Practical Astronomy with your Calculator or Spreadsheet

by Peter Duffett-Smith, Jonathan Zwart

Now in its fourth edition, this highly regarded book is ideal for those who wish to solve a variety of practical and recreational problems in astronomy using a scientific calculator or spreadsheet. Updated and extended, this new edition shows you how to use spreadsheets to predict, with greater accuracy, solar and lunar eclipses, the positions of the planets, and the times of sunrise and sunset. Suitable for worldwide use, this handbook covers orbits, transformations and general celestial phenomena, and is essential for anyone wanting to make astronomical calculations for themselves. With clear, easy-to-follow instructions for use with a pocket calculator, shown alongside worked examples, it can be enjoyed by anyone interested in astronomy, and will be a useful tool for software writers and students studying introductory astronomy. High-precision spreadsheet methods for greater accuracy are available at www.cambridge.org/practicalastronomy.

Genres: Astronomy, Reference, Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strictly speaking, not a book to read through but to work through. I have had my copy of the first edition since the early 70s and have used the calculations for rise/set and position material. I think there are some errors in the text of the original, but it is still excellent. I have ported some of the material into spreadsheets for easier use, which is fine if you just want to know roughly where the Sun, Moon and plaets are in the sky, but nto very useful for any precise work. That info is available elsewhere anyway, so today I like this basically just as a hobby to see how accurate I can get it.

[Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have calculator, will play. Like astronomy?
This book shows you how to calculate time, space, positions of planets and more on your programmable handheld calculator and/or using spreadsheets. Now how cool is that?
I have fond memories of using the algos once in the mid-90's to find a missing point-target ground reference (used for calibrating satellites)...invaluable! Unfortunately, or I spilled coffee on my original copy...and my HP 42S grew into a 48Gx and is now a TI-nSpire...crazy fun which the author seems to get, and then some!

Fortunately for us, Mr. Duffett-Smith continues to revise and release more refined versions.

Targeted audience, invaluable resource.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for analyzing movements and orbits of comets, binary stars, eclipses, and planets. Excellent for the dedicated amateur. Need understand nothing more than high school trig and algebra to get the math in this book.