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RASC Observer’s Handbook, 2019 by Edited by James S. Edgar (PWBR00142)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
March 12 2019

Plot or Premise

PWBR00142-ROH2019
This is the annual observer’s guide published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

What I Liked

Each year, the Observer’s Guide is produced and sold to amateur and professional astronomers across North America, and those astronomers vary considerably in their capacity and interests. It’s hard to serve any “one group”, but as I am at the intro stage to the hobby, I’ll review from that perspective. Some highlights include:

  • List of observatories, star parties, planetaria (pp 11-14);
  • Observable satellites of the planets (pp 25-26);
  • Observing artificial satellites (p 38);
  • Overview of filters (pp 64-67);
  • Deep-sky observing hints by Alan Dyer (pp 85-87);
  • Lunar observing (pp 158-161);
  • The brightest stars (pp 274-283, 285); and,
  • The deep sky (pp 307-337).

Of course, it also has the key reference materials:

  • The Moon (pp 148-157);
  • The Sun (pp 184-193);
  • Dwarf and minor planets (pp 241-251); and,
  • Double and multiple stars (pp 291-294, 296-297).

And it has specific highlights for the year:

  • The Sky month-by-month (pp 94-121);
  • Times of sunrise and sunset for 2019 (pp 205-207);
  • 2019 transit of Mercury (pp 139-143);
  • The planets in 2019 (pp 211-229); and,
  • Comets in 2019 (p 264).

I’m happy too that some of the errors in URLs published last year have been corrected.

What I Didn’t Like

I still find the pages on telescope exit pupils (pp 50-53) to be incredibly dense. I keep meaning to find a more basic set of explanations online for it, but never get around to it. I would add the next section on magnification and contrast in deep sky observing (pp 54-57) as equally confusing. I have to believe that dense text can somehow be explained more easily to the newbie into some basic guidelines for common scopes and ages of users. Equally, I’m not thrilled with the astrophotography section (pp 91-93) which still shows as the “big cameras” are best, in the same way that many photography websites ten years ago suggested the professionals would never go digital. There is an emerging market for people sharing prime shots they take with their smartphones — souvenir quality shots, not NASA shots — and it is almost completely ignored by the section (grudgingly it says “even cell phones”). I also find that the economic bias of last year towards higher end binoculars and scopes continues. But those issues are mostly me just being picky — they aren’t enough to reduce the overall rating.

The Bottom Line

Excellent edition for the year.

My Rating

🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 – 5/5 Excellent

Disclosure

While I have no link to the publication, its content, or its editors, I am a member of the astronomy association (RASC) that produced it.

Signature, happy reading

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Posted in Astronomy, Book Review | Tagged 2019, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, astronomy, astrophotography, book review, Good Reads, hobbies, Library Thing, new, non-fiction, OPL, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, RASC, reference, science, self-help, series, technology, textbook | Leave a reply
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RASC Observer’s Handbook, 2018 edited by James S. Edgar (PWBR00114)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
November 11 2017

Plot or Premise

PWBR00114-ROH2018
This is the annual observer’s guide published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

What I Liked

One of the most obvious challenges for an Observer’s Guide of this kind is balancing the needs of newbies and moderate amateurs with the needs of advanced astronomers, photographers, and outright astro-physicists. However, I’m on the newer end of the spectrum, and I found the typical wealth of information such as using the handbook for teaching purposes and resources (p 17); observable satellites (p 25); filters (p 64); deep-sky observing hints (p 85); the sky month by month; and overviews on planets, dwarf planets, satellites, the sun, and various star options before getting to the deep-sky lists (which could benefit from better presentation). However, I think my favourite section was on the Moon. The entire handbook is “made” just having the info from Bruce McCurdy on lunar observing starting on page 158 as it is perfect for me. Relative shifts per day (p 158), Canadian content (p 160), the Hadley Rille (p 161), and the lunar certificate (p 161) are all great elements for me to try to see in the coming year.

What I Didn’t Like

I was surprised to see a number of errors in included URLs. While it is hard to stay evergreen, these were links that had not changed from last year and when I went back to the RASC website, the links worked just fine. Somehow they got edited in publication and never tested. Even links to the actual RASC website were wrong. There are also some highly technical pages on magnification, telescope parameters, night myopia, and exit pupils, and while correct, they are presented so densely that re-reading them left me more confused than informed. Finally, there is a strong economic bias that creeps into the texts in a few places — on binoculars, the only ones they mention as being good cost around $1500, and when talking about using Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes (often bought as they are quite portable), recommends just putting it in your backyard observatory, assuming of course you have the money to have a house with a backyard with room and resources to build an observatory. In addition, there are numerous editing choices made throughout the text such as lists sorted by one variable instead of by one that might aid organization. I’ve already found myself copying lists from previous years online into spreadsheets so I can resort them into a more usable format.

The Bottom Line

Solid guide but some editorial and tone issues throughout.

My Rating

🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪️ – 4/5 Enjoyable

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Posted in Astronomy, Book Review | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, astronomy, astrophotography, book review, Good Reads, hobbies, Library Thing, new, non-fiction, OPL, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, RASC, reference, science, self-help, series, technology, textbook | 2 Replies
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The Black Shore by Greg Cox (PWBR00011)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
February 1 2016

Plot or Premise

PWBR00011-BS
Janeway and her crew are in desperate need of shoreleave…and they receive an invitation from an uncharted planet to visit and enjoy the paradise nature of the lands. All is not necessarily as it seems, including the citizens’ treatment of their pets, the Neffaler, which seem surprisingly intelligent, almost sentient.

What I Liked

Good descriptive prose, with lots of little sub-stories — Kes’ pre-occupation and disturbing telepathic forces, Paris’ involvement with the daughter of the leader, and Torres’ desire to find the source of some dilithium signatures.

What I Didn’t Like

The sub-stories don’t come together as well as they could, so the overall story is long and rather confused at times. Many of the characters seem “off” from their TV version, perhaps reflecting the author’s pre-occupation with the characters’ lives early in the series’ history. Lots of descriptions are heavy on the visual, which would be impressive if it was a TV episode rather than a book, but it doesn’t work as well here. The ending is rather fragmented, focusing on three different groups’ of actions at the same time.

The Bottom Line

Would have worked better as an episode than a book.

My Rating

🐸🐸🐸⚪️⚪️ – 3/5 Good (February 18, 2001)

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Posted in Book Review | Tagged action, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, fiction, Good Reads, Google, Kobo, library, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, paperback, political, PolyWogg, prose, sci-fi, science, series, ST:VOY, stand-alone, Star Trek | Leave a reply
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Infection by John Gregory Betancourt (PWBR00004)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
January 11 2016

Plot or Premise

PWBR00004-I
This is the first of six books dealing with biological terrorism by an unknown foe. The story is interesting, as a planet has been infected with a plague with an 100% fatality rate — but only for those aliens who are of mixed-race…pure breeds remain unaffected!

What I Liked

I am not a hard-core sci-fi reader, but I do enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek. This is definitely different from most ST:TNG plots where they steer away from racial relations that aren’t easily solved. The plot is interesting and the medical portion is solid.

What I Didn’t Like

Unfortunately, the problem with this novel is that the characters are written similar to those of the first few books in the ST:TNG series i.e. when the characters weren’t quite developed yet or as well-defined as they became in the TV series. So, when you read those early books now, you can’t help but say to yourself “But THAT character wouldn’t do THAT!”. Such divergence from the real characters they become was understandable early on in the series, but now that there have been seven years worth of episodes, fifty odd books, and a couple of movies, going back to the “not yet defined” characters seems too far out of the fold. The characters fit the timeline in the series, but are not true to their real character not yet revealed.

The Bottom Line

A readable entry but fans of later seasons may have trouble relating.

My Rating

🐸🐸🐸⚪️⚪️ – 3/5 Good (January 20, 2001)

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Posted in Book Review | Tagged action, adventure, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, crime, detective, fiction, Good Reads, Google, health, Kobo, library, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, sci-fi, science, series, ST:TNG, Star Trek | Leave a reply
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Vectors by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch (PWBR00003)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
January 10 2016

Plot or Premise

PWBR00003-V
This is the second of six books dealing with biological terrorism by an unknown foe. This installment takes place at the end of Kate Pulaski’s tenure on the Enterprise and before DS9 begins, and Pulaski goes to Bajor to help her ex-husband solve a plague that is infecting the Bajorans and the Cardassians during the occupation. The Cardassians believe it is the Bajorans; the Bajorans think it is the Cardassians. Again, however, the plague has an 100% fatality rate.

What I Liked

I am not a hard core sci-fi reader, but I do like Star Wars and Star Trek. Pulaski’s character is fine, as are the “new” characters that are introduced.

What I Didn’t Like

Gul Dukat is far too mature and Kira Nerys is far too trusting of the Federation. In fact, her involvement makes almost no sense considering her character at the start of the DS9 episodes. The story doesn’t have the same solid medical workup as the first one in the series, and while the characterization isn’t quite as good, it is also not as jarring.

The Bottom Line

A fast-paced storyline but without much depth.

My Rating

🐸🐸🐸⚪️⚪️ – 3/5 Good (January 20, 2001)

Signature, happy reading

Links To My Other Book Reviews

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Posted in Book Review | Tagged action, adventure, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, fiction, Good Reads, Google, health, Kobo, library, Library Thing, mystery, Nook, novel, paperback, PolyWogg, prose, sci-fi, science, series, ST:DS9, ST:TNG, Star Trek | Leave a reply

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