RASC Montreal Centre - Articles - Favourite Astro Books

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE GENERAL ASTRONOMY BOOK?

Montreal Centre member Mark Bratton replies:

Burnham's Celestial Handbook, in three volumes
by Robert Burnham Jr.
Published by Dover Publications Inc.

There is no more comprehensive, entertaining and valuable book in astronomy than this masterpiece. When I got back into astronomy in the mid-1980s, this book single-handedly was able to make me understand and comprehend the structure of the universe as it appears from our location in the Milky Way. I have been reading these books for over two decades; have read them through from beginning to end on at least three occasions (2000+ pages) and return to them monthly to read, sometimes to read single entries, somestimes a whole chapter. This book never gets boring; it always entertains and informs.

There are many features that recommend this book. The main feature is its holistic approach to astronomy. It deals with the science of astronomy, the nuts and bolts, of course, but at the same time there is much on the history of astronomy as well as its rich roots in mythology and human culture. It is also an amazing field companion for the amateur astronomer, guiding the dedicated amateur to literally tens of thousands of objects of interest in the night sky.

The book starts with a 100-page general introduction is astronomy, giving an explanation of the basic concepts such as time, the seasons, precession and other subjects related to our place here on earth. The physics of the stars and nebulae, as well as larger structures such as star clusters and galaxies, and the distance scale of the universe are discussed as well so that the reader, even if he doesn't have a strong background in astronomy, will be able to have a good understanding of what follows.

The meat of the book is a survey of the night sky, constellation by constellation in alphabetical order. A review of Burnham's chapter on Canis Major is a good representation of what the book is like. The chapter begins (as does the discussion of every constellation) with a tabular listing of double and multiple stars, a list of variable stars and finally a list of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Next follows the text portion of the chapter. In the case of Canis Major, the first entry is a comprehensive discussion of the star Sirius, its physics as well as its place in mythology, history and various human cultures down through time. The companion to Sirius, Sirius B, is then discussed as a double star and as the prototypical representative of the white dwarf class of star. This is followed by a comprehensive listing of the skies' most studied white dwarf stars. The chapter continues to briefly cover many of the other major stars of Canis Major, including prominent multiple stars and variables. The chapter is completed with entries on two prominent star clusters found within the constellation. Each chapter is liberally illustrated with both line drawings and photographs pertaining to objects discussed in the chapter.

Burnham is a very clear and concise writer, able to explain difficult and complex subjects in a way that even a layman can understand. Although many listings are brief and almost utilitarian in nature, when the subject warrants, Burnham waxes eloquent and stretches out the discussion, taking his time to discuss the matter thoroughly. Whenever an entry is a representative of a major class of object, say a superluminous blue star, a Cepheid variable, or a nova, Burnham goes into great detail discussing the history and physics as well as liberally cross-referencing to similar examples throughout the book.

There are two notable drawbacks to the book which may limit its appeal but which I consciously and deliberately ignore. The first is the quality of some of the photographic illustrations in the book. In today's digital imaging technology universe, where rank amateur astrophotographers routinely take images that are better than those obtained photographically with world-class telescopes a half century ago, many of the photographs of deep sky objects appear fuzzy and lacking in detail. More problematic for me is that Burnham often chose poorly-guided photographs that he obtained himself using telescopes at Lowell Observatory. This is an outcome of the fact that the Celestial Handbook was originally a privately published and printed work: it was more than a decade before a major publisher, Dover, picked up the book for publication.

Secondly, the book is compiled from information that was current and cutting-edge in the middle of the last century; astronomy and our understanding of the universe has progressed greatly since that time. Nevertheless, there is an incredible amount of useful information contained within the Celestial Handbook's pages, much of it timeless in nature. I actually have two complete copies of the book: my original, paperback, battered and bruised copy which I turn to again and again, as well as a hard cover version which I keep on hand in case one of the paperback volumes ever falls completely to pieces from overuse. If I had any brains, I'd lock away the hard cover copy in a safety deposit box.

This three volume set is a true "desert island" book. I have a lot of great astronomy books and have read many others as well. I could probably do without all of them if I had to. Burnham's Celestial Handbook???... not so much.