Selected Book
Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax"
- Paperback
- Edition: 1
- Author: Philip C. Plait
- Publisher: Wiley
- Release Date: March 2002
- ISBN-10: 0471409766
- ISBN-13: 9780471409762
- List Price: $15.95
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryAdvance praise for Philip Plaits Bad Astronomy "Bad Astronomy is just plain good! Philip Plait clears up every misconception on astronomy and space you never knew you suffered from." —Stephen Maran, Author of Astronomy for Dummies and editor of The Astronomy and Astrophysics Encyclopedia "Thank the cosmos for the bundle of star stuff named Philip Plait, who is the worlds leading consumer advocate for quality science in space and on Earth. This important contribution to science will rest firmly on my reference library shelf, ready for easy access the next time an astrologer calls." —Dr. Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, and author of The Borderlands of Science "Philip Plait has given us a readable, erudite, informative, useful, and entertaining book. Bad Astronomy is Good Science. Very good science..." —James "The Amazing" Randi, President, James Randi Educational Foundation, and author of An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural "Bad Astronomy is a fun read. Plait is wonderfully witty and educational as he debunks the myths, legends, and 'conspiracies that abound in our society. 'The Truth Is Out There'and it's in this book. I loved it!" —Mike Mullane, Space Shuttle astronaut and author of Do Your Ears Pop in Space? |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Awesome
Rating:
This book is amazing! It corrects things you thought you KNEW but were wrong...Things you don't really even think about, Like why the sky is blue. Philip Plait does it in a humorous way. I LOVE PHILIP PLAIT! I listen to The Skeptics Guide to the Universe and get excited when the rogues interview him! YAY!
Bad Astronomy and Good Insights
Rating:
PERSPECTIVE: physician with an interest in astronomy
It's interesting to look at the American educational system to see exactly how much basic astronomy and space science is not taught, or at least, not taught well. Asking the average person to explain why we have tides or why the sky is blue is bound to elicit answers that vary from the slightly off to the ridiculous. One could argue that having a grasp on these most basic of "why's" isn't needed for our daily lives to proceed - the truth is, its embarrassing how much many people not only don't know, but also don't care, about how our planet and our solar system really work... and then easily believe frankly inane "ideas" such as how Venus split off from Jupiter 3,000 years ago, or that the Apollo moon landings were a hoax.
Like Sagan and Gould before him, Phil Plait has the amazing gift of being able to easily explain potentially confusing scientific concepts with such simplicity and wit that anyone, regardless of their level of education, can understand them. His writing is easy and conversational, and this book is a joy to read. He enhances some points with a modest number of clear illustrations. Furthermore, he is very forthright about where he himself has been wrong in the past, and is more than eager to explain why - an important trait notably missing from the non-scientists whose work he discusses.
Topics covered include misconceptions concerning the earth itself (balancing eggs on the equinox), the solar system (tides, seasons, moon phases), and the galaxy (star observations, meteorites, planetary alignments), as well as non-scientific errors, both deliberate and sincere (moon landing hoax, astrology, creationism), and common astronomical fallacies in movies.
FINAL WORD: A HIGH five of five stars. Necessary for everyone (and I mean everyone) to read, and doubly so for educators from early grade school to post-graduate level.
Some Bad language in Bad Astronomy
Rating: 
I bought this book for my 14 year-old nephew. I wanted to preview it for my 9 year-old daughter. In flipping through I did find one expletive on page 103 (opening sentence to chapter 11), but the story is funny, so I will just black it out. I think some of the chapters would lose my daughter in comprehension. I'll wait a couple of years for her copy.
Here is an except from the final paragraph of chapter 8: "Finally, in this section we'll travel back in time and space to where it all began, the Big Bang. Something about contemplating the beginning of everything twists our already tangled minds, and descriptions of the Big Bang usually confuse the issue more than unravel it. The irony of the Big Bang, I suppose, is that it is even odder than our oddest theories could possibly suppose."
put up or shut up
Rating:
Oh my!land sakes the flag moves! What does it all mean? Maybe the moon really does have an atmosphere, but we didnt find out for sure until we actually landed got out put up the flag and low and behold, a breeze made the flag flap! Does this mean that we didnt go to the moon? No what it means is that sometimes just because we have a theory about something regardless of what it is, does not mean that our theory was right to begin with. Sometimes our professionals leading the charge dont want to admit that they were wrong about something, so they just leave us to believe the original theory even if their theory turns out to be wrong. As far as the moonhoax promoters go, put up or shut up. There's an obscure piece of moon jumping footage that is hard to find, but it is out there that is from the apollo 11 moon landing. When Neil Armstrong goes to get back in the lem, he stands flat footed on the lem pad grabs the ladder with both hands, bends his knees and jumps straight up and lands on the 3rd step which is about 4 1/2 feet above the lem pad. The greatest recorded vertical jumps in the last century were only 42 an 44 inches. get out your messuring tapes right now and do a standing vertical leap and see how high you get. Now after you do that put a back pack on that weighs about 75 pounds. Now put 25 pound ankle weights on, 1 for each ankle. now your ready to try and duplicate Neil Armstrongs "1 giant leap" if you or maybe the great "AIR JORDAN" cant get as high as Neil did, "54" inches, then maybe its time to accept the fact that "YES "we did go to the moon, now GET OVER IT! OH while you still have the back pack and leg weights on, try and duplicate John Youngs "JUMP SALUTE" just the way he did it, with only just slightly bending the knees. He got about 18 or so inches off the lunar surface. If you cant duplicate these jumps or cant find a basketball player or a high jumper to get anywhere close to Neil Armstrongs "54 inch" vertical jump, thens its time to close the books on the moon hoax theory, because we did indeed go to the moon, but they found out that the moon was already occupied and the astronauts were not well received. This is why we've never gone back to the moon and thats what all the cover up is really all about. Yes there is life out there and our closest neighbors are not light years away, but are right up there on the moon not wanting any part of our violent behavior to influence their world in any way. So we were told to get off the moon and dont came back. WARD FRAZIER U.S. ARMY PROJECT M.A.R.S MINDCONTROL SURVIVOR 1984-1986 GREENSBURG INDIANA.
Great book for us non-astronomy experts
Rating:
I bought this book expecting to read the usual stuff about why some people think that the moon landing was a hoax and how astrology doesnt really work (as explained on the cover). But i was suprised to learn about so many things that I actually thought really did exist in the world of astronomy. I really did think that the water spun in a different direction in australia, and that the sky was blue because thats what a lot of oxygen looks like and many other things that turned out not to be true. Many times i thought "oh what! that isnt real!?"
There is also a nice section that takes delivers a blow to the creationists and their wacko claims.
I highly reccomend this book to anyone curious about astronomy and anyone that wishes to learn about all the ailment of bad astronomy that you never knew you suffered from.
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