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Category >> | Celestial Cartography -- History & Artistry | |
Explore the rich beauty of celestial cartography through the millennia with these wonderful books. | ||
The Sky Atlas The Greatest Maps, Myths, and Discoveries of the Universe by Edward Brooke-Hitching 256 pages, October 2019 (UK) / February 2020 (US)
List Price: This richly illustrated treasury showcases the finest examples of celestial cartography -- a glorious genre of map-making often overlooked by modern map books -- as well as medieval manuscripts, masterpiece paintings, ancient star catalogues, antique instruments and other appealing curiosities. This is the sky as it has never been presented before: the realm of stars and planets, but also of gods, devils, weather wizards, flying sailors, medieval aliens, mythological animals and rampaging spirits. The reader is taken on a tour of star-obsessed cultures around the world, learning about Tibetan sky burials, star-covered Inuit dancing coats, Mongolian astral prophets and Sir William Herschel's 1781 discovery of Uranus, the first planet to be found since antiquity. Even stranger are the forgotten stories from European history, like the English belief of the Middle Ages in ships that sailed a sea above the clouds, 16th-century German UFO sightings and the Edwardian aristocrat who mistakenly mapped alien-made canals on the surface of Mars. As the intricacies of our universe are today being revealed with unprecedented clarity, there has never been a better time for a highly readable book as beautiful as the night sky to contextualise the scale of these achievements for the general reader.
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Star Maps History, Artistry, and Cartography by Nick Kanas 540 pages, 3rd Edition, August 2019 Level: All
List Price: The text is enriched with 226 images (141 in color) from actual, antiquarian celestial books and atlases, each one with an explanation of unique astronomical and cartographic features. This never-before-available hardcover edition includes two new chapters on pictorial style maps and celestial images in art, as well over 50 new images. Additionally, the color plates are now incorporated directly into the text, providing readers with a vibrant, immersive look into the history of star maps.
Amazon.com Customer Comment: (1st Ed.) Star Maps is perhaps the most comprehensive book on astronomical cartography to be published in the last 50 years. It is an inch-thick mass of well-illustrated information and is worth its weight in gold just for the mini-biographies of astronomers spanning three millennia and four continents. Its content belies its very modest price. Star Maps will likely become the standard reference on astronomical cartography for many years to come.
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Constellations The Story of Space Told Through the 88 Known Star Patterns in the Night Sky by Govert Schilling and Wil Tirion (cartographer) 224 pages, June 2019 Level: All
List Price: The book is organized alphabetically by constellation. Profiles of each constellation include basic information such as size, visibility, and number of stars, as well as information on the discovery and naming of the constellation and associated lore. Beyond details about the constellation itself is information about every astronomical event that took place or discovery made in the vicinity of the constellation. In the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan) we encounter the location of the first confirmed black hole. A stop at Gemini (the Twins) is a chance to say hello to the dwarf planet Pluto, and in Orion (the hunter) we find the location of the first identified gamma-ray burst. Stunning star maps throughout the book by acclaimed star mapmaker Wil Tirion show us the exact location of every constellation, the details of its structure, as well as its surrounding astronomical neighbors.
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Celestial Atlas A Journey in the Sky Through Maps by Elena Percivaldi 208 pages, 1st Edition, January 2019 Level: All
List Price: This volume, with splendid illustrations of the most famous, rare and impressive star atlases ever realized from the 16th century to the 19th century, will lead you on a journey among the constellations and will introduce you to the progress made by the great astronomers of the past, the more or less fantastic interpretations of celestial phenomena, and the evolution of the knowledge of the universe gained by those who made the study of the cosmos the very purpose of their lives. You will discover how in many cases art and scientific knowledge merged in such an exceptional manner, resulting in star maps that are true masterpieces of human genius that even now, centuries after their creation, transmit the extraordinary meaning and message that lie at the basis of their conception.
Amazon.com Customer Comment: Beautiful Star Maps. I am an amateur astronomer and love antique star charts. This book is 205 pages worth of beautiful antique star maps. It is also a historical account of the origins of sky maps from 1540 to 1833. This book is great for astronomers, historians, and anyone who loves art.
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Illustrating the Phaenomena Celestial Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages by Elly Dekker 480 pages | 170 b/w illustrations, 16pp color plates, 1st Ed., October 2012 Level: Advanced
List Price: In this book all extant celestial maps and globes made before 1500 are described and analysed in detail. This prestigious study will appeal to academic historians of science and astronomy, and art historians alike.
Reviewer's Comment: "Behold! An astonishingly thorough account of how observers from ancient Greece to fifteenth-century Vienna and Nuremberg envisioned the star patterns. It is hard to imagine that any celestial globe or manuscript from this period has escaped Elly Dekker's meticulous sleuthing and analysis. The result is this admirable and beautifully illustrated tour de force of scholarship." -- Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica by Robert van Gent 240 pages, September 2006 Size: 32 x 53 cm (12.6 x 20.9 in.) Level: All
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Amazon.com Customer Comment: The Harmonia Macrocosmia is a lavish oversized book of 17th century celstial maps that are reproduced with stunning clarity and brilliance. This volume should appeal easily to anyone with an interest in astronomy, art or fine books.
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The Mapping of the Heavens by Peter Whitfield 134 pages, September 1995 Level: All
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Amazon.com Customer Comment: Beautiful Imagery. I stumbled on this book at my local library and after just a few short pages, I knew I had to get it to keep. The images are lovely and the text is quite informative.
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Solar System Maps From Antiquity to the Space Age by Nick Kanas 364 pages, September 2013 Level: All
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This book tells the exciting story of how we have conceptualized and mapped our Solar System from antiquity to modern times. In addition to the complete text, this story is made more vivid by: Broad in scope and rich in imagery, this book will draw the reader into the story of our Solar System and how it has been mapped since the beginning of recorded time.
Amazon.com Customer Comment: The book very effectively linked the history of astronomy and cosmology to the art of graphics and communication. A much appreciated work.
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Skymaps.com/store -- Recommended Books & Products for Skywatchers |
New Books
Star Atlases
Planispheres
Getting Started
Observing Guides
Telescope Books
Kids Books
Sky Myths
Almanacs History & Artistry Star Map Prints AstroPhotography Telescopes & Binoculars Media Astro Calendars |
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