Astronomy: A Beginner's Guide

A former NASA scientist makes the cosmic common knowledge

To study astronomy is to consider the most wondrous phenomena on the grandest of scales – the universe and all it contains.

Beginning with our earliest explorations of the night sky, William Waller takes us on an enthralling journey through the Milky Way and far, far beyond. He combines science and history to show how our understanding of everything from black holes to the structure of the universe has evolved over time, illuminating past discoveries and offering contemporary insights into the cosmic histories of stars, planets and galaxies. Whether object of study or curiosity, the universe – and all it contains – is tantalisingly introduced here.

William H. Waller worked as an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and an astronomy professor at Tufts University before becoming a high school science teacher. He is the co-author, with Paul Hodge, of Galaxies and the Cosmic Frontier, and author of The Milky Way: An Insider’s Guide. He lives in Rockport, Massachusetts.