If you are of the age or persuasion who enjoys reading actual books, your journey into astronomy could not begin a better way than by reading this easy to digest overview.
The Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer
This comprehensive guide covers all aspects of astronomy, from observing with the naked eye to using telescopes and binoculars. It's a great resource for anyone interested in the night sky.
Turn Left at Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope – and How to Find Them
'This is quite possibly the most inviting guidebook ever written to help people with binoculars and small telescopes find, view, understand, and most of all, enjoy everything in the night sky from the Moon and planets to distant star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. And if you think it's only for beginners, think again - every telescope owner should have a copy.' Dennis Di Cicco, Senior Editor, Sky & Telescope
The Astrophotography Manual A Practical and Scientific Approach to Deep Sky Imaging by Chris Woodhouse
A comprehensive guide covering equipment selection, image capture, and processing techniques for both beginners and experienced astrophotographers.
The Deep-sky Imaging Primer by Charles Bracken
A thorough introduction to deep-sky astrophotography, covering the fundamentals of equipment, image acquisition, and processing. It's a great starting point for beginners.
Getting Started: Long Exposure Astrophotography by Allan Hall
This accessible guide focuses on the practical aspects of astrophotography, providing step-by-step instructions and helpful tips for capturing stunning images of the night sky.
Lessons from the Masters-Current Concepts in Astronomical Image Processing by Robert Gendler
This book features insights and techniques from some of the world's best astrophotographers, offering valuable advice and inspiration for those looking to improve their skills.
Inside PixInsight by Warren A. Keller
A comprehensive guide to using PixInsight, incudes step by step workflows.
The Astrophotography Sky Atlas by Charles Bracken
A detailed star atlas, with information on star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.
Astrophotography Is for Everyone by Tony Northrup
A beginner-friendly guide covering the basics of astrophotography, including camera settings, equipment recommendations, and processing techniques.
Nightscapes and Timelapses by Royce Bair
A comprehensive guide to capturing stunning nightscapes and timelapses, including planning, shooting, and post-processing techniques.
The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets by Ruben Kier
A curated list of the 100 best objects in the night sky for astrophotography, with detailed information and tips for capturing each one.
Susan Blackmore - Conversations on Consciousness
A collection of interviews conducted on the topic of consciousness.
Richard Dawkins - Unweaving the Rainbow
A book about the beauty and wonder of science.
A book about the famous Monty Hall problem in probability.
Thomas Kida - Don't Believe Everything You Think The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking
An exploration of common cognitive biases and errors in thinking.
James Gardner - The Intelligent Universe
A book arguing for a teleological (purpose-driven) view of the universe.
A book about the neuroscience of decision-making.
Richard Dawkins - The Greatest Show On Earth The Evidence for Evolution
A defense of the theory of evolution and its evidence.
Dylan Evans and Oscar Zarate - Introducing Evolutionary Psychology
An introduction to the field of evolutionary psychology.
A book exploring the Fermi paradox the apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial life and the lack of evidence for it.
David Deutsch - Fabric of Reality
A book about the nature of reality, combining ideas from physics, computation, and evolution.
Douglas Hofstadter - Godel, Escher, Bach
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book exploring the nature of consciousness and creativity through the works of Kurt Gödel, M.C. Escher, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Drexler, Peterson, and Pergamit - Unbounding the Future The Nanotechnology Revolution
A book about the potential of nanotechnology to revolutionize our world.
A book about the future of artificial intelligence and its implications for humanity.
M. Mitchell Waldrop - Complexity The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
A book about the science of complexity, exploring how complex systems arise and behave.
Lawrence Weinstein - Guesstimation Solving the World's Problems on the Back of A Cocktail Napkin
A book teaching how to make quick, approximate calculations to solve real-world problems.
Peter D. Ward & Donald Brownlee - Rare Earth Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe
A book arguing that complex life is likely to be rare in the universe.
A book exploring how the internet is changing our understanding of knowledge and expertise.
Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow
A book about the two systems of thinking that drive the way we make decisions.
A book about the latest developments in physics and their implications for our understanding of the world.
Leonard Mlodinow - The Drunkard's Walk How Randomness Rules Our Lives
A book about how randomness and chance influence our lives.
Len Fisher - The Perfect Swarm The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life
A book about how self-organization and complexity appear in everyday life.
Jim Al-Khalili - Paradox The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics
A book exploring some of the most fascinating paradoxes in physics.
A book explaining the key algorithms that power modern computers.
A collection of essays by leading scientists on various aspects of the mind.
David Orrell - The Future of Everything The Science of Prediction
A book exploring the history and science of prediction.
Leonard Mlodinow - Subliminal How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
A book about how the unconscious mind influences our behavior.
Brian Greene - The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
A book exploring the idea of parallel universes and the multiverse.
Lance Fortnow - The Golden Ticket P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible
A book about the P versus NP problem, a major unsolved problem in computer science.
Nate Silver - The Signal and the Noise
Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't. A book about the art and science of prediction.
The Order of Time, by Carlo Rovelli
An exploration of the nature of time, examining how our understanding of it has evolved through scientific discoveries and philosophical inquiries.
A compelling argument that the world is in a better state than we might think, challenging our preconceptions about global trends.
Homo Deus A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari
A thought-provoking look at the future of humanity, exploring how technology might shape our evolution and destiny.
What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest For the Meaning of Quantum Physics, by Adam Becker
An examination of the ongoing debate about the interpretation and implications of quantum mechanics.
Self Comes to Mind Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio
An exploration of how consciousness emerges from the physical processes of the brain.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions, by Stephen Hawking
Hawking's final book, addressing fundamental questions about our universe and our place in it.
A Bee in a Cathedral and 99 other Scientific Analogies, by Joel Levy
A collection of analogies that make complex scientific concepts more accessible and understandable.
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker
An in-depth look at the science of sleep and its crucial role in our physical and mental well-being.
The Consciousness Instinct, by Michael Gazzaniga
An exploration of the nature of consciousness from a neuroscientific perspective.
The Shape of Inner Space, by Shing-Tung Yau
A discussion of string theory and the geometry of the universe's hidden dimensions.
Infinite Powers, by Steven Strogatz
A celebration of calculus and its profound impact on our understanding of the world.
An exploration of the brain's remarkable plasticity and ability to adapt.
The Seven Pillars of Statistical Wisdom, by Stephen M. Stigler
An overview of the fundamental concepts that underpin statistical thinking.
Explaining Humans, by Camilla Pang
An autistic scientist's unique perspective on understanding human behavior through the lens of science.
Until the End of Time, by Brian Greene
A grand tour of the fundamental laws of the universe and their implications for life and consciousness.
Calling Bullshit, by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West
A guide to critical thinking and identifying misinformation in the modern world.
At the Edge of Time, by Dan Hooper
An exploration of the mysteries surrounding the earliest moments of our universe.
Human Cultures through the Scientific Lens, by Pascal Boyer
An examination of human culture from the perspective of evolutionary cognitive anthropology.
The Myth of Artificial Intelligence, by Erik J. Larson
A critical examination of the [then] current state of AI and the challenges in achieving human-like intelligence.
An exploration of the importance of rethinking and unlearning in a rapidly changing world.
System Error, by Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, and Jeremy M. Weinstein
A critical look at the values and incentives shaping the tech industry and their societal impacts.
A Thousand Brains, by Jeff Hawkins
A new theory of intelligence based on the idea that the brain creates many models of the world.
Useful Delusions, by Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler
An exploration of the positive and negative roles self-deception plays in our lives.
A neuroscientist's exploration of consciousness and the nature of subjective experience.
An accessible overview of the fundamental principles of biology.
Noise, by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein
An examination of the role of unwanted variability in human judgment and decision-making.
A Series of Fortunate Events, by Sean B. Carroll
An exploration of the role of chance in shaping life and the universe.
Existential Physics, by Sabine Hossenfelder
A physicist's perspective on life's biggest questions.
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, by Sean Carroll
An accessible exploration of fundamental physics concepts.
Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker
A defense of reason, science, and humanism as forces for human progress.
The Blank Slate, by Steven Pinker
An argument against the idea that the human mind is a blank slate shaped only by environment.
An exploration of human reasoning and how to improve it.
An examination of how size and scale influence various phenomena in nature and human society.
The Book of Why, by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie
An introduction to the science of cause and effect and its implications.
Third Millennium Thinking, by Saul Perlmutter, John Campbell, et al.
A guide to scientific thinking tools for navigating the complexities of the modern world.
Reality+, by David J. Chalmers
A philosophical exploration of virtual worlds and their implications for our understanding of reality.
On the Origin of Time, by Thomas Hertog
An exploration of Stephen Hawking's final theory about the origins of the universe.
A Field Guide to Lies, by Daniel J. Levitin
A guide to critical thinking and identifying misinformation in the modern world.
I've Been Thinking, by Daniel Dennett
A memoir and intellectual journey through the major themes of 20th-century philosophy and cognitive science.
A Brief History of Intelligence, by Max Bennett
An exploration of the evolution of intelligence and its implications for AI development.
Quanta and Fields, by Sean Carroll
An in-depth exploration of quantum mechanics and field theory.
The Code Breaker, by Walter Isaacson
A biography of Jennifer Doudna and an exploration of the CRISPR gene-editing breakthrough.
— Tom Harnish 2024/06/30 16:41