How We See the Sky: A Naked-Eye Tour of Day and Night

There is a lot of information in Dr. Hockey's sky guide about the amazing things happening up there if we only knew more about them. I bought the book when it was released and it inspired me to build a 25 foot sundial. I was surprised when I returned to Amazon to send a copy to a friend that there were only two customer reviews in almost three years. Dr Hockey deserves more recognition than that for this exceptional work.To me, this is not a guide that you carry outside with you in the dark. It is one that you read slowly and then reread, because the information is technical, yet understandable, and when you absorb it, it is very satisfying to appreciate it. Today's average person so knows little about the heavens compared our ancient ancestors, but this book can correct that by making complexities of the sky simple enough for the non-technical.The broad base of knowledge that Dr Hockey covers (earth, sun, moon, stars, planets, etc.) makes it impossible to handle each topic in great detail, but each is presented at just the right level for the observer. Even curious urban dwellers whose ability to observe then night sky is impaired by light pollution can read and learn about the observations made over many millennia and the science that has taken us so long to accumulate.As has been said, the book would benefit from more and better illustrations and graphics (it is b&w). And it reads something like a textbook, probably because Dr Hockey is an astronomy professor, although it is very engaging and not pedantic.

This extremely enlightening work will reconnect you to a fundamental appreciation of the heavens that was taken for granted by our ancestors but now largely forgotten. Just be aware of a subtle distinction in the title: this not so much about what you see in the sky, but the how of its patterns and their significance. It is not your typical backyard guide to the stars and constellations. But if you have any nagging curiosity about how sundials, solstices and eclipses were figured out long before the invention of the telescope, this will fascinate you. Various examples from the field of archeoastronomy are mentioned in passing, from Egyptian and Central American pyramids to Plains Indian medicine wheels. It will restore your sense of wonder next time you look up at the sky, no matter where you live. Because the discussion is limited to naked eye viewing, everything here is accessible to even a casual viewer in the most light-polluted city.The prose is exactly what you would expect from an astronomy professor from Iowa. It manages to be both clunky yet somehow charming in its dry, nerdy earnestness. Unless you are already trained in astronomy, you are guaranteed to come away from reading this with a deeper appreciation of the celestial rhythms that have been apparent to interested observers since ancient times.

I'm amazed how much I've learned from this book. I'm a very visual person, I typically need lots of pictures to understand something. This book is almost completely devoid of pictures, but Thomas describes the night sky so well that I can visualize exactly what he's talking about better than actually seeing pictures or diagrams. Awesome 100 times over, thank you Thomas for this gem.

The idea for this book is commendable -- to deal with astronomy from an observational standpoint. He rocks back and forth between his goal and the current science. However, a good editor could have given much help. The writing is often too dry and lacks clarity at many points. There are no diagrams when they would be extremely helpful. The sidebars are not put into boxes that would delineate them from chapter text, but just appear as complete pages inside chapters. One thinks the end of the chapter is on the next page only to discover that the large heading is only a sidebar and the text continues a page or two later. The book appears that it was published without editorial assistance.