Voyages to the Planets - Softcover

Fraknoi, Andrew; Morrison, David; Wolff, Sidney C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0495018104 ISBN 13: 9780495018100

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2005

Synopsis

VOYAGES TO THE PLANETS provides students and professors with the ideal combination of authors and experience. It is written by an award-winning astronomy educator (Fraknoi) and two distinguished research scientists (Morrison at NASA and Wolff at NOAO). This author team combines the latest science with classroom-tested teaching strategies and a student-friendly approach. Through unique group activities and a focus on astronomy as a human endeavor, the authors engage and involve students, helping them both understand and enjoy astronomy. The Media Update features the latest research and most recent discoveries since the original publication of the Third Edition, including the first pictures from the Huygens landing on Titan, the latest results from the Mars Exploration Rovers, and the most recent images from the Cassini mission to Saturn. Automatically packaged at no additional cost with every new copy of the text, AceAstronomy, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and TheSky™ Planetarium Software CD-ROM, the Media Update provides the strongest package of interactive learning tools available for students of astronomy today.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College near San Francisco, where his courses are taken by about 900 students per year. He is also Director of Project ASTRO at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a national program that forms partnerships between volunteer astronomers and school teachers in their communities. From 1978 to 1992 he was Executive Director of the Society, as well as Editor of MERCURY Magazine and the UNIVERSE IN THE CLASSROOM Newsletter. He has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, Canada College, and the University of California Extension Division. He is co-author and editor of THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS and MORE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, two widely used collections of astronomy teaching activities and resources. In the 1980's, he was scientific editor of THE PLANETS and THE UNIVERSE, two collections of science articles and science fiction stories. For five years he was the lead author of a nationally syndicated newspaper column on astronomy, and he appears regularly on radio and television explaining astronomical developments. With Sidney Wolff, he is co-editor of ASTRONOMY EDUCATION REVIEW, a new on-line journal/magazine for those working in space science education. (http://aer.noao.edu) In addition, he has organized three national symposia on teaching introductory astronomy at the college level, and over 20 national workshops on improving the way astronomy is taught in earlier grades. He has received the Annenberg Foundation Prize of the American Astronomical Society and the Klumpke-Roberts Prize of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his contributions to the public understanding of astronomy. Asteroid 4859 was named Asteroid Fraknoi in 1992 in recognition of his work in astronomy education.

Review:

"I think the strength of this text is that it is very well-written in a voice that is non-intimidating, which is very good when trying to teach, especially students without much background in science or math (like ours)."

"This text is rather unique. The authors have written in a manner that is very accessible. The typical student of today is significantly different from those of 15 or 20 years ago, and this text is a significant step toward addressing the needs of those students."

About this edition

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0495018104
• ISBN 13: 9780495018100
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 408