Hubble's Universe: Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images 42707th Edition

I bought a book at Amazon a couple of years ago called "Far Out" by Michael Benson and it has some truly amazing images in it. I thought maybe this will be as good as it gets for consumer Astronomy picture books. It has now been surpassed. Just recently I bought "Hubble's Universe" by Terence Dickinson and am now finished the book. Every time you turn a page is WOW!!!! moment in your life. The images in this book are just stunning. Terence writes in a non-technical very reader friendly style and I've a couple of his books from the past but this thing has got to be the greatest astronomy picture book to be found. We see a lot of bad things in the news media about some people but this book is representative of some of mankind's highest achievements. The ability to create a technology in order to "see" objects that are hundreds of thousands of light years across and hundreds of millions of light years distant in such stunning detail is truly a unique human trait. Reading through this book is very humbling in that we humans are contemplating the unbelievably vast oceans of space, time and matter and we are insignificant bits of dust on Earth with extremely limited time spans. But we can also feel a sense of pride in our teams of scientists and engineers... and the every day tax-payers supporting them, who have enabled such a wonderful view of the cosmos. It would be a waste of time and money to buy a Kindle version of this book as the colourful images is what this book is about. You need the physical book for this one. Truly wonderful !!!! (Absolutely awesome !!! for residents of the USA)

“The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most ambitious, legendary and nail-biting science endeavors in human history. The payoff has been immeasurable: Hubble has given us the universe.’’Author’s enthusiasm for astronomy and Hubble really jumps off the page.Great effort! Why?“Still, no one imagined that Hubble’s photographs of deep space would be so utterly, jaw-droppingly beautiful. Or that the pictures would have a purely visceral appeal to an entire generation, making Hubble a household word synonymous with spectacular images of the cosmos.’’No question, these are ‘jaw-dropping’ pictures! Amazing! And . . .“Hubble photographs know no national, political or ideological boundaries. There are no language or cultural barriers to being completely entranced by Hubble’s vision. The images are so overpowering and humbling, they have touched people of all ages, a reminder that we inhabit a tiny planet in a vast universe with many remaining unknowns.’’So true! Another highlight is the brief, non-technical explanations of Hubble’s discoveries. For example . . .“Adam Riess wrote a computer program to calculate the universe’s deceleration rate using supernova survey data collected by Hubble, the computer kept coming up with a “negative mass” for the universe. Riess at first thought this was simply a programming error. But then he realized that the computer program was trying to make sense out of the nonsensical: There was a repulsive force in space. It’s ironic that the computer had reached this conclusion in a methodical way before Riess realized the awesome ramifications.’’Neat! Now we have a ‘repulsive force’. Is that all? Well . . .“The mystery lingered until scientists began to realize that only large amounts of hidden mass could support theories attempting to explain the structure of the universe. Galaxy clusters might be tied to an invisible scaffolding of so-called dark matter. In fact, we now know that this invisible form of matter comprises most of the universe’s mass and forms its basic underlying structure.’’‘Universe mostly invisible’! Wha . . . wha . . . what?“In 1994, Hubble astronomers quickly ruled out the possibility that faint red dwarf stars constitute dark matter. By simply counting the number of faint red stars in our galaxy’s outer halo, scientists determined that the Milky Way has too few of these stars to account for dark matter. This left dark matter as a problem for particle physicists. The best dark matter candidates are exotic elementary particles which have yet to be discovered with accelerator experiments and which interact very weakly with familiar particles and with themselves.’’We . . . do . . . not . . . know . . . what the most abundant atomic particle is . . . What is going on?“A property of space, dark energy fights against the gravitational pull of dark matter. It pushes galaxies apart from one another by stretching the space between them, thereby suppressing the formation of giant galaxy clusters. One way astronomers can probe this primeval tug-of-war is through mapping the distribution of dark matter in clusters.’’‘Universal tug-of-war’!Lots of . . . just . . . just . . . incredible, astonishing, wonderful pictures — insights!

Ordered this book as a gift, not realizing that it was the Compact Edition, which is a full inch smaller in width and length, so not quite as impressive as the 11x11 version. The title didn't indicate that it was a different size and I didn't notice it in the small print since I was ordering from my phone. I was able to exchange it, but it would be helpful if the title clearly stated Compact Edition to avoid confusion. Also disappointed that neither version has a dust jacket.

Great descriptions of some of the most incredible space images. Not the kind of book you read once and put away, it’s a conversation starter & something you’ll want to read multiple times. Highly recommended!

I've looked at Hubble photos before, somtimes on TV, via the internet, and occasionly in print. I always enjoy seeing and learning about them. This book, however, takes the whole experience to a new level. As I learned about the technology required to obtain the basic information and then the artistry required to produce the enhanced photos, I could better appreciate the true miracle of the photos. I appreciate the dedication of all the people required to put the book in my hand.Whether you are an expert in the field or the parent of a child just showing an interest in the sky, I highly recommend this book.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful book!This book has been on my wish list far too long and then I finally decided to treat myself for my birthday and bought this book. It is worth every cent!Beautifully put together, easy to read and understand without being simple, and the photos are glorious!I can't say enough good things about this book. It puts the majesty and the mystery and the awe of the universe right into your own hands.

My fiancé loves anything that has to do with space, and he already has a wide collection of books and DVD’s and such so I was a little gotta nervous about ordering this as he might already have it. Turns out he didn’t and he was amazed by this. I think this is a perfect gift for anyone with curiousity about space. The photos are beautiful and the book itself is big and has a lot of pictures. You can’t beat the price point either. Overall satisfied with this purchase.

I orderd three similar books - this one; Hubble: Imaging Space and Time (National Geographic); and Hubble: Window on the Universe.I was ordering for the sake of plain visual please. To this end, the book is a bit disappointing - it is not really large itself, and the pictures are surrounded by lots of white space. Looks nice and clean, but doesn't give the kick.However, the text is the most informative and accessible out of all three books - to my amatuer, but interested eye (I enjoy Popular Mechanics). Learnt quite a bit.Also - the share of actual Hubble photos (or at least composite pictures using Hubble photos) seems to be the biggest here.

big book, lots of amazing colour photos and plenty of scientific explanations for the geek in you, would recommend if you have anyone interested in space

Excellent presentation.

Bought this for my husband for his birthday (15th May). I'm pretty certain he will like it.

I am so enjoying the beautiful, mindblowiing pictures that lead to wonder. A book like this puts life into a different perspective. Good balance between pictures and information.Very good quality.

I bought this for my Father as a present as he has always been fascinated with the Universe.My Father was surprised & loved all the beautiful pictures that this book had inside!If you are a fan of the Universe & want to see some amazing photos then this is a brilliant book to own.

absolutely must have - I wish it was a bit bigger as the pictures are AMAZING great quality, lovely descriptions, easy to understand for somebody who knows nothing about the universe :)

Have bought this as a gift and find both information and photography particularly magnificent.

Bought this as a Christmas present. Beautiful book with wonderful pictures. If you or a friend are interested in the stars and planets then this is a must have book. Quite a large book but one to leave on the coffee table for browsing.

Bought the book for the pictures and I was not disappointed - beautiful photographs - Dickinson has done it - a fantastic book.Rene, Copenhagen

Bought as a gift for an enthusiast, who loved it. Lots of amazing pictures as well as a wealth of information. Excellent purchase.

Very nice book

Yes fabulous book

Excellent images and great supporting text. You can find all the images on the internet, but it does not beat the book experience - does not even come close. For anyone with an interest in the universe.

Brilliant