The Starry Room: Naked Eye Astronomy in the Intimate Universe

By Fred Schaaf

Book Overview

An introduction to the pleasures of astronomy is presented in this book, through poetic essays about naked-eye observation. The author leads the reader on a tour of the night sky, stopping to discuss meteors, comets, eclipses, supernovas, planetary conjunctions, light pollution, and more. A great deal of factual information is brought to life through the author's personal anecdotes and reminiscences gathered over many years of writing for the amateur astronomy community. The book includes advice on how and where to observe the sky for the best results. There are also tables for easy reference.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471620882
• ISBN13: 9780471620884
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A modern-day classic

There are three books I read again every year: Baseball Anecdotes by Daniel Okrent and Steve Wulf; Be True to Your School by Bob Greene; and the Starry Room by Fred Schaaf. Only one of them moves me to tears on the very first page. If you have ever stood at the edge of the woods at night, gazed up at the stars, and trembled with reverence and awe, perhaps even fear - Fred Schaaf's prose will not only return you to that sacred moment but sweep you up and into the midst of that very sky. The intimate universe awaits.