Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy

by Thomas T. Arny

This text is written specifically to address non-science students and to introduce them to astronomy. The emphasis is on explanation and not description so it avoids overwhelming students with encyclopaedic detail. The book contains interchapter essays, tests, marginal notes and observations.

Genres: Science, Reference, Astronomy, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Space, Physics

656 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Emeritus professor in the Astronomy Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Reviews

[Sergey Selyutin]

That's an excellent textbook that deserves a proper review. Unfortunately, I don't have time right now, but I going to write about the book's strengths (they are aplenty) and flaws (there are really very few of them) in 2022.
In the meantime, my advice is this: buy it and read it. Can't recommend it highly enough.

[Liv]

Got this book for astronomy and loved it!

[April Villanueva]

C.f.ft

[Ellie Saree]

Boring textbook and not written in an understanding way.

[Bernadett]

highly recommend it

[Tess]

We used this for a homeschool high school elective. My son loved it!

[Nicole]

For an astronomy textbook (or really even a textbook in general), this is actually not a terrible read. The author is very clear in most of his explanations and seems to enjoy food metaphors (fine by me). Covers the basics of astronomy. He also has a few sassy moments which actually made me giggle.

Favorite quote: "The Universe doesn't care about our convenience"

Is it socially acceptable to have a favorite quote from an astronomy textbook? I don't even like science....

[Madison]

It is about astonomy which i LOVE.

[John (JP)]

While the class I took did not cover every page of this book. I found it useful for the introduction to astronomy class I took in college. Its useful but not entertaining.