December 30, 1999
REVIEW
The Web Surfer's Guide to the Universe
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Astronomer's Computer Companion
By Jeff Foust and Ron LaFon
(No Starch Press; $39.95 for book
and CD-ROM, for Windows 3.1 or
later or Macintosh.)
he past decade has been something of a golden age for astronomy, with new and more
powerful telescopes, satellites and
interplanetary spacecraft providing
what seems to be one remarkable
discovery after another.
But if all the findings of extra-solar
planets, water-bearing meteorites
and galaxies that push the known
limits of the universe entice you to
want to know more about what's
going on up there (and if the
recent failure of two Mars
missions doesn't discourage
you), it may be difficult figuring out where to start.
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SPACE SIGHTS - Images on the CD-
ROM include a shuttle astronaut
above the Earth, the comet Hale-
Bopp and the Moon's far side.
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You could buy a telescope,
set it up in the back yard
and peer through it, but the
results are likely to be less
than compelling. After all, a
star is just a pinpoint of
light, no matter how great
the magnification.
A better way to begin
might be to buy the ""Astronomer's
Computer Companion."" The book
and accompanying CD-ROM are
published by No Starch Press, a
small San Francisco company that
specializes in computer books (including some offbeat ones, like ""Internet for Cats"").
Jeff Foust, the editor of SpaceViews, an electronic newsletter
about astronomy and space exploration, and Ron LaFon, a freelance
writer and amateur astronomer,
have created an annotated guide to
the universe on the Internet, serving
as Virgil to your Dante as you explore not hell but the heavens.
Starting at home (studies of Earth
from space) and branching out
through the rest of the solar system,
the Milky Way, and the galaxies,
nebulas, neutron stars, black holes
and other odd objects beyond, the
book describes source after source
(that is, Web site after Web site)
where information about these topics
can be found.
A book that is basically a listing of
Web sites might be thought to be dull,
and there are certainly parts of this
book that make for less than riveting
reading. The sheer volume of sometimes arcane sources described --
one site, for instance, details which of
several thousand asteroids are visible to astronomers on any given
night -- can be overwhelming to
someone just dabbling in the field.
But in the guise of being an Internet guide, the book does another useful, and almost surreptitious, service
-- it gives a solid grounding in
astronomy and planetary science. It
describes various phenomena in the
universe in a way that is as good as
that found in many other astronomy
books -- and is a lot more succinct
than some of them.
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A host of Internet sites,
and a solid, well-
presented grounding
in basic astronomy.
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A good way to use the book is to
read the introductory paragraphs
about a particular subject and then
skim the more plodding descriptions
of Web sites, or, better yet, go on the
Web and check out one or two of the
sites listed. The accompanying CD
contains an Adobe Acrobat version
of the book that can aid in this piecemeal approach, allowing you to
search for a topic and then click on a
link to go to it via your Web browser.
Of course, in the fast-changing
worlds of both astronomy and the
Internet, published Web listings can
become quickly outdated. A random
check of about a dozen links in the
book, for example, uncovered two
(for the comet Hyakutake) that no
longer worked. The publisher promises updates at its own Web site
(www.nostarch.com) but two
months after the book's publication,
no updates were to be found.
Despite that drawback, the book
contains a lot of information to encourage a deeper interest in astronomy. Its final chapters and CD offer
ways to pursue that interest independently, directing readers to
newsgroups and other specialized
Web resources.
The CD has about 200 animations
and space and astronomical photos,
including the famous ""Earthrise""
photo taken from Apollo 8 in 1968.
It
also contains numerous programs
for both PC's and Mac's, including
planetarium software to create
custom sky charts on screen and
more technical programs to aid telescope viewing. Unfortunately, many
of the programs are restricted
shareware or demos, which can be
frustrating to use.
Finally, the book features a chapter on the types of serious telescope
equipment required if after all this
reading and Internet exploring, you
decide that you want to head out into
the yard after all.
Related Sites
These sites are not part of The New York Times on the Web, and The Times has no control over their content or availability.
www.nostarch.com