Galaxies: Inside the Universe's Star Cities Hardcover – May 26, 2020

Eicher does a really good job of explaining how small our solar system is relative to our milky way galaxy, then shows how small that is relative to our local group of galaxies, then shows how small that is relative to our super cluster of galaxies, and then shows how small that is relative to our universe of galaxies. Along the way, he discusses relativity, black holes, dark matter, and all the other usual stellar suspects. There's enough Hubble photos and interpretations offered so that by the end of the book you can pick out barred galaxies, gravitational interactions, gas and dust clouds, etc all by yourself and get a better understanding and feel for what the Hubble photos are telling you. It's like seeing a photo of your cousin Bobby and recognizing that strange smile he gets right after he's been caught raiding the cookie jar. I started feeling familiar enough that I could tell what was happening in the Hubble photos before I read the captions. That alone was worth it. Along with a few emotional reactions to some spectacular Hubble photos that I now appreciated better.There is one con to mention. There are a series of frustrating inconsistencies in the book. Chap 4, the Virgo supercluster, has much text about M87, M86, M60. But nowhere in the page 154 diagram of the supercluster are these identified. Many others are identified, but not the ones he talks about. Page 109, he talks about the Triangulum galaxy, but the diagram on page 112 labels it as Pinwheel, M33. Page 94, he discusses the small and large megallanic clouds, but does not clearly identify the 2 clouds amongst the thousands of stars and clusters in the photos. There are multiple references to one distance from us in the text, but the image lists a slightly different distance. There's a disconnect between the images and the captions or text that makes it frustrating if you read it closely and try to follow every reference.

I've been an amateur astronomer for more than 2 decades now, and read both major astronomy magazines from time to time. I've also read LOTS of books about astronomy, along with information online. I am endlessly amazed at the photos taken by the observatories of the world.If you'd like ONE place to not only get a wonderful overview of where our galaxy is and how we fit into the larger cosmos - and SEE that too - this is the book to get. David Eicher has written a very well thought out book that starts with where we are, and brings the reader all the way into some of the very deep aspects of galactic knowledge and theory - without ever overwhelming the reader (well, maybe a bit at the very end for some, but it's still understandable).The pictures are beautiful. They need not be glossy to be beautiful, as a few others comments have suggested. They not only help give a good idea of what all is out there galaxy-wise, they actually visually tell the story David is sharing in his very-readable and relatable text.This is a well laid out book. Anyone with a passing interest in astronomy and especially galaxies would be well served by not only reading it, but having it on their bookshelf or coffee table for reference.

I pre-ordered this after reading an excerpt published in Astronomy magazine. What impressed me was how the author combined stunning, state-of-the-art astrophotography with a compelling narrative of discovery. Almost exactly a century ago Edwin Hubble first proved that little starry smudges in the sky were actually separate galaxies of stars in an expanding universe. That mind-blowing feeling of discovery is repeated many times in this layman-friendly chronicle of how our knowledge of the cosmos has increased since then. The author acknowledges being inspired by a book of the same title in the 1980s, and has created a worthy successor for the twenty-first century. It can get a little obsessive in its listing of galaxy names, and the speed-of-light rocket trip visualizations a little hoary, but the “fast fact” presentation style, backed up with concise diagrams and beautiful photographs, create a sense of constant stimulation. The imagery used to explain quasars was particularly clear and memorable. I don’t want to spoil the adventure for you by revealing too much.This is a review of the Kindle edition. The jewel-like galaxies pictured here would probably have even more of an eye candy effect in the hardcover format.

A very well informed writer who can put things in perspective. Galaxies are amazing and "Galaxies" is an eye-opener.

I know the author from his activity and have heard him speak on a number of times. This is a good book that he wrote for the ages. We have it on our coffee table.

Good images and excellent dialogue. It is not a book for the Citizen Scientist but does give a good overview as to what is known about galaxies. Good for beginners or people interested in beautiful science books.

Being much more up to date, with pictures from Hubble, and other observatories in orbit, I expected this book to be more visually stunning than "Galaxies" by Timothy Ferris. I was disappointed. I won't criticize the text, because I expected the text to be geared towards neophytes. Many of the pictures are beautiful, though in the Timothy Ferris book, the glossy pages made for a more visually stunning appearance. My main complaint with this book is that many images are ruined by the fact that they are spread across two pages. That and the smaller size of this book make it not as good as the original "Galaxies" by Timothy Ferris.

After reading reviews about how awesome the pictures were in this book I decided to take a chance. I was expecting the photos to have a glossy finish was disappointed to see them in a matte finish. I feel the gloss finish would pop more and make this book more appealing. It is a gift for my son so I guess he will be the final judge. We'll see...

Well worth adding to anyone's library!

A great read with lovely photographs too. A must have for any astro nut.

Nice pictures intesting infoBut there's zero info on how to capturing your own pictures of galaxies for an amateur astrophotography

I think this is a great book, by a great author. Unfortunately the kindle edition has been very poorly done, and consequently is almost unreadable for me. Rather than flowing text, as most kindle books are, this book is simply a facsimile of the printed version, and not done at a particularly high resolution. You can magnify it, but it becomes blurry, and doesn't wrap. So if you need bigger print, you need to move the page backwards and forwards to read it.My advice: don't waste your money on the kindle version; spend a little more and buy the printed version.

I enjoyed every part of this book. A good asset for general knowledge of the subject . Can be enjoyed by everyone.