Since I started doing research for a space-travel semi-fictional novel I put together across the past year, I have read several astronomy textbooks as well as books on the subject from astronauts, and researchers. This is an example of a textbook that summarizes the field for an introductory class. I recall reading a version of this type of textbook back during my studies at the University of Massachusetts when I took an astronomy class; that book is by the professor who might still be teaching this class, Thomas T. Arny, Explorations: Introduction to Astronomy, which first came out in 1980 and went through several editions since that time. This Cambridge textbook is perhaps twice thicker than Arny’s. The larger page count might be due to the greater number of illustrations; for example, I have never seen a Table of Contents with several giant images of the night sky in the middle of its pages. This book might be reminding me in particular of Arny’s because it’s leaning towards humor; for example, one of the images in the Contents is of a “balloon alien, as yet unknown in reality” (xvii). Arny used to do a juggling act with planets and other dramatic performances as he taught the subject; including any images in the Contents list is in itself humorous as it breaks scholarly conventions. Given that this is the fifth edition, it is also polished and extra-edited like Arny’s. The difference appears to be that it might be intended for a graduate introductory course rather than an undergraduate one as the first chapters introduce mathematic equations, and other intricate subjects that might lose the attention of younger readers. Instead of describing the basics, it also jumps into the study of light reflection and how astronomical measurements are taken (43-5). This is an important dive as when astronomy is described on its surface, it leaves readers questioning if most of it might be fictitious imaginings rather than tested scientific facts. If I return to editing my space novel, I will definitely read this book closely. This book is very inviting to teachers as it includes entire tests of questions (variations of which teachers might want to include in later exams), and discussion-starting topics. If this book is assigned to undergraduates, it will probably intimidate a lot of students, but graduate students would probably find it to be a relief from the narrower and less pectoral textbooks they might be used to at that level; I think it’s very important to make the most complex subjects visually as well as textually engaging for readers to become imaginatively engaged in subjects to welcome them into the complexities of the formulas and lectures. Much of this book also assumes knowledge of chemistry and physics, as it picks up in the middle of astronomical problems such as the “proton-proton chain” in stars to explain why they shine, rather than first defining a “proton” and the other items involved in this concept (369).
This new edition covers “advances” such as “New Horizons’ flyby of Pluto, exoplanets, ‘dark matter’, and the direct detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)” and “the latest discoveries on supernovae, and new observations of the region around the four-million-solar-mass black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy.” This summary does not specify the grade level this book is intended for, so instructors should review it to check if it fits with the learning objectives for their individual courses. It should be possible to design either a very easy or a very difficult course syllabus by using only this textbook depending on if an instructor assigns and tests on all of it or only the more general sections. Overall, this is one of the better astronomy textbooks I have seen after reviewing a few dozen of them.