Good writeup....
On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:48:10 -0500, in sci.astro.amateur Bill Meyers
<stars@auriga.uc.edu> wrote:
The Orion Nebula: Where Stars are born, by C. Robert O'Dell, a professional
astronomer and emeritus Professor of Astronomy who devoted lifetime
to studies of the Orion Nebula, was published last year by the Belknap
Press of the Harvard University Press.
In this slender volume O'Dell takes you through the entire history of
observational astronomy, from before Galileo to the successors of the
Hubble Space Telescope, including the history of early observations,
drawings, the optical telescope, astrophotography, spectrography, charge
coupled devices, radio telescopes, interferometry, infrared astronomy, and
more, as background to a wonderful discussion of the Orion Nebula itself. I
learned a great deal from this and I can observe M42 with a lot more
insight after reading O'Dell's book..
O'Dell's writing style is easy and colloquial, and precise. As a stylist,
he is right up there with Timothy Ferris and Carl Sagan.
I don't know if Sky & Telescope has reviewed this book yet but it should.
It is a gem, a wonderful read. As a reviewer I would suggest Jay Reynolds
Freeman, a virtuoso observer, consummate wag, good prose stylist, and
possessor of an undergraduate degree from Cal Tech and a Ph.D. in
astrophysics from Berkeley with a specialty in studies of
radiation ( which is obviously crucial to studies of the Orion Nebula)..
If Sky & Tel has already reviewed it, I would appreciate a reference to the
review: I may have missed it, and it presents a good opportunity for
Astronomy or Amateur Astronomy to print a review.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers
Received on Tue Mar 30 17:08:56 2004