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323reviews1
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323reviews2
Night Sky, A Field Guide to the Constellations
Author-educator Jonathan Poppele and his publisher have provided everything you need to grow from simply saying “pretty stars” into a more sophisticated “brilliant showing of Scorpius tonight.”
Amateur and would-be night sky watchers have a good guide in Jonathan’s book. The main body of [Night Sky] breaks down the constellations according to their most prominent viewing seasons.
Each constellation also has a simple directional map, based on season, for you to find the star clusters and a horizon graph that helps in star location. Those are the night basics, plus a handy LED red light flashlight tucked in the back cover for reading in the dark.
The cool additional parts to this guide, however, can be enjoyed during the daylight hours. Jonathan includes the mythology connected to each constellation, a guide to spotting Venus and Mars, and explanations of astral phenomena along with a glossary.
The volume is the right size for carrying along on an outdoor trip and the images are crisp and well defined for understanding the constellation configurations.
The only additional information I’d like to see would be alternative constellation interpretations of cultures other than mainly Greek. The Ojibway people, for instance, have their own set of star interpretations that match more closely to our North Woods (no Greeks in tunics). But that is probably another entire book.
If you’d like to keep learning more constellation names in a fun way, there’s a companion deck of playing cards using the constellations with each suit representing a season.
Cool stuff.
- Konnie LeMay
Guide to Great Lakes Fishes
If you’re not looking up to see the stars, you might be looking down to see what’s in the water below your boat.
This guide divides Great Lakes fish into four main families, including the primitive species like lamprey and lake sturgeon.
To help in identification, the guide features terrific color illustrations along with photos and black-and-white drawings. There are descriptions of head, body, fins, color and other identifiers. There’s also a bit of background about habitat, food, behaviors and range. All information on each fish is contained on two facing pages, making it easy to use.
The book is pliable, easy to roll and carry - what is needed with a guide likely to flop around a boat.
Also worthy are short takes on adaptations and an overview of Great Lakes fish by Gerald R. Smith who is, among other credits, curator emeritus of fishes for the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
- Konnie LeMay