, over the course of the night and over the course of days to months, and changes with your location on earth. Raymo's writing is spectacular: his feet on Earth, his head in the universe!

This is my favorite of the hundred astronomy books I've owned at one time or another. I've gifted it to every niece and nephew and have a hard time keeping it stocked in my classroom. A great calendar-based telling of what's "out there," what evidence led us to those conclusions, the people who made those discoveries, and the ancient stories that show how much our place in the universe matters to the human psyche. It reminds me of Isaac Asimov's Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, another favorite for telling stories about science and scientists.The astronomy content is high school level at times, but it is written accessibly to the fifth grader throughout. This is a great book for people just getting started and for physics majors alike. The calendar organization makes it fun to read or to pick up for 5 minutes here and there but it makes for a terrible reference. The book needs and lacks an index. Even so, it eeks out a narrow win as my first recommendation for anyone interested in the sky. Something containing color photos and more thorough star maps is a close second. But those are a dime a dozen. This book is unique, a perfect blend of story telling, history, and mind blowing, VERY WELL EXPLAINED science.

Bought this for my grandson who is just getting interested at look at the Night Sky!

I have purchased this book several times. I sat with my children and we found the stars/constellation for that night. This book is great for teaching and bonding with kids, one night at a time. I did this with my grandchildren and I anticipate sitting with my great grandchildren ( now only babies) and talking about the stars.

This is a fun, easy to read book. Follow it each night of the year and learn the basics of the stars and planets over your head. It is not overwhelming. Each night just covers the history/legend of one constellation and a major star are two in the constellation. Even my 7 year old grandson likes reading it. I recommend some good astronomy binoculars also.

This beautifully illustrated book offers a guided and structured introduction to observing the night sky. The 'articles' are sometimes spread over several days with one for each day of the year. It delivers new concepts in a stepwise approach and is geared around naked-eye objects; however, the topics under consideration apply to all aspects of the hobby so I can't see any drawbacks to anyone buying and getting huge value from this excellent resource, irrespective of whether they ultimately wish to look at deep-sky objects or get into something like astrophotography.The language is clear and uncomplicated so anyone from a child though to adult can enjoy and learn from this wonderful introductory book.The illustrations are all hand-drawn and in my own view are clearer and more easily understood for it.The only negative comment I could make (and it's certainly not something which could warrant the loss of a star) is that the book is a paperback printed in A4/US Legal size on 'pulp' paper and that's a shame for a work which would enhance any coffee table.I liked it and if anything happened to my copy I'd replace it without a moment's hesitation.

Although the contents of the book where what I wanted. The book itself had not been proper packed and arrived with multiple dog ears and warped pages etc. I know it’s a cheap £7 paperback but think more care should have been taken

this really is a super book, especially for someone just starting out as a stargazer, it covers all you need to know to get you going and keep the interest alive especially on the nights where its not possible to see anything but cloud. great for adults or teenagers,easy to read and well set out.though is now dated (this being 2010) but it is still worth having. its a resource that you will turn to again and again, every night and month of the year covered. well worth having a copy, it wont gather dust... it uses a mix of technical and layman terms very well indeed.if you are new to the hobby looking for direction buy this book.

Excellent

Yep.Arrived all great. Very happy. Cheerz 4 now.