Divided into 365 concise, illustrated essays, it focuses on the aesthetic as well as the scientific aspects of stargazing. It offers the most up-to-date information available, with hundreds of charts, drawings, and maps-that take you beyond the visible canopy of stars and constellations into the unseen realm of nebulae and galaxies.This simple yet substantial text is full of critical information and helpful hints on how to observe the stars; describe their position; calculate their age, brightness, and distance; and much more. Whether you observe the sky with a telescope or the naked eye, 365 Starry Nights makes the infinite intimate and brings the heavens within your grasp. Keep this invaluable, informative guide close at hand, and you'll find that the sky is the limit 365 nights a year.

    It is a little like feeling immortal." The itinerary follows time's arrow from the fireball of the Big Bang some 15 billion years ago to the present to various conceivable futures, some extending the world indefinitely through time, others bringing the world to a definite end."The Universe in Time" is structured as a series of embedded voyages first through the life cycle of the stars, then through that of planetary systems, and finally through both geological/ecological evolution and the origin and development of life on earth. Maffei explores the possibilities of extraterrestrial life before he steps back to take a broader time perspective and to discuss alternative theories of the origin, development, and fate of the universe as a whole. Paolo Maffei is Professor of Astronomy at the University of Perugia. The MIT Press has published translations of two of his previous books, "Beyond the Moon "and "Monsters in the Sky."

    Using many primary and secondary sources, this book analyses why such great thinkers as Aristotle, Aquinas, Ockham, Galileo, Kepler, Huygens, and Kant thought the debate over the plurality of worlds a subject for serious discussion. The author shows how conflicting arguments from science, philosophy, and theology gradually converged to the same opinion - that intelligent life must fill the universe.

    

    This book is a systematic summary of what we have learnt about the geological evolution of Mars as a result of these missions. It describes the diverse Martian surface features and summarizes current ideas as to how, when, and under what conditions they formed, and explores how Earth and Mars differ and why the two planets evolved so differently. The author also discusses possible implications of the geologic history for the origin and survival of indigenous Martian life. Up-to-date and highly illustrated, this book will be a principal reference for researchers and graduate students in planetary science. The comprehensive list of references will also assist readers in pursuing further information on the subject. Colour images can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521872010.

    With a totally updated text, additional photos, and a fresh new cover, this beautiful, basic astronomy book incorporates the latest discoveries and ideas about our solar system and what lies beyond. The workings of telescopes, rockets, astronaut missions, and robot spacecraft are explained, and there are easy-to-read star maps for beginning stargazers.