Book Description
Heating water with the sun is almost as old as humankind itself, and it is done all over the world. Yet there are strangely few resources on the topic in North America.
Solar Water Heating fills this gap. It reviews the history of solar water & space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author's experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover:
- Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages
- System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance
- System sizing and siting
- Choosing the appropriate system.
Since people often get turned off by the up-front cost, the book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run. Well-illustrated, the book is designed for a wide readership from the curious to the student or professional.
Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series
Customer Reviews:
solar hot water.......2007-05-19
This is a great collection of information on the subject of solar water heating. I love how the author doesn't pull any punches. There are definite reasons why we don't use more solar hot water in this country. Regan led by example in the 80's when he pulled the solar collectors off the white house roof. While the author spends a bit on the history of solar heating this is definitely a manual on how to design and install a system. The author obviously has had a lot of experience with these systems and he knows what works. read this book and get a high quality solar hot water system up and running in your home. Our planet depends on it.
In fact he dedicated the book for our earth.
Great support.......2007-05-16
I read the book fully with one breath. Basically it contains almost everything what need to know about solar systems and their application. But I gave 4 stars. The reason is simple: I am not sharing the view as vacuum tubes or heatpipes are having a same efficiency as normal flat collectors having. In our climate only heatpipes are able to supply enough heat for heating and support for heating. All others are excellent!
Homeowner's Guide to Solar Water Heating.......2007-04-04
Find out why your next home should be heated by a solar water system. This book will explain the ins and outs of various kinds of systems.
Comprehensive.......2007-03-29
Not being a plumber I can't say this book will be as much value to someone with those skills. He covers the systems so thoroughly that I would imagine if you had the plumbing ability this book would be all you need to get started.
I was a little frustrated having read the first chapter only to find out that several systems described in detail the author would never recommend using. I was thinking to myself why did I waste time reading about those. But that's where the comprehensive part comes in. And by knowing why the author doesn't recommend those systems you get to participate in the joy of knowing everything there is to know about solar water heating.
I especially enjoyed the cost analysis of the hot water systems vs. gas and electric, as well as the discussion of using solar heated water to provide whole house heating.
Excellent.......2007-03-04
Despite Federal tax credits (up to $2,000 at this writing) for solar water heating there's a lack of information on the subject.
For a handyman with good plumbing skills, or a homeowner wanting to learn about solar water heating, this is the best book available.
After a history of solar water heating in the US, the book describes various systems that use the sun to heat and store water. Climate, freeze conditions, water quality and amount of sunlight available are some of the factors considered in choosing a system, and the book describes them all. Individual components are detailed in a logical, straightforward way. It's obvious the authors have extensive practical knowledge. The writing style is informal and easy to read.
Besides all the solar water heating information, this book also has a good section on radiant floor heating, detailing the use of PEX tubing to heat a concrete slab.
The book uses a lot of drawings to demonstrate how things work. More actual photographs of systems and components would have been helpful. I also wish the authors would have included brand names and sources for equipment. The industry still suffers from the stigma of poorly designed systems of the 1970's and 80's. Some reassurances from the authors regarding which component manufacturers are good would have been nice.
For the past two years, I've lived with a solar water heating system I bought as a package and installed myself. I've been happy with all the "free" hot water it's provided. If this book had been available when planning my system I would have had a much better idea of what I was doing. Having all the components matched and sized with specific instructions gave me a lot of confidence during installation. In my opinion, for the neophyte, a component package is a good way to go.
For anyone planning a residential sized solar water heating system, this is the best book available. It's an excellent guide, whether you decide to choose the individual components yourself, buy a package, or hire a contractor to install a turnkey system.
If you're a contractor or someone wanting to get into the solar water heating business, "Solar Hot Water Systems - Lessons Learned 1977 to Today" (Tom Lane) is very good, but the amount of technical detail implies you already have a good working knowledge of plumbing and roofing. [...]
Good luck getting into hot water!
Book Description
After a journey of seven years and 2.2 billion miles, the spacecraft Cassini, with a probe named Huygens aboard, reached Saturn in July 2004, beginning a four-year tour to observe the remote planet, its rings, and its moons in depth. As a result of the spectacularly succesful Cassini-Huygens mission, photographs of astounding beauty have come streaming back to Earth, together with enough data to keep hundreds of scientists engrossed for decades. Reproduced here, in unprecedented detail and exquisite, high-quality format, are 150 of the best of those images, among them rings from the unlit side never visible from Earth and panoramas of the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
This breathtaking volume, including authoritative essays on the planetary system and the mission, reveals the planet, its ethereally beautiful rings, and its 40+ moons in ways never before seen or recorded.
“Astonishing, amazing, and personal.”
— Dr. David Livingston
Host, The Space Show
Customer Reviews:
Saturn.......2007-06-08
For anyone who is interested in astronomy, especially when it relates to the planets in our solar system, this is a must have. The book beautifully describes and illustrates this elegant planet, providing detailed photos of it's body, rings and moons. I purchased this as a gift for my boyfriend and he absolutely LOVES it!
Very beautiful book.......2007-01-09
This book presents some very beautiful views of the Saturnian system as captured by the Casinni Spacecraft. It also provides some inciteful essays detailing the design, construction and operation of the spacecraft as well as the physics of the planet itself, its atmosphere and fascinating ring system and moons.
Breathtaking Visualizations of the Lord of the Rings.......2007-01-07
Lovett's Saturn book is a tribute to the Cassini mission science team in images. The visualizations tell so much about the new knowledge now being acquired from the spacecraft in orbit of the planet. While the book is short on scientific detail, it is not designed to be a scientific treatise. It will take years to digest what is now being witnessed. The many Saturnian moons hold so much new knowledge yet to be understood. The images only begin to tell the story but each is worth seeing while the experts struggle to explain their meaning. I HIGHLY recommend this book to the astronomer and the lay person alike. It is well worth every penny to share in the spellbinding images contained on nearly every page with a brief text description. This is a display of The Lord of the Rings!
An Entirely Subjective Review.......2007-01-06
My disclaimers up front. First, I have worked for JPL for close to 20 years; half of my career (including currently and during the entire period these photos were taken) has been spent supporting Cassini directly or indirectly. So there is no way I can even pretend to have an objective perspective. Second, this is my personal review and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cal Tech, JPL or NASA.
I love this book. It is so exciting as one small cog working on a mission to see the fruits of my labor being so prominently and publicly displayed. I put out semi-regular "astropics" newsletters to a group of family, friends, and now friends of friends who similarly love astronomy and JPL's missions. If I were to compile my favorite pics out of the years that I have been doing this, many of my favorites would be ones included in this book. I highly recommend this book to any lover of astronomy, old and new to learn the latest that is being revealed by this wonderful mission.
Chuck Kirby
Cassini Spacecraft Systems Engineer
Wonderful Book, Breathtaking Photos.......2006-12-27
Saturn, A New View
This book is perfect for the armchair scientist. I can't add much to the other reviews here, but will certainly add to the chorus of praise. This book is excellent. It is well-written, well-executed, and well-organized. Needless to say, it's the pictures that make the book so special. I get goosebumps thinking about the fact that there is actually a man-made spaceship orbiting Saturn RIGHT NOW. It's hard to describe the feeling. It's even cooler, of course, that we have a probe sitting on Titan!!!!!
Anyway, if you did nothing but bought the book for the pictures, it would be worth it. It's sort of designed as a "coffee-table book", but this one is actually worth reading and returning to. Thank you Lovett, Horvath, and Cuzzi! But mostly thank you Cassini and Hugyens for your fantastic, dangerous journey to Saturn [hey - if you can't anthropomorphize Cassini and Voyager and objects like that, what's the point of reading about science? :-) ].
My Rating System for Amazon.com
---------------------------------
5 Stars -- The best of the best. Made a real impact on me and/or represents a classic of the genre. Would read it again and recommend it without reservation.
4 Stars -- Very good. Loved it, recommend it to all. Some issues and/or doesn't rise to the level of "classic of the genre".
3 Stars -- Okay. Wouldn't read it again, but enjoyed it. Usually some major flaws or just very pedestrian.
2 Stars -- Not good. Don't recommend it. Some redeeming qualities. May be desired by some.
1 Star -- No redeeming qualities. Will never touch again. Warn people away.
Book Description
Now available in an updated, revised, and expanded third edition, this is "the best all-around book for getting started with alternative energy." Photovoltaics (PV) pioneer Joel Davidson and coauthor Fran Orner bring this classic how-to text into the twenty-first century.
Condensing years of hands-on and industry experience, Davidson and Orner offer the reader a complete, concise, and reality-based education in PV. In clear and understandable language, they take you through the process of going solar electric, from making the decision to sizing, selecting, installing, and maintaining your system.
The third edition of The New Solar Electric Home continues its twenty-year tradition of offering "the most comprehensive how-to PV education available."
Customer Reviews:
Good basics, somewhat outdated, but probably best available.......1997-09-08
This book has been around for a long time. When it first came out, in 1987, it was the best book available. Unfortunately, it has not been updated since then, even though it has been reprinted several times. It has excellent basics for planning and designing a system, but much of the technology illustrated is outdated. With an update, this could be the best book in the field
Customer Reviews:
interesting info.......2007-03-09
I think the book provides some interesting information. I don't know about all of it, still reading it, over halfway through. Some of it jives with my experience, and some of it, for me, I wouldn't necessarily come to the same conclusions. However, he's been doing this for a long long time. Looking back at some of my solar arc over planets and angles in the past, some were uneventful, and some were very eventful. He seems to be more sure about some of the types of events that will happen whereas I believe that the soul's evolutionary level can make predictions very hard, especially the scale of the event. Sometimes, we expect something really big when it's something much less grand.
Solar Arcs by Noel Tyl.......2007-02-01
An astrologer for 35 years I have read countless books containing opinions and information concerning the subject of astrology, some good, some not so good and some down-right poor and seriously misleading. Every serious astrologer knows the name Noel Tyl and some the man and teacher, Noel Tyl. His work is exciting, informative, and presented in a manner that astrologers, new and experienced can learn and benefit from, as well as their clients. The book is extensive, the examples are backed up by fact and who can ask for better than that. Noel's fastidious research on the subject of solar arcs and how they mark times in our lives when important and life changing events and experiences will occur is here for all to see and use. Other than being in a classroom with Noel, what more could you want if you are into serious astrology, than to have years of Noel Tyls experinece and research at your finger tips. I highly recommend the book.
Excellent book on predicting future circumstances.......2005-05-13
In this complex but extremely educational book, Tyl describes the Solar Arc theory amongst others to show you how to exactly progress your NATAL chart foward in order to see the new aspects formed. This book focuses little on basic planetary triggers, but leans heavily on the concept of midpoints (which are far more productive in Transits) I would say, that this book is not for the first-time astrologer; I would highly recommend "The New Way to Learn Astrology: Presenting the Noel Tyl Method" by Basil Fearrington. It is geared more like a school text book, with chapters and quizes at the end of each chapter. I own over 15 Astrology books, and I think Basil and Tyl have it down. Solar Arc theory is highly recommended, but make sure you have a basic knowledge of houses, signs, planets, and the combinations of. If you do, or at least have the concept, buy this book.
A Valuable Resource.......2002-09-16
I started studying astrology in my spare time nearly four years ago. Most of what I've learned has come from following the discussions of friends and reading books they've recommended.
Tyl's work is high on their list of reference materials. After reading Solar Arcs, it is easy to see why. Tyl's writing style is user friendly. His clear, well-defined examples make it a valuable resource for skilled astrologers & students as well.
I look forward to reading Synthesis & Counseling in Astrology next.
Indispensable Tool.......2002-08-07
Tyl's work is a must-have for any astrologer wishing to add precision and clarity to predictive work. He uses many case studies and examples (including a very courageous and honest assessment of his own chart) to illustrate solar arc technique. He demonstates the theory behind the technique, and shows how amazingly simple and yet astounding it is.
Amazon.com
In a book that is as much romantic as purely scientific, David Harry Grinspoon combines historical perspective on the nearby planet Venus and data from recent observations, notably the Magellan spacecraft's detailed mapping of the planet's surface and gravitational field. In a lighthearted way, Grinspoon conveys the vast body of knowledge that scientists have recently acquired about the planet that is often called our "twin," despite its metal-melting surface temperatures and runaway greenhouse effect. (Could we learn something about our own climate in observing that of Venus?) In a fun though perhaps overconfident section, Grinspoon even argues that the likelihood that life once existed on Venus is as high as for Mars--an intriguing possibility, especially if evidence that life once existed on Mars becomes stronger.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and fascinating book on Venus.......2005-05-28
I loved reading this book! It describes the cultural, historical and scientific aspects of Venus. For instance, it discusses the significance that ancient cultures placed on Venus (the brightest planet when visible). It also discusses perceptions (and some speculation) that people have had of Venus at various times in history. Then it discusses in detail the scientific discoveries of Venus, by radar and spacecraft. It discusses the politics and development of radar and spacecraft, as well as the actual scientific discoveries made at different times. It is also very fascinating to read about the surface and atmosphere and properties of Venus. It is also interesting how the author compares Venus to Earth in these areas. Although it is obvious that Venus would be a very hostile planet to visit, it is indeed a very fascinating planet to study. In terms of land features, I think that the author points out that Venus is actually similar to Earth in many ways (though also with some of its own characteristics). I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the planet Venus in particular, or in the solar system in general.
Excellent, highly readable book on all things Venus .......2005-04-23
_Venus Revealed_ by David Harry Grinspoon is a well-written, witty, thoroughly researched book on our nearest planetary neighbor, the planet Venus, often thought of as Earth's twin due to its roughly same size and mass. Grinspoon covered the history of human perception of the planet, the observation of Venus by scientists from the ground through the centuries, what the amateur astronomer can see and learn about the planet, the saga of the numerous probes to orbit the planet as well as it enter its atmosphere and even land on its surface, current understandings of the atmosphere and geology of Venus, and speculations on whether or not Venus has or had life and the future of human exploration of the planet. There are two inserts in the book, one a color insert that included a color image of the surface of Venus made by the Soviet _Venera 13_ lander in March 1982 as well as several global and regional topographic maps made by the _Pioneer Venus Orbiter_ and _Magellan_, and a black and white insert which included more Soviet lander images of the ground of Venus as well as numerous close-ups taken by _Magellan_ of a wide variety of Venusian surface features. In the text of the book itself I really liked the various diagrams included, including schematics of the sulfur cycle on Venus and a diagram of typical cloud structure. _Magellan_ images are dominant in the book, an extraordinary space probe that peeled back the "bright, unyielding clouds" with "gentle radar fingers," revealing massive amounts of new information for Venus scientists to ponder and debate over.
Venus has long attracted human attention, as it is the brightest object in the night sky after the full moon. Though the planet was noticed by virtually every human culture, no civilization paid it more mind than the Classic Maya (A.D. 300-900). They felt they owed their very existence to Venus (whom they called Kukulcan) - a debt that they paid back in human sacrifices - and based their entire calendar on the 260-day Venus appearance interval. Mayan astronomers were able to chart the appearance, disappearance, and reappearance of Venus in the night skies with incredible accuracy, so much that the Mayan Venus Calendar has an error of only two hours in five hundred years of elapsed time.
The "solid citadel of clouds" that protected Venus from observation made it into a "tabula rasa," a blank slate that was inscribed by the wishes and dreams of observers for centuries. Grinspoon documented the many speculations about Venus being a swamp or ocean world, referencing both the serious speculations of astronomers such as Percival Lowell and the flights of fancy of popular literature and film. So little was known about the planet that even its rate of rotation wasn't resolved until 1962, when Earth-based radar images established that one day on Venus equaled 117 Earth days (and that it rotated in a backward or retrograde direction, with the sun rising in the west and setting in the east). Passive radio observations in 1956 that showed the planet emitting massive amounts of microwave radiation lead to the first real understanding of just how hot Venus was, as researchers began to infer that this was heat radiation from the surface, eventually establishing the surface temperature at 900 degrees Fahrenheit (so hot that an observer on the Venusian surface at night could see thanks to the glowing of the red-hot ground).
I enjoyed his coverage of the Venusian atmosphere the most of anything in the book. Though the planet-wide cloud cover looks basically bright and featureless even from orbit, images taken with ultraviolet filters have revealed that the atmosphere is dynamic and volatile, an intricate and complex swirl of high-contrast, fast-moving tiny splotches and huge, planet-wide streaks. The identity of this material, so dark in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum that its it responsible for absorbing nearly half the solar energy received by Venus, is still unknown and is simply called the unknown ultraviolet absorber. Its existence though has allowed scientists to study and model patterns of atmospheric circulation, an atmosphere that at the upper levels circles the planet at 200 miles per hour, circling the planet in four days (dubbed superrotation), while at the same time is virtually motionless at the surface. Explaining this phenomenon has presented another major challenge offered us by Venus, one not yet answered.
The atmosphere is unlike anything seen on Earth; immense cloud banks of sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid cover the planet, not very dense and relatively transparent but incredibly vast, towering up to an altitude of 44 miles from the cloud base at 33 miles. They are concentrated into three discrete layers - each layer with a different mixture of droplet sizes - and separated by relatively clear air between. The nature of the droplets in the lowest cloud layer (called Mode 3 droplets) is uncertain, as they are not spherical in shape, may be crystalline, and appear to contain far more chlorine than sulfur (as well as perhaps other substances).
Grinspoon gave the reader a tour of the surface, from the "continents" of Africa-sized Aphrodite Terra along the equator and Australia-sized Ishtar Terra near the north pole to the wide plains to the great variety of volcanoes on the planet, some of which are probably active. Volcanic landforms cover some 90% of the surface, ranging in size from small shield volcanoes (often less than 12 miles across), so numerous that they gather in clusters of a hundred or so in immense shield fields, to odd six to forty mile across pancake dome volcanoes to still larger ones. Many features appear unique to Venus, such as ticks (volcanoes with flanks scalloped by landslides such that the ridges appear to be the jutting legs of an insect), arachnoids (volcanic domes surrounded by spider-web like patterns of fractures and ridges), and anemonae (volcanoes with petal-like lava flows extending outward from them). Other features include the odd circular coronae and intensely deformed areas called tessera.
An important book that's fun to read.......2003-02-25
Anyone that wonders why humans should continue to invest in space exploration--especially important at this time of tragedy with the Columbia mission--will find many answers in this excellent book. Grinspoon is one of those rare writers that enthralls us with the mystery and wonder of science, while at the same time not shying away from, or diminishing the complexities of scientific discovery. He describes with clarity why studies of other planets are important endeavors in their own right, as well as for our continued understanding of our own planet Earth.
All readers will gain an appreciation from Grinspoon for scientific discovery: how it builds with improving data from insights that at first seem remote and uncertain into solid foundations for better understanding of issues such as global warming on earth. Volcanology, plate tectonics, acid rain, and planetary climatology are all discussed in detail, as well as the more esoteric phenomena of planet formation and extra-terrestrial life. While the later topics might be argued as to their importance with regard to current problems on our planet, Grinspoon makes excellent connections for studies of the former issues on Venus, and their impact to our knowledge of our own home planet. Anything that significantly improves our understanding of global warming, plate tectonics (earthquakes), etc., is worth a significant and continuing investment. Venus Revealed is great book in many respects: lack of a bibliography is the only fault worth mentioning. (And I, for one, loved the often hilarious footnotes!) Highly recommended.
A good work of comparative planetology.......2001-10-30
Besides a excellent historical and scientifical synthesis of the Venusian system, this book does a good job at comparing the three main terrestrial planets, from the astronomical, physical, geological, atmospheric, etc. point of views. This is very refreshing because Venus is often overlooked in most books, that usually focus more on the binary comparison of Mars vs the Earth, and, in many ways, Terra is actually closer to Venus than Mars.
The text itself is clear, accurate and very entertaining to read (especially the footnotes!). Everything is based on scientific facts, except the last chapter, that digresses a little too much from the main subject, but it's ok.
A greeaat read!.......2001-07-06
I really enjoyed this overview of our sister planet! Despite his background as a planetologist and university professor, Grinspoon writes for the layman with a freshness and spirit that is rare in non-fiction astronomy books. He first takes us through an extensive history of our discoveries and past theories on Venus, then reveals the major findings of the Magellan mission which laid bare the planet's high-level topography. Towards the end Grinspoon presents a couple bold suggestions as food for thought, e.g. the possibility that life currently exists on Venus and also ideas for terraforming the planet!
I especially enjoyed the virtual tour of Venus as well as the descriptions of what it would be like to spend a day and night on Venus, assuming you could survive the extreme heat and crushing pressure. Did you know that it never gets totally dark on the ground, because even at night the rocks are so hot that they glow red??!
The footnotes didn't bother me too much; in fact, I rather appreciated Grinspoon's sense of humor and chuckled at a few of them. One thing that did annoy me was Grinspoon's repeated pessimistic assertions that we humans are wreaking havoc on Earth through global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, pollution, blah blah. The fact is, it's kind of ludicrous to suggest that the Earth's overall "health" is being affected at all by us. There is no proof of this whatsoever. We may be making things worse for ourselves in the long run, but the Earth is so massive that there's really nothing we can do to hurt it.
Anyway, I've read a few books on the planets and this is the best so far! Just the right blend of science and non-technical discussion to appeal to the layman and the amateur astronomer both.
Product Description
Author, Andy Lloyd, demonstrates in his book, The Dark Star, that a planet beyond Pluto need not be cold and lifeless! He says that astronomers know this. This is not controversial for them. They understand what brown dwarfs are, and they realize that they provide enough heat and light to provide habitable environments on planets orbiting these failed stars. Lloyd says that one might well be circling the sun, in the comet clouds that make up the bulk of the solar system's volume. The book recognizes the difficulties that detecting such a body present however, Lloyd puts forth a convincing argument with 332 pages of research, 41 pictures and graphics, hundreds of scientific references, and a complete index of terms and names. The existence of Planet X!
Customer Reviews:
A very good book.......2007-08-12
As an amateur ancient historian, I enjoyed this book very much. It goes beyond Z. Sitchin (Earth Chronicles) interpreting Sumerian texts, and shows that our solar system is likely a binary system. This book will help tie together Mesopotamian "stories and myths" to modern phenomenon (which aren't so modern after all). An important book for your collection, or just enjoyable reading for the curious.
Two Ways of Looking at Cosmic Events.......2007-03-03
Walter Cruttenden,
Lost Star of Myth and Time
(St. Lynn's Press, Pittsburgh) 2005
Paperback, xxii+340 pages
ISBN 0-9767631-1-7
Andy Lloyd
The Dark Star
(Timeless Voyager, Santa Barbara) 2005
Paperback, xiv+304 pages
ISBN 1-892264-18-8
Critiqued by Frederic Jueneman
Here is a pair of scenarios, very old ones in many respects, to be sure, but motifs that take the reader on multidisciplinary journeys through space and time, of history and cosmology, and of culture and tradition. Regular readers of such literature will find that all of these groups plow pretty much in the same celestial fields. Notwithstanding, in a somewhat eclectic exposition one author (Cruttenden) come uncomfortably close to what this reviewer regards as new age occultism. But then, don't we all take a lot of things on faith and hope.
Cruttenden himself is a nonprofessional archeo-astronomer who builds and relies on earlier authors, both contemporary and historical, as well as assembling his own cache of mythic material to fortify his case that our Sun is part of a double-star system which orbits one another in approximately the same period as the Precession of the Equinox--a polar retrograde wobble of Earth currently figured at 25,770 years. Moreover, as the most original concept in the book, the author argues that the binary motions and gravitational influence of the two-star system cause the precession itself.
In like manner, science writer Andy Lloyd takes inspiration from Zecharia Sitchin's ancient Babylonian interpretations although with marked reservations, while also delving into myth and alternative science. Yet he generally tends to follow es¬tablishment guidelines in giving credence to his argument for a solar binary system. His major theme is based on the cliff-like Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt of asteroidal objects and comets that drops off rather precipitously beyond some 45 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun--one AU being the Earth-Sun distance--a gap that ostensibly extends several hundred AU to the inner boundary of the the¬oretical comet-filled Oort Cloud beyond.
The Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt was initially proposed in 1943 by the British researcher Kenneth Edgeworth and later resurrected by American as¬tronomer Gerard Kuiper in 1951. This gap is argumentatively considered by Lloyd to be swept out by what might eventually be found to be a so-called brown dwarf star and its retinue of planetesimals, which have yet to be observed.
Such brown dwarfs were first theoretically described by radioastronomer Jill Tartar in 1975 as small, very dense and dim planet-like stars, which are radiating mainly in the infrared. They were called "brown" to differentiate them from the already designated black, red, and white dwarfs, although brown dwarfs were ultimately found to glow magenta to reddish.
Cruttenden's book, on the one hand, despite being replete with physical phenomena and apocalyptic mythology, also attempts to reinforce his earlier mercantile DVD exposé with additional detail from mythic and mystic lore by enumerating and expanding on the four stages of the Yuga ages: The primeval Kali Yuga, typifying the dark age of iron from which we have just emerged in the endless Hindu cycles of time, and our now having recently entered into the Dwapara Yuga, or bronze age, with the increasingly enlightening Treta and Satya Yugas, of the respective silver and golden ages, still some thousands of years ahead in the distant future. Our increased enlighten¬ment is apparently predicated on this approaching Lost Star, which endows mankind with field-induced expanded mental capacity. There are ascending and descending phases of these ages, the divya or half-yugas that comprise something over 12,000 years each, delineating the half-cycles of the equinoctial precession: The rise and fall of mankind's intellectual proclivities.
The Lost Star spends an inordinate number of pages on the significance of these ages on human culture, where a high point in human capacity and competence was reached some 11,500 years ago, and has gone downhill ever since, or at least until the end of the medieval period just a few centuries ago. According to Cruttenden, the lowest point--the Kali Yuga--was from about 700 BCE to around 500 CE; however, no allowance was made for the global renaissance of the 6th century BCE, where religious, philosophical, and intelletual thought burgeoned throughout the civilized world; a flourishing which gave rise to the received wisdom of India. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece. This may have been an aberration according to his scenario, but the excep¬tion does test the rule.
This is where the two authors differ, in that Lloyd is less enthusiastic than Cruttenden about the mysticism surrounding recorded events in human history. However, both authors do pay tribute to Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend, who themselves had furrowed their pioneering groundwork of mythic lore by highlighting the Precession of the Equinoxes, and who also complained, "It goes without saying that the still more modern habit of replacing `culture' with `society' has blocked the last narrow path to understanding history. Our ignorance not only remained vast, but became pretentious as well."
Both of our authors under review bemoan the fact that astronomical ardor doesn't include many who, either through ignorance or hubris, even bother to consider an otherwise "unknown" or "unseen" massive companion to our solar system in the light of mounting evidence, other than minuscule icy worlds such as the recently discovered Quaoar, Sedna and Varuna, inter alia. But, as we all know, tradition is a very viscous medium.
Late 19th and early 20th century cosmologists, who had studied the perturbations on Uranus and relatively newly discovered Neptune (1846), determined that beyond these planets there was another massive body disturbing their motions; but, the discovery of tiny Pluto in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh didn't account for the expected discrepancy, although Voyager 2 in 1969 supposedly settled the cosmological question by assigning Neptune a greater mass than was previously reported.
Only Lloyd referred to the earlier research of the late Hughes Aircraft mathematician John P. Bagby, assisted by his wife Loretta L. Bagby, who were intrigued by planetary perturbations that seemed to indicate what they termed a Massive Solar Companion (MSC), situated out of the plane of the ecliptic in the direction of Sagittarius. Bagby, who was well known to this reviewer, initially and tentatively proposed this MSC back in 1972 but only formally and obliquely published his results some years later in a study related to earthquake periodicity. However, his investigation seemed to indicate that such an MSC, or perhaps a distributed mass in Lagrangian orbits, might be also located in the direction of Sirius. Bagby postulated Lagrange distributions for several of the orbital parameters, which much like the Trojans in Jupiter's orbit may either lead or lag the gas giant by 60°.
Sagittarius, however, would turn out to be a "star-crossed" option since it is well within our most abundant view of the Milky Way galaxy, which leaves astronomers looking into the headlights of millions of stars that would make finding a dim body among such stellar traffic toilsome at best. The latest IRAS (InfraRed Astronomical Survey) satellite exploration of the heavens showed an excess of 200,000 dim suns within relatively short telescopic range that are available for study. So, where do those who want to look decide to seek such a candidate star? In the other direction, of course, where there isn't quite so much glare. The comparatively open celestial sectors of Orion or Canis Major will do nicely.
Interestingly, one of Bagby's major postulated orbits had a period of 1467.6 years, which is uncannily close to the so-called Egyptian Sothic period of some 1460 years, which makes an enticingly roundabout connection with Sirius. This reviewer had corresponded at length with Bagby over this observation, and subsequently copies of his summary were distributed to his colleagues.
Sirius, in Canis Major, visible in winter months just to the left (east) of Orion in the celestial sphere, turns out to be a candidate "lost" star for Cruttenden's argument, despite its 8.6 lightyear distance and -1.43 magnitude brilliance, making it the brightest nighttime star in the heavens. It is Cruttenden's nominee for a root cause of Earth's precession, because of some residual resonant effect, as well as Sirius' own unique proper motion. It is this singular proper motion, which remarkably is in the direction of our own locale in the galaxy that keeps it almost stationary over the centuries in its annual heliacal rising despite its gradual transit across the constellations.
Sirius has risen heliacally on almost the same Julian date for the past 4000 years, and is currently moving out of Canis Major. Here, however, Cruttenden makes an oblique reference to the calendar reform of Julius Caesar, whereas the Julian calendar used in the astronomical community was devised by Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), whose own calendar reform was published in 1583, one year after the Gregorian amendment devised by the Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius was instituted by Pope Gregory XIII. Scaliger's formula, however, using days instead of years, is called the Julian Day Count--a practice still in use by astronomers today and named after his father, Julius Caesar Scaliger.
Both authors had scrutinized ancient literature, which claimed that in ancient times this star was red in color, which Sirius currently is definitely not. However, up until about 500 AD, observers did record Sirius as reddish in color. If, in counter-argument, it had been something akin to Betelgeuse, which is a bloated bright red-orange star of 0.7 magnitude in Orion, north and somewhat west of Sirius, then sometime in the distant future we may be treated to a shedding of its reddish envelope, exposing a bright white star within.
As an aside, an intriguing point was made by Cruttenden that Sirius' own incredibly dense white dwarf companion, Sirius B, orbits in front of its parent star every 50 years, which it did in 1989 as observed and recorded by Canadians Karl-Heinz and Uwe Homann, and as it did so Earth's daily rotation slowed down by a full second over the course of this transit, returning to normal after the event. If this is found to be verified, then it also appears to suggest that gravitational waves travel at light velocity as well. However, we won't have this particular opportunity again until around 2039.
The Dogon peoples in West Africa had their legend about a massive diminutive and unseen companion of Sirius that had a 50-year relationship with the parent star, supposedly well before it was known to astronomers, according to historian Robert Temple. In the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, our hero has a dream in which he is drawn to a heavy star that cannot be lifted--an indirect reference to Sirius B.
One might also speculate that, by the mechanism of "accretion disk accumulation," the massive gravity of the dwarf Sirius B may have stripped its parent of a conjectured red envelope within own our historical past, fomenting a nova, and revealing the brilliant star we see today. This, moreover, is in contrast and contradiction to what Cruttenden described. We might not expect this of the red giant Betelgeuse, since it doesn't seem to have such a dense companion. But since Sirius does, it leaves open the question: Could Sirius actually have under¬one such a nova event within our own recorded historical past? Say, prior to 500 AD?
Cruttenden also makes the point that the Sun's angular momentum is almost entirely tied up in its planetary family, and argues that this runs counter to known physical laws for a solitary stellar body, but bodes favorably for a binary system where such momentum is focused and normalized with another gravitational source. The period of revolution for our binary is considered equivalent to the Precession of the Equinox, based on the resonant effect due to the angular curvature of the mutually orbiting systems, and which is the crux of Cruttenden's hypothesis.
Others, as UC Berkeley physicist Richard A. Muller, who also opt for a binary star system of our very own, prefer a 26-million-year orbit, because over Earth's geological history there have been periodic upheavals and extinctions coincident with this cycle. This is the "Nemesis" star of media note, although Muller thought that it might be a red or brown dwarf. Lloyd is more modest in his reasoning for a 3600-year orbit, more in keeping with Zecheria Sitchin's scenario, thereby keeping it within the confines of the Oort cloud within our own outer solar system, and sweeping out the void beyond the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt. (This reviewer may have to rescan some of Sitchin's endless writings to see if something critically important was inadvertently missed.)
Evidence for high-culture ancient civilizations abound in both the Old World and Asia. This is in addition to ley lines, stonehenges of various sorts, earthenwork mounds and pyramids scattered around the globe, and foundations of cities with no apparent prior historic past, such as found in Sumer. And, since the discoveries of Cornell geologist Charles F. Hartt in 1871, such evidence also surfaced in South America. The extremely rich, renewable soil of myriads of scattered pockets of what is termed Terre Preta do Indio (Indian Black Earth) throughout Amazonia, from Bolivia to Venezuela, has made archeologists sit up and take notice. While most of the Amazon basin is infertile "green desert," known as Oxisol, some ten percent comprises this extremely valuable and sought-after productive loam, which is also characterized by the multi-stratigraphic inclusion of abundant ceramic shards that indicate a sophisticated fire-savvy culture as early as 9000 BCE. This is in contrast, for example, to ancient abattoirs found by archeologists around the world, who indiscriminately consider them to be ritual sacrificial sites by primitive peoples who were overly concerned with religious practices.
If ancient Old and New World civilizations had been decimated by some periodic global cataclysms, it doesn't augur happily for Cruttenden's prognostication of the upcoming ages of enlightenment coinciding with the pending approach of another stellar body nearer to our solar system. But notwithstanding, if Cruttenden and Lloyd, and Muller as well, are all justified in their estimations, perhaps we are not merely a member of a binary star system, but conceivably part of a ternary or even a multiple star complex.
The Sumero-Babylonian astronomers and scribes, who had meticulously recorded disasters as they were observed, aren't given much credence by today's know-it-alls, who relegate most all such "myths" to the dustbins of legendary history. The Jesuit scholar Francis X. Kugler, who pioneered the study of ancient "star wars" (sternkampf) did give these ancients some credit, but seems to be ignored except for a few researchers outside the pale of academic science and history. Kugler's two-volume opus, Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel ("Astrography and Astralatry in Babylon"--literally, star-mapping and star-worship), did nevertheless question the competence of Mesopotamian astronomers before the reign of Nabonassar in the mid-8th century BCE because of anomalies in their calculations, but before he died left the door open for further investigation. And, Zecheria Sitchin evidently was also influenced by and receptive to these anomalies mentioned by Kugler, resulting in his aggregation of books on the subject, which ideas were later taken up by Lloyd with alternative explanations. Cruttenden is otherwise occupied with Great Cycles over the ages.
Nibiru, of Sumerian myth, is the name of the red star that entered the ancient Mesopotamian night sky, and was equated with Marduk, the god supreme of Sumer. Was this red star the Surya of Sanskrit texts, the Sothis of the Greeks, the Sopdet of the Egyptians, the Al Shi'ra of the Arab world, the Lost Star of Cruttenden, the Dark Star of Lloyd, the Venus of Velikovsky?
There are many more such mysteries to be solved, both here on Earth and in our night skies. And, both Cruttenden and Lloyd have given us something of an awareness of the interdisciplinary aspects of approaching some of these mythic enigmas from widely differing, sometimes opposing, and of course puzzling perspectives. Accordingly, this overlapping critique is basically in consideration of both of these interesting if not persuasive books. However, although each is recommended for their individual merits, this reviewer suggests that each potential reader make up his or her own mind as to which author comes closest to one's own personal inclination.
A Most Interesting and Informative Read.......2006-06-04
I first encountered Andy Lloyd's writing on the Internet about four years ago, when I was doing one of my periodic bouts of online research into possible discoveries of a tenth planet, along with updates to related "Planet X" and "binary companion" theories.
The Internet is a treasure trove of information, but sifting the plausible from the far-fetched and the patently preposterous has proven to be a time consuming endeavor over the years. This time was no different: it seemed that a group of alarmists had predicted, based on ancient Sumerian/Babylonian legends as well as a fairly recent book called "The Twelfth Planet", by Zecharia Sitchin, that a large planet by the name of Nibiru was about to come hurtling out of the void, on one of its once-every-3600-year rampages, and in 2003 it would cause all sorts of death, dismemberment, disaster and chaos in the inner solar system. Of course, the Government knew all this, but wanted to cover it up to prevent panic.
Now, I enjoy good doomsday and conspiracy theories as much as the next guy, but this one seemed a bit over the top. Given how it's now 2006 and the world hasn't ended yet, I suppose my healthy dose of skepticism was in good order.
One web site stood out as remarkably different: Andy Lloyd's "Dark Star". He took a much more sober analysis of available astronomical data, and asked this set of questions: What if the Sun actually has a hidden binary companion? How would we be able to deduce the fact? What would it look like? How could it have escaped detection by our increasingly sophisticated telescopes? Being so far away from the Sun, and thus in a very cold region of space, could it host a civilization of extraterrestrials known by the ancient Sumerians as the Anunnaki, who supposedly long ago visited Earth?
Eventually, Andy assembled the gist of his online articles and essays and published it in the book "Dark Star: The Planet X Evidence". It consists of fifteen chapters on topics like the following:
- What is the solar system's "habitation zone", and how far does it extend?
- What did the Ancients have to say about this mysterious planet/deity Nibiru?
- What is a "brown dwarf", and could Nibiru be one? Or is Nibiru perhaps a planet/moon in orbit around a "brown dwarf", the Dark Star, sometimes known as Marduk? Could the Anunnaki Homeworld be yet another planet in this system?
- Could the Dark Star have played an important role in the formation of Earth? Could it have caused the primordial Earth to migrate from another part of the solar system, such as the Asteroid Belt?
- What could cause some of the anomalies in the orbits of the outermost planets and/or Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Objects such as Pluto, Sedna and the newly discovered "tenth planet", 2003 UB313 (popularly nicknamed "Xena")?
- Where might the Dark Star be, if it existed?
- What could be behind the precession of the Earth's equinoxes, as well as long-term cyclical changes in Earth's climate, such as the Ice Epochs?
- Could it be that the Dark Star has already been discovered, but just not recognized for what it is?
- What about some of the conspiracy theories about government cover-ups? Is there a valid reason why scientists might decide to "sit on" such a major discovery for a few years, without announcing it?
Although in a few places Andy repeats himself more than I'd care for, all in all I'd judge his book to be quite well written and informative, in simple language that a layperson like me can understand. There is an abundance of helpful diagrams as well as reference lists, at the end of each chapter, for further research. In fact, I enjoyed the book enough to read it twice, the second time taking detailed notes covering eight pages of notepaper.
It's important to note that Andy, like me, is not a professional astronomer: he merely has a very deep interest in astronomy and, I think, quite a broad knowledge of it. Thanks to the wonders of modern instant communication (e-mail), Andy has an extensive list of professional contacts, some of whom he quotes or even interviews in his book. I know enough to be able to catch glaringly obvious errors in poorly researched articles on astronomy; I noticed nothing of that sort in Andy's book. For errors of a more subtle variety, professionals will have to point them out.
I've been told that for something to be deemed "scientific", it ought to be able to explain observed phenomena, and yield testable predictions. Here, then, are some of the predictions either made or implied by "Dark Star":
- If the Earth formed in the Asteroid Belt, isotopic analysis of ices and other materials found on asteroids might be expected to match those found on Earth, but not other planets or moons. Do they?
- If the Dark Star and/or Nibiru exist, where Andy's book predicts or elsewhere, sooner or later it's going to turn up in someone's telescope sights.
- Once the Dark Star's orbit has been calculated, and its mass firmly determined, it should be possible to predict how it might affect the orbits of Earth and the other planets over long periods of time.
- If these Anunnaki extraterrestrials exist, or did at one time, it should be possible to eventually send a space probe to their homeworld and look for them, or for ruins of their civilization. Or, of course, they might show up here and say "Take me to your leader".
In summary, if you want a good overview of Planet X theories plus some tantalizing evidence that the Sun may have a hidden binary companion, this book would be a good place to start. I would also recommend visiting Andy's web site as a useful clearinghouse for new discoveries bearing on his theories.
WHERE DID WE COME FROM? A MUST READ . NASA is following andy lloyds lead just watch NASA and you will see...........2006-04-12
Wish i could give it 10 STARS..A indept look at how are inner solar system developed into what it is today.Andy lloyd goes into detail and spins off from Zecharia Sitchin theory on the origins of life as we know it andy lloyd is a modern day einstein.The only thing that would have made this book more impressive would have been some info into Nicola Tesla, Immanuel velikovsky and some thunderbolt electric universe info http://www.holoscience.com/
Book Description
As the definitive guide for the armchair astronomer, The New Solar System has established itself as the leading book on planetary science and solar system studies. Incorporating the latest knowledge of the solar system, a distinguished team of researchers, many of them Principal Investigators on NASA missions, explain the solar system with expert ease. The completely-revised text includes the most recent findings on asteroids, comets, the Sun, and our neighboring planets. The book examines the latest research and thinking about the solar system; looks at how the Sun and planets formed; and discusses our search for other planetary systems and the search for life in the solar system. In full-color and heavily-illustrated, the book contains more than 500 photographs, portrayals, and diagrams. An extensive set of tables with the latest characteristics of the planets, their moon and ring systems, comets, asteroids, meteorites, and interplanetary space missions complete the text. New to this edition are descriptions of collisions in the solar system, full scientific results from Galileo's mission to Jupiter and its moons, and the Mars Pathfinder mission. For the curious observer as well as the student of planetary science, this book will be an important library acquisition. J. Kelly Beatty is the senior editor of Sky & Telescope, where for more than twenty years he has reported the latest in planetary science. A renowned science writer, he was among the first journalists to gain access to the Soviet space program. Asteroid 2925 Beatty was named on the occasion of his marriage in 1983. Carolyn Collins Petersen is an award-winning science writer and co-author of Hubble Vision (Cambridge 1995). She has also written planetarium programs seen at hundreds of facilities around the world. Andrew L. Chaikin is a Boston-based science writer. He served as a research geologist at the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. He is a contributing editor to Popular Science and writes frequently for other publications.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyable & complete, our beautiful solar system........2004-12-24
This book is packed full of exciting pictures and is an in depth look at the solar system based on that latest discoveries in space exploration. It is an exciting read for anyone who is into astronomy. Some parts of the book are filled with scientific detail that can be difficult to read, but can be understood if you are willing to get through them.
A glorious introduction to our solar system.......2004-11-04
It's easy to read! You can read the chapters in just about any order. The material is mostly descriptive, without any complicated mathematics. And it's a terrific collection, with wonderful color pictures, graphs, and charts. This Fourth edition (1999) is the first to have pictures (and other data) of Jupiter and of the Jovian satellites taken by the Galileo mission. And yes, I suspect there will be a fifth edition which will include, among other new material, pictures of Saturn and its satellites taken by the Cassini mission.
This is the best possible introduction to the study of our Solar System. I'd recommend reading it before getting into a more formal university textbook on the subject.
Non-expert's opinion.......2004-10-15
As a layperson reading this book, I find it very easy to understand what is being said, and I feel that I am learning a great deal from it. The writing is interesting enough to hold my attention and keep me from drifting off, which is a problem I have with many other science texts. Overall, I am finding reading this book an enjoyable experience.
Thorough planetology book for the non-expert public.......2004-05-27
This is a very thorough book, covering many important aspects of planetology. Its level of depth is very adequate to its intended public, that of non-expert but "science-literate" people. Although slightly out-of-date (it's been 5 years since its publication), most of its content is still considered correct. It is a shame that its Amazon average customer review has been degraded by Robert M Carto's unfortunate reviews. Unfortunate because they represent the opinion of someone who believes in the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky. Velikovsky's theories are considered unscientific by the vast majority of astronomy professional researchers (including myself) who have read them.
Obsolete Edition.......2003-05-26
This was a great Fourth edition when published back in 1999. NASA and the science of astronomy have learned much since then. When the new information is incorporated in a Fifth Edition, we will look forward to the new theories and data.
Average customer rating:
- Review the evidence. Explore the possibilities.
- Review from an ACTUAL reader
- Making contact with the Martian new vision
- Tonnies goes where NASA fears to tread!
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After the Martian Apocalypse: Extraterrestrial Artifacts and the Case for Mars Exploration
Mac Tonnies
Manufacturer: Paraview Pocket Books
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ASIN: 074348293X |
Book Description
Part exo-archaeological treatise and part cultural commentary, After The Martian Apocalypse is an uncompromising and groundbreaking perspective on a cosmic controversy that has perplexed scientists and astronomers for years. Here, Mac Tonnies details the latest Mars discoveries and their paradigm-toppling implications, offering strong new evidence that points to an extinct civilization on the Red Planet -- and explaining how our own survival may depend on confronting the strange and ancient truths to be found there. Facing the prospect of a previous intelligent extraterrestrial civilization, Tonnies portrays Mars as a scientific and cultural conundrum. He challenges orthodox notions of mankind's role in space -- and illuminates the imperative concept that to truly understand our own world, we must first understand our unsettling and enigmatic planetary neighbor.
Download Description
Part exo-archaeological treatise and part cultural commentary, After The Martian Apocalypse is an uncompromising and groundbreaking perspective on a cosmic controversy that has perplexed scientists and astronomers for years. Here, Mac Tonnies details the latest Mars discoveries and their paradigm-toppling implications, offering strong new evidence that points to an extinct civilization on the Red Planet -- and explaining how our own survival may depend on confronting the strange and ancient truths to be found there. Facing the prospect of a previous intelligent extraterrestrial civilization, Tonnies portrays Mars as a scientific and cultural conundrum. He challenges orthodox notions of mankind's role in space -- and illuminates the imperative concept that to truly understand our own world, we must first understand our unsettling and enigmatic planetary neighbor.
Customer Reviews:
Review the evidence. Explore the possibilities........2004-09-01
To NASA's credit robotic space probes have returned thousands of fascinating images of the surface of Mars. In some of these images, certain unusual features, to some, appear to be artificial in origin, potential ancient artifacts of intelligent intervention. The growing body of evidence in support of theories of "artificiality" has been accompanied by a growing body of literature on the subject. Along with peer-reviewed journal articles and other technical papers, an excellent series of books has been published. These include Hoagland's Monuments of Mars, Carlotto's The Martian Enigmas and The Cydonia Controversy, the SPSR's The Case for the Face, and Jinks' The Monkey and the Tetrahedron to name a few. Mac Tonnies' After the Martian Apocalypse contributes significantly to this literature in that not only does he review the history of the research from his own unique perspective as others have, but also explores the possibilities and implications such a profound discovery would raise. Drawing on his expertise in science fiction, he uses thought experiments that provide the reader ideas and potential scenarios. Tonnies also investigates how the internet now serves an important role in the way ideas are born, evolve, die, then maybe reborn in what he calls "memespace". Well written, this book does very well to introduce the subject to the uninitiated while at the same time provide a thought-provoking journey into possibilities and implications for the well versed. I highly recommend the book.
Review from an ACTUAL reader.......2004-08-24
I thought this book was just O.K. It is the third book I have read dealing with the Cydonia controversy. I've been a long time reader on Mac Tonnies website and I anxiously awaited the release of this book. After reading it i was somewhat disappointed. I am by no means an expert on this subject but I do research it quite often. Mac Tonnies seemed to write this book in a hurry, every time it started to get good the chapter would end. As i read the book i enjoyed it but had the feeling that Mac wanted to write more but lacked the knowledge of his subject manner. He also lacked any real personal theories which is what I was looking for in his book. His slamming of Hoagland was also very dissatisfying. I think he should stick to his website job or write more science fiction. My #1 recommended book on this topic is called "Cydonia, the secret chronicles of Mars", by David Flynn. His website is http://www.mt.net/~watcher/new you should check it out too. All in all this was a good read and if your at all intrested in the Cydonian Enigma than you should buy After the Martian Appocalypse. Its a cheap price and definately worth reading.
Making contact with the Martian new vision.......2004-08-09
More than twenty years ago, the Viking I and II spacecrafts initiated an era of sensational and mysterious discoveries about the red planet. These new mass of alien information has not been fully understood nor explained satisfactorily by the mainstream scientists. How to perceive and understand alien life or even alien intelligence? Mac Tonnies showed with this book that he is one of the exponents of the so called internet micro culture of hobbyists (his words), authors and independent researchers who are successfully giving a consistent alternate vision of the Martian and many other extraterrestrial mysteries. This book is inspired, dense with a multitude of new accessible ideas and showed that it is set to become the basic introductory handbook of the next step of the human evolution. If we fail to democratically understand what is going to come, to expand our intelligence, and at the same time to preserve our good moral and feelings, we will not deserve the future, we will probably die as a technological civilization. Planet Mars is gently showing us the right way to the stars. If you want to take the red pill, read this book. Don't be afraid, the future belongs to the mind opened courageous guys.
Tonnies goes where NASA fears to tread!.......2004-08-04
Do you want to learn what NASA is afraid to tell us? Do you want to see what is really on Mars? You are not afraid of challenging your beliefs are you? Good! Now go purchase Mac Tonnies' exceptional book which reveals the secrets of Mars that are contained in NASA's own photographs. Not only is Mac a brilliant writer but he presents his case for the probablity of artificial artifacts on the red planet with the skill of a trial attorney. His arguments are objective and relevent - his conclusions are intelligent and logical. With Tonnies' book you will take a revealing trip to Mars - and you will go first class!
Book Description
Reveals the ancient mathematical principles refuting the notion of the solar system as an accidental creation
• Reveals how ancient civilizations encoded their secret knowledge of the sky in mythology, music, and sacred measures
• Shows how modern culture can benefit from the ancient astronomical and astrological worldview based on number
• Shows the role of ratio and harmonic proportions in the creation of the material world
Humanity’s understanding of number was deeper and richer when the concept of creation was rooted in direct experience. But modern sensibility favors knowledge based exclusively on physical laws. We have forgotten what our ancestors once knew: that numbers and their properties create the forms of the world. Ancient units of measurement held within them the secrets of cosmic proportion and alignment that are hidden by the arbitrary decimal units of modern mathematical thinking.
Sacred numbers arose from ancient man’s observations of the heavens. Just as base ten numbers relate to the fingers and toes in terms of counting, each celestial period divides into the others like fingers revealing the base numbers of planetary creation. This ancient system made the art of counting a sacramental art, its units being given spiritual meanings beyond just measurement. The imperial yard, for example, retains a direct relationship to the Equator, the length of a day and a year, and the angular values of Earth, Moon, and Jupiter.
The ancients encoded their secret knowledge of the skies within mythology, music, monuments, and units of sacred measurement. They understood that the ripeness of the natural world is the perfection of ratio and realized that the planetary environment--and time itself--is a creation of number.
Customer Reviews:
Was the solar syatem designed?.......2005-06-03
Why do the "Intelligent Design" people put all their effort into demolishing a superior system of biology. The best indications of design are in the numerical facts of the solar system where the golden mean is found and the numbers of the orbit of the moon match those of the orbit of Jupiter. Richard Heath, continuing a path pioneered by John Mitchell and others presents facts that are hard to digest. Yes, I would like read a debunking of what is presented here, but I have a feeling that I will not get one. The book is sometimes difficult to follow, and one must read some parts more than once to understand them. Constantly one feels that this cannot be. The measurements of the bodies in our solar system must be just happenstance. They cannot fit together in a numeric system as presented here. So is Heath twisting the numbers? Apparently not. Then what does it mean that this is so? Certainly this is a challenge for science, but it actually an even bigger one for the dogmatists of our age. The so-called "Intelligent Design" people will not accept this because to do so requires an acceptance of older gods.
Book Description
The exploration and colonization of Mars, as discussed in the more than 130 papers and essays from the Mars Society's annual conferences, is presented in this second volume of the On to Mars series. Formed in 1998 to support the exploration and settlement of Mars, the Mars Society seeks to educate and convince political powers, industry leaders, and the public about the necessity of committing resources to the development of a Mars settlement program. Covering recent technological and planning advances, these essays cover the last three years of Mars Society meetings and discuss such topics as habitat infrastructure, exploration technique, and colony organization as they have been explored at the Mars Society's Analog Research Stations at Devon Island, Nunavuit in Canada and in Hanksville, Utah. Two short videos, Stepping Stones to Mars and Robert Zubrin's testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce at the Hearings on the Future of the U.S. Space Program, are featured on the included CD-ROM.
Customer Reviews:
A serious and artistic look at the future of space exploration.......2007-09-18
This book is for the serious reader and the space enthusiast who sees Mars as a real future endeavor. If you believe in the reality of space exploration and wish to see just how we can go about getting there, then this book is for you. There is also poetry, light hearted looks at Mars themes, etc. It comes with a CD as well. It is a culmination of several serious space related authors who came together, like Lewis & Clark, to explore new frontiers. Only this time they look beyond our blue planet.
only for the serious amateur/scientist.......2007-09-11
this book is actually a collection of scientific papers on the topic of Mars mission planning. If you are not a serious scientist or amateur engrossed in the subject you will be bored. I was expecting more material from Zubrin. I recommend instead Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan
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