Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
by Nick Kanas
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Book Summary Information
Author: Nick KanasEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-24
ISBN: 0387716688
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Praxis
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780387716688
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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Book Reviews of Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
Book Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
PRO'S:
1) Great coverage, great details, great illustrations, great bio's, a lot of information crammed in, very well structured, very dense.
CONS'S:
1) Reads more like an encyclopedia reference and/or field guide to star map history. I am very ok with that approach it is pure, here is a fact, here is another fact, here is another fact, etc...not a story teller.
If you are looking for a more authored personalized writing style the books doesnt flow that way, it is a very rich and dense information dump that goes from one page to another, it does feel more like an encyclopedia style of writing and a very very good one.
So if you like your information to the point, lots of it and very fast then you will like this book. It is outstanding as a compilation of data, I am sure Kepler would have bought one of these, it is his style of information processing.....if you are a "Once upon a time"...tell me a story reader, this might be too tight and crisp.
It is really more about star map makers and that evolution and the author is in and out and on to the next topic, so if you collect or need to come up to speed or have a history interest there is no peer to this outstanding reference work.
If you want to linger on a topic with a lot of story telling and deep dives this is not written that way, it is a shotgun, tied to a machine gun approach, almost a compliation of factoid bullets, and just enough to cover the topics and keep within the context of trying to encompass centuries of information in a very concise and succinct writing format.
It has all the coverage you need to kick start and then enough referential pointers if you wanted more on a specific topic. The encyclopedia writing style is actually beneficial as you get just the information you need, this is a lot of information, about a lot of information distilled into the most essential facts.
Illustrations are great and a lot of them.
Part book, part encyclopedia, part field guide, part art book, part almanac, part history book, part collector reference, part science textbook, part buying guide, part biography book, and in a style that Sherlock Holmes or Joe Friday would appreciate. It has it all. One stop shopping for information.
If you are looking for some New Age Cosomology spin within the stars, this is not that kind of book at all. This is a serious reference not unlike what a print collector, antique collector, etc, would use as a reference. Any story telling supports the facts, the facts arent used to tell a story. It may be more like a history book at a scholastic level as well.
Great piece of work, you will not regret it.
More Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy) reviews:
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Summary of Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
The beauty and awe generated by the celestial void captures our imagination and delights our aesthetic sense. Antiquarian map societies are prospering, and celestial maps are now viewed as a specialty of map collecting. This book traces the history of celestial cartography and relates this history to the changing ideas of man?s place in the universe and to advances in map-making. Photographs from actual antiquarian celestial atlases and prints, many previously unpublished, enrich the text. The book describes the development and relationships between different sky maps and atlases as well as demonstrating contemporary cosmological ideas, constellation representations, and cartographic advances.Astronomy Books
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