Book Description:
This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of the biggest and most awe-inspiring of all comets: those that have earned the title 'Great'. It focuses on Great Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, which gripped attention world-wide in 1996 and 1997. For everyone interested in astronomy, this exciting book reveals the secrets of the Great Comets and their impact on science and human culture. It surveys comet-bound space missions and provides essential tools for keeping up-to-date with comet discoveries in the future.
Review:
"...lavishly illustrated, with images of great comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, taken by both amateur and professional astrophotographers during the comets' 1996 and 1997 flybys." Booklist
"...the color images, most of which were taken by very sophisticated amateurs, are very handsome indeed...lively and accurate text... you'll benefit from this brief introduction to the history, nature and beauty of comets. I can recommend this volume as an easy, quick, and thoroughly enjoyable read." Meteoritics and Planetary Science
"Science writer Robert Burnham takes us on a broad-ranging safari across the entire landscape of comets in Great Comets... [Burnham's] well-illustrated and -researched book... [is] an enjoyable read, accessible to the general reader." s/ Sky & Telescope
"From Burnham's distinguished amateur-astronomy career, and his stint as editor-in-chief of the popular glossy magazine 'Astronomy,' one can predict a book that is interestingly and clearly written, well illustrated, and with some non-technical but wide-ranging descriptions of scientific results. These predictions are well met in the published book...Burnham's book provides an overview of comet observation accessible to every reader, with enough indications of the science involved to show the vitality of the research. I can therefore recommend it to a wide range of readers." Nature
"This book is an accessible, up-to-date summary of what we know about comets and how we have come to know it, with particular emphasis on the few most spectacular such apparitions in history...a very fine book." Science Books and Films
"Great Comets is richly illustrated with color photographs taken by professional and amateur astronomers, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope. The reader does not need an astronomical background to appreciate the book. The prose is easy to follow and the beautiful photographs inspire a greater appreciation of these interplanetary wanderers." Astronomy
"...an enjoyable read, acessible to the general reader. Sky & Telescope
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