survey of introductory astronomy textbooks: an...

Volume 5, Sep 2006 - May 2007Issue 2

Survey of Introductory Astronomy Textbooks: An Updateby David BruningUniversity of Wisconsin-ParksidePosted: 02/16/07

The Astronomy Education Review, Issue 2, Volume 5:182-216, 2007

© 2007, David Bruning. Copyright assigned to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.

Abstract

The "2006 Survey of Introductory Astronomy Textbooks" had some inconsistencies and incompleteness inthe tables for ancillary and supplementary materials. This update includes revision of those tables plusupdated entries for 10 of the two dozen textbooks surveyed.

1. INTRODUCTION

To help instructors select textbooks for introductory astronomy courses, I have produced a series ofsurveys since 1997, with the latest appearing in this journal (Bruning 2006). My intention was to continuethis survey on a biennial basis, but the last installment had some inconsistencies and incompleteness in thetables describing ancillary and supplementary materials available for each text. This update should correctthose entries, as well as provide updates on 10 texts.

Rather than provide updated material for selected tables, I have updated the entire survey, except for thetable of alternative texts (e.g., Life in the Universe, Astronomy for Dummies). Two new titles have beenadded since the last survey, but two books have been discontinued, maintaining the number of texts at 23.Although a few teams have multiple versions of their texts, 18 different teams continue to write, enablingus to have a variety of voices and styles.

The titles included in this survey are (in alphabetical order by first author):

Arny--Explorations: An Introduction to AstronomyBennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit--The Cosmic PerspectiveBennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit--The Essential Cosmic PerspectiveBless--Discovering the Cosmos

Chaisson and McMillan--Astronomy: A Beginner’s Guide to the UniverseChaisson and McMillan--Astronomy TodayComins--Discovering the Essential UniverseComins and Kaufmann--Discovering the UniverseFix--Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic FrontierFraknoi, Morrison, and Wolff--Voyages through the UniverseFreedman and Kaufmann--UniverseHester et al.--21st Century AstronomyKaler--Astronomy! A Brief EditionKuhn and Koupelis--In Quest of the UniversePasachoff--Astronomy: From Earth to the UniversePasachoff and Filippenko--The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New MillenniumSchneider and Arny--Pathways to AstronomySeeds--Astronomy: The Solar System and BeyondSeeds--Foundations of AstronomySeeds--Horizons: Exploring the UniverseSeeds and Backman--Perspectives on Astronomy*Shawl, Ashman, and Hufnagel--Discovering AstronomyZeilik--Astronomy: The Evolving Universe

* A current edition of this book was not received in time for the survey.

New editions of the following texts should be in print soon, but their publication date prevented them frombeing included in this survey:

Freedman and Kaufmann--Universe (8e)Kuhn and Koupelis--In Quest of the Universe (5e) Seeds--Horizons: Exploring the Universe (10e)

2. THE TEXTBOOK SURVEY

Information about the texts is contained in 12 tables. The tables list the texts in alphabetical order by title.Many readers refer to the books by author, so the list above provides a concordance.

A physical examination of each text provided the information contained in Tables 1–6. Information aboutancillaries and supplementary materials was obtained from a variety of sources, and we requested thateach publisher check the tables for their titles. Information about splits (text broken into two parts: "SolarSystem" and "Stars and Galaxies") came from inspection of the actual books.

The survey information is presented in twelve tables with entries collated by title. The tables contain:

1) Publisher and physical information

Title, author, pages, ISBN, price Pages are for running text only and do not include preface and appendices Price is publisher’s "list" price

2) Splits (text broken into two parts)

Title, author, pages, ISBN, price

2b) Splits (chapter counts and listing of repeated chapters)

3) Page counts by topic (percentages may not total 100%)

4) Appendixes

Glossary, star lists, planet data, star charts, and so on

5) Pedagogical features (Part I)

Learning objectives, summaries, questions, problems, reading list, activities

6) Pedagogical features (Part II)

Sidebars, essays, math level, other features

7) Ancillaries

CD-ROMs, transparencies, slides, test banks, instructor manuals, study guides, and so on

8) Supplements

PowerPoint materials, personal response systems, online quizzes and tests, WebCT or Blackboardfiles, electronic books, and other resources

9) Packages (sometimes called bundles; other books or materials that may be packaged with the text)

10) Text Web site URLs (see comment after this list)

11) Publisher Web site URLs (also includes links to astronomy textbook catalogs)

Text Web sites may be intended for use by the student, instructor or both; sometimes only one "flavor" isavailable, whereas other texts have multiple Web sites. Note that some publishers allow Web accessthrough a "quick link" using the author’s name. Several publishers maintain sites for previous editions oftexts. No attempt was made to describe the companion Web sites for the textbooks.

Repeated in this survey are author comments with updates and revisions. Although not every author teamresponded to the request for comments, users of this survey have responded favorably to their inclusion,and I encourage authors to respond in future surveys.

3. ANALYSIS

Average book size has not changed significantly from the last survey (now 604 vs. 602 pages), althoughseveral individual texts increased by 50–100 pages. Prices have increased slightly, from an average of$97.30 in 2006 to $99.28 in this survey (2%), but note that several books have increased in price by up to12%, outstripping inflation significantly.

Prices listed in this survey reflect publisher list prices, excluding discount prices at publisher Web sites.Your bookstore’s price may vary from the list prices stated in Table 1 owing to mark-ups, price changes,and book availability. Check with your local bookstore or bookseller to determine what their price to thestudent will be, if price is a final determinant in choosing between texts.

What is an average text like? It has 604 pages, has a soft cover, and starts with the Solar System and worksout to the universe as a whole (only three books order the topics the other way). Twenty-eight percent ofthe text is devoted to the Solar System (171 pages), 25% to stars (150 pages), 19% to galaxies andcosmology (117 pages), 15% to history and sky motions (93 pages), 9% to light and telescopes (52 pages),and 3% to astrobiology (18 pages). A few texts have additional chapters on modern physics. Texts average15 pages of appendixes, 15 glossary pages, and 15 pages of index. (These numbers may differ fromprevious editions because of a change in font size or other formatting changes.)

I am always interested in hearing from instructors regarding items that they would like to see included ormodified in this survey. The next installment of the text survey will return to its biennial appearance in 2009.

Table 1. Physical Book, Publisher, and Price Information

Title Edition Author(s) Publisher Year Pages Cover ISBN Price Splits

Astronomy:A Beginner’sGuide to the Universe

5Chaissonand McMillan

Prentice Hall 2007 499 Soft 0-13-187165-X $101.00

Astronomy!A Brief Edition

1 Kaler Addison-Wesley 1997 533 Soft 0-673-98561-X $118.00

Astronomy:TheEvolving Universe

9 ZeilikCambridgeUniversity Press

2002 483 Soft 0-521-80090-0 $75.00

Astronomy:From Earthto the Universe

6media update

Pasachoff Brooks/Cole 2002 816 Soft 0-534-42197-0 $120.95

Astronomy:Journey tothe Cosmic Frontier

4 Fix McGraw-Hill 2006 658 Hard 0-07-304078-9 $110.00 Yes

Astronomy:The SolarSystem and Beyond

5 Seeds Brooks/Cole 2007 502 Soft 0-495-01577-6 $115.95

Astronomy Today

5Chaissonand McMillan

Prentice Hall 2005 761 Hard 0-13-144596-0 $114.67 Yes

The Cosmic Perspective

4

Bennett,Donahue,Schneider,and Voit

Addison-Wesley 2007 735 Soft 0-8053-9283-1 $110.67 Yes

TheEssentialCosmic Perspective

3media update

Bennett,Donahue,Schneider,and Voit

Addison-Wesley 2005 488 Soft 0-8053-8956-3 $105.00

The Cosmos:Astronomyin the New Millennium

3Pasachoffand Filippenko

Brooks/Cole 2007 500 Soft 0-495-01304-8 $113.95

Discovering Astronomy

5

Shawl,Ashman,and Hufnagel

Kendall/Hunt 2006 671 Soft 0-7575-2705-0 $79.95

Discoveringthe Cosmos

1 BlessUniversityScience Books

1996 714 Hard 0-935702-67-9 $76.00

Discoveringthe Essential Universe

3 Comins W.H. Freeman 2006 356 Soft 0-7167-4595-X $55.95

Discoveringthe Universe

7Comins and Kaufmann

W.H. Freeman 2005 495 Soft 0-7167-6960-3 $92.95

Explorations:AnIntroductionto Astronomy

4 Arny McGraw-Hill 2006 538 Soft 0-07-304080-0 $108.00 Yes

Foundationsof Astronomy

9 Seeds Brooks/Cole 2007 676 Hard 0-495-01578-4 $116.95 Yes

Horizons:Exploringthe Universe

9 Seeds Brooks/Cole 2006 496 Soft 0-495-01003-0 $103.95

In Quest ofthe Universe

4Kuhn and Koupelis

Jones and Bartlett

2004 630 Soft 0-7637-0810-0 $98.95

Pathways to Astronomy

1Schneiderand Arny

McGraw-Hill 2007 699 Soft 0-07-249965-6 $95.31

PerspectivesonAstronomy *

1Seeds and Backman

Brooks/Cole 2008350 (est.)

Soft 0-495-11352-2 $58.95

21st Century Astronomy

2

Hester,Burstein,Blumenthal,Greeley,Smith, and Voss

W.W. Norton 2007 647 Soft 0-393-92443-2 $90.00 Yes

Universe 7Freedmanand Kaufmann

W.H. Freeman 2005 694 Soft 0-7167-8694-X $102.25 Yes

Voyagesthrough the Universe

3media update

Fraknoi,Morrison,and Wolff

Brooks/Cole 2004 697 Soft 0-495-01789-2 $118.95 Yes

* This book was not received in time for the survey preventing its inclusion in the other tables.

Table 2. Splits (Text Broken into Two Volumes)

Main Title Splits Edition Year Pages Cover ISBN Price

Astronomy:Journey to theCosmic Frontier

Volume 1:Solar System

4 2006 437 Soft 0-07-312611-X $63.13

Volume 2:Stars and Galaxies

4 2006 418 Soft 0-07-312612-8 $63.13

Astronomy Today

The SolarSystem(Volume I)

5 2005 455 Soft 0-13-117683-8 $68.00

Stars andGalaxies(Volume II)

5 2005 499 Soft 0-13-117684-6 $68.00


The Solar System

4 2006 463 Soft 0-8053-9296-3 $64.67

Stars,Galaxies, and Cosmology

4 2006 525 Soft 0-8053-9210-6 $64.67

Explorations:An Introductionto Astronomy

Volume I:Solar System

4 2006 348 Soft 0-07-312589-X $58.75

Volume II:Stars & Galaxies

4 2006 361 Soft 0-07-312586-5 $58.75

Foundations of Astronomy

The Solar System

5 2007 435 Soft 0-495-01575-X $71.96

Stars and Galaxies

5 2007 474 Soft 0-495-01579-2 $71.96


The Solar System

2 2007 437 Soft 0-393-93009-2 $60.00

Stars and Galaxies

2 2007 429 Soft 0-393-93010-8 $60.00

Universe

The Solar System

2 2005 422 Soft 0-7167-8693-1 $64.95

Stars and Galaxies

2 2005 502 Soft 0-7167-8692-3 $64.95


Voyages to thePlanets (media update)

3 2006 367 Soft 0-495-01810-4 $53.96

Voyages to theStars andGalaxies(media update)

3 2006 521 Soft 0-495-01790-6 $53.96

Table 2b. Splits: Chapter Counts and Listing of Repeated Chapters

Main Title Splits Chapters Repeated Chapters

Astronomy: Journey to theCosmic Frontier

Volume 1: Solar System 16

1-6, 16-18 (197 pages) Volume 2: Stars and Galaxies

21

Astronomy Today

The Solar System(Volume I)

17

1-5, 16, 28 (191 pages) Stars and Galaxies(Volume II)

18


The Solar System 161-6, S1, 14, 24 (224pages) Stars, Galaxies and

Cosmology20

Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy

Volume I: Solar System 11

1-4, 11 (171 pages) Volume II: Stars & Galaxies

12

Foundations of AstronomyThe Solar System 16

1-8, 26(19) (209pages)

Stars and Galaxies 19

21st Century AstronomyThe Solar System 14

1-5, 14, 21 (225 pages) Stars and Galaxies 14

UniverseThe Solar System 19

1-8, 18, 30 (231 pages) Stars and Galaxies 21

Voyages through the Universe

Voyages through the Planets

151-5, 6(14), 21(15) (185pages)

Voyages to the Stars and Galaxies

21

Table 3. Page Counts by Topic

Title Subject OrderTotal Pages

Chapter Distribution *Chapters: Pages

Solar System

Stars Gal/Cosmos History/Motions Light/Telescopes Astrobiology

Ch:Pg % Ch:Pg % Ch:Pg % Ch:Pg % Ch:Pg % Ch:Pg %


Solar System-Stars-Galaxies/Cosmology

499 5:142 28 5:134 27 4:108 22 2:41 8 2:56 11 1:18 4



533 5:158 30 4:127 24 4:98 18 1:115 22 1:36 7 **:4 1



483 4:104 22 5:136 28 4:97 20 4:89 18 2:40 *** 8



816 14:264 32 10:220 27 7:202 25 4:67 8 2:44 5 1:18 2



658 9:240 36 6:146 22 5:126 19 5:100 15 1:30 5 1:16 2



502 4:126 25 5:136 27 4:96 19 4:79 16 2:44 9 1:21 4

Astronomy Today


761 10:262 34 7:198 26 5:142 19 2:59 8 3:80 11 1:20 3



735 7:210 29 5:115 16 5:116 16 5:144 20 2:55 **** 7 1:28 4



488 4:127 26 4:92 19 1:106 22 4:101 21 1:28 6 1:34 7



500 4:116 23 5:118 24 5:138 28 3:68 14 2:42 8 1:17 3



671 5:170 25 6:172 26 4:114 17 5:112 17 3:72 11 2:32 5


Stars-Galaxies/Cosmology-Solar System

712 2:122 17 6:178 25 6:146 20 8:170 24 2:68 10 1:28 4



356 3:103 29 4:94 26 2:65 18 2:54 15 1:40 11 1:9 3



495 5:152 31 5:128 26 4:90 18 2:61 12 2:53 11 1:11 2



537 6:176 33 4:112 21 3:94 18 2:90 17 2:56 10 1:9 2



676 7:202 30 7:178 26 4:110 16 5:107 16 2:52 8 1:24 4



496 4:118 24 6:150 30 4:102 21 4:75 15 1:26 5 1:25 5



630 5:196 31 5:152 24 3:110 17 4:97 15 2:64 10 1:11 2



699 17:162 23 20:166 24 13:115 16 20:150 2111:80 *****

11 2:16 2



647 7:209 32 5:148 23 4:125 19 3:90 14 2:72 11 **:8 1

UniverseSolar System-Stars-Galaxies/Cosmology

694 11:231 33 7:177 26 5:127 18 4:89 13 2:56 8 1:14 2



697 8:176 25 10:224 32 5:138 20 4:84 12 2:50 7 1:25 4

Average 604171 pp.

28 %

150 pp.

25 %

117 pp.

19 %

93 pp.15 %

52 pp. 9 % 18 pp.3%

* Percentages may not add up to 100% owing to round-off in percentages for individual sections.** This book does not have a separate chapter on astrobiology.*** This book has one chapter on modern physics (17 pages; 4% of book).**** This book has three chapters on modern physics (67 pages; 9% of book).***** This book has one section on modern physics (10 pages; 1% of book).

Table 4. Appendix Information by Topic

TitleAppendix

PagesGlossary

PagesPowersof Ten

Measurements& Constants

Periodic Table

EclipsesMeteor Showers

PlanetsPages

Brightest Stars

Nearest Stars

ConstellationsDeep

Sky & Messier

Local Group

StarCharts (S

or M)

Index Pages

Other


6 18 Y Y Text Text 1 Y Y Text S 11

electromagneticspectrum, starproperties,distance scale


14 17 Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Y Text S 14

diffuse nebulae,variable stars,novae, visualbinaries


13 30 Y Y Y 5 Y Y Text 20 energy outputs


18 18 Text Y Y Text Text 3 Y Y Y Y S 19

extrasolarplanets,fundamentalparticles


14 14 Y Y Text Y 4 Y Y Y Y S 14galaxies, loggraphs


10 9 Y Y Y Text Y 2 Y Y Text M 13elongations ofplanets, starproperties

Astronomy Today

8 21 Y Y Y Text Text 2 Y Y Text S 14

electromagneticspectrum, starproperties,distance scale


28 14 Y Y Y Text Text 4 Y Y Y Y Y S 17

observatories,galaxy clusters,ratios,formulas,extrasolarplanets


25 12 Y Y Y Text Text 3 Y Y Y Y Y S 12observatories,galaxy clusters,ratios, formulas


6 11 Text Y Text Text 1 Y Y YY (images)

S 9


28 24 Y Y Y Text 3 Y Y Y Y M 15formulas,timeline


16 Y Y Text Text 1 Y Y Y Text S 12 computation


13 16 Y Y Text Text Text 5 Y Y Y Text 12 temperature


17 16 Y Y Text Text Text 4 Y Y Y Text 6 14

problemsolving, graphs,mass inventory,galaxies,temperature,formulas


11 13 Y Y Y Text Y 3 Y Y Y S 12 star properties


10 9 Y Y Y Text Y 2 Y Y Text M 13star properties,elongations ofplanets


23 9 Y Y Y Text Y 3 Y Y M 14 star properties


10 7 Text Y Text Text 4 Y Y Y S 11


12 22 Y Y Y Text Text 2.5 Y Y Y Y Equatorial 15galaxies, starproperties,formulas


24 17 Y Y Y Text 3 Y Y S 25

math, angles,orbits,magnitudes,IAU definitionof planet

Universe 8 18 Text Y Text Text Text 5 Y Y Text M 22


22 12 Y Y Y Y Text 3 Y Y Y Y Y M 15

Text = This information is contained within the text, not the appendixes.S or M indicates seasonal or monthly star charts.

Table 5. Pedagogical Features (Part I)

TitleSection

Overview

SectionLearning

Objectives

Chapter Overview

ChapterLearning

Objectives

Reading Tips/Skills

ChapterReview

or Summary

Formula Summary

Chapter Questions

AnswersChapter

ProblemsAnswers

WebSite List

ReadingList *

Conceptor KeyTerm List

Group Activities

IndividualActivities


Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y App. Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y App. Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Ref. (in App.)

Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Astronomy Today

Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y App.


Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y

Universe Y Y Y Y Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

* App. = The list is found in an appendix; Ref. = A technical reference list is included that refers to the professional literature.

Table 6. Pedagogical Features (Part II)

TitleMisconceptions

(sidebars)Sidebars

Enrichment

SidebarsGreater

ExplanationEssays

Math

Other Features Level

In text

Sidebars


Y (22) Y (11) logs Y Y

Self-testquestion and answers;"ConceptChecks"embedded intext withanswers


Y (13) logs andfractional powers

Y Y


Y (18) Y (10) logs Y

"CelestialNavigator"(chapter conceptmaps); "InquiryFocus" (sectionquestions); "ToSum Up"


Y (43) Y (16) logs Y Y"CorrectingMisconceptions"


logs andfractional powers

Y YInitial questionsfor each chapter


Windows onScience (39)


Y

Concept artsummaries (32),TheSkyactivities, Webprojects

Astronomy Today

Y (39) Y (10) logs Y Y

Self-testquestions,"ConceptCheck"embedded intext withanswers


Y (38) Y (34) fractional powers

Y Y

Summaryfigures, "ThinkAbout It"questions, Webprojects,Voyageractivities


Y (30) Y (19) powers Y

Summaryfigures, "ThinkAbout It"questions,"MovieMadness," Webprojects


Web site Y (64) Y (14)People inAstronomy (4)

fractional powers

Y"Topics forDiscussion"


Y powers Y Inquiryquestions in textwith answers


fractional powers

Y


Y Y (43) Astronomy’sFoundation Builders

powers Y Initial questionsfor each chapterwith answers


Y (12)"What If" (8)

logs Y YInitial questionsfor each chapterwith answers


Y (7) Y (9)Time,Backyard Astronomy

powers Y Y

"Test Yourself"with answers,"What Is It?"images,planetariumexercises


Y (5)Windows onScience (45)


Y

Concept artsummaries (32),TheSkyactivities, Webprojects


Windows onScience (40)


YConcept Artsummaries (32)


Y (53) Y (6) logs andfractional powers

Y YGlossary inmargins


fractional powers

Y

BackgroundPathways, "TestYourself" withanswers,thoughtquestions inmargins of text,"Looking Up"star maps


Y (54) Y (13) fractional powers

Y Y

Summary pointsin text, originsof life themesidebars

Universe Y (14) Y (12)GuestEssays (9)

logs Y YInitial questionsfor each chapter


Y (33) Y (4)Voyagers inAstronomy (19)


Y Y"ThinkingAhead"

Table 7. Ancillary Materials Available

TitlePlanetarium

ProgramCD-ROMwith Book

Transparencies SlidesImage andAnimation

Test Bank

Instructor’s Manual

Study Guide

Other Materials


SkyChart IIIe-book, 50animationsand videos

Y (260) Y (260)

CD-ROMPaper, CD-ROM

Paper, CD-ROM

Peer Instructionfor Astronomy,Physlets,Learner-CenteredAstronomyTeaching,Lecture Tutorials


Y Y



RedShift(Coll. ed.)

Y Y CD-ROMPaper, program

Paper


Starry Night Y CD-ROM CD-ROM CD-ROM


TheSky or RedShift


Paper

Astronomy Today

SkyChart IIIe-Book, 50animationsand videos

Y Y CD-ROMPaper, CD-ROM

Paper, CD-ROM

Peer Instructionfor Astronomy,Physlets,Learner-CenteredAstronomyTeaching,Lecture Tutorials


VoyagerSkyGazer,Starry Night

e-bookwithinteractive figures

Y CD-ROM,Web site

Paper, CD-ROM

Paper, Web site

Mediaworkbook;AstronomyActive Learning(in-classtutorials);Cosmos (DVD);Themes of theTimes onAstronomy


VoyagerSkyGazer,Starry Night

Y CD-ROM,Web site

Paper, CD-ROM

Mediaworkbook;AstronomyActive Learning(in-classtutorials);Cosmos (DVD);Themes of theTimes onAstronomy


TheSky Y (100) Y CD-ROMPaper, program

Paper Audio and videolectures; Clickercontent


CD-ROMPaper, program

Paper


Paper



Starry Night Enthusiast

Interactivequizzes,animationsand videos

Y CD-ROM,Web site

CD-ROM CD-ROM Deep SpaceExplorer


Starry Night Pro

Y (80) CD-ROM CD-ROM CD-ROM


TheSky or RedShift


Paper, CD-ROM

Assignablehomework ande-book inWebAssign;Clicker content


TheSky or RedShift

Y Y CD-ROMProgram,Web site

Web site Y

Assignablehomework ande-book inWebAssign;Clicker content;Great Ideas forTeachingAstronomy,telecourse video


Home Planet

Studyquestions,study guidewithoutlinesand chapterobjectives,animationsandmovies,flash cardsfor vocabulary

Y CD-ROM CD-ROM CD-ROM


Starry Night Pro

Y (90) CD-ROM CD-ROM CD-ROM


50 tutorial modules

Y CD-ROMPaper, CD-ROM

Paper Y Video library

UniverseStarry Night Backyard

Animationsand videos,interactiveexercises,interactivemedia modules

Y CD-ROM,Web site

CD-ROM, paper

CD-ROM, paper

Deep SpaceExplorer


TheSky orRedShift(Coll. ed.)

Y (120) CD-ROMPaper, program

Paper

Table 8. Supplementary Materials Available

TitlePowerPoint Materials

Electronic Book

PersonalResponse

system

Online Quizzes

Online Tests

WebCT orBlackboard

filesOther


Y Y Y Y Y"Comets"update





Web site Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y

VirtualAstronomyLabs;WebAssign

Astronomy Today

Online text

Y Y Y Y"Comets"update


Y Y Y Y Y YMasteringAstronomy


Y Y Y Y YMasteringAstronomy


Y Y YVirtualAstronomyLabs


Y




Y Y Y Y Y

Observingprojectsworkbookfor StarryNightEnthusiast


Web site Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y Y Y



Y Y Y Y Y Y



Y * Y *


Y Y Y


Y Y Y Y SmartWork

Universe Y Y Y Y Y Y

WebAssign;Observingprojectsworkbookfor StarryNight


Y Y YVirtualAstronomyLabs

* Materials can be uploaded

Table 9. Packages (or Bundles) Available

Title Package Items

Astronomy: A Beginner’s Guide to the Universe

Lecture TutorialsNorton’s Star AtlasScientific American special issuesStar LocatorObserving Projects

Astronomy! A Brief Edition

Astronomy: The Evolving Universe Active Learning Astronomy

Astronomy: From Earth to the Universe RedShift

Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier

Astronomy: The Solar System and BeyondStarry NightPlanispheres

Astronomy Today

Lecture TutorialsNorton’s Star AtlasScientific American special issuesStar LocatorObserving Projects


e-bookVoyager: Sky GazerMedia WorkbookMastering Astronomy

The Essential Cosmic PerspectiveVoyager: Sky GazerMastering Astronomy

The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New MillenniumStarry NightPlanispheres


Discovering the Cosmos

Discovering the Essential Universe Scientific American special issues

Discovering the UniverseScientific American special issuesObserving Projects

Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy

Foundations of AstronomyStarry NightPlanispheres

Horizons: Exploring the UniverseStarry NightPlanispheres

In Quest of the Universe Scientific American special issues


21st Century AstronomyStarry Night Pro and workbooke-bookSmartWork

Universe TheSky

Voyages through the Universe

Table 10. Text Web Sites

Title

Instructor/Student/

or General site

URL for TextLog-in

required


S and I http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson/details4.html Y


G http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/AstroBrief/



Ihttp://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/jay/http://info.brookscole.com/pasachoff/http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=0534421970&discipline_number=19

Y

S http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534421970&discipline_number=19


G http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/fix/fix_splash/


I http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=0534421113&discipline_number=19 Y

Shttp://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534421113&discipline_number=19ThomsonNow

Astronomy Today

S and I http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson/details2.html Y


G http://www.aw-bc.com/astronomyplace/ Y


G http://www.aw-bc.com/astronomyplace/ Y


Ihttp://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/jay/http://info.brookscole.com/pasachoff/http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=049501303X&discipline_number=19

Y

Shttp://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=049501303X&discipline_number=19ThomsonNow




S and I http://bcs.whfreeman.com/deu3e/ Y


S and I http://bcs.whfreeman.com/dtu7e/ Y

http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson/details4.html

http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/AstroBrief/

http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/jay/

http://info.brookscole.com/pasachoff/

http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=0534421970&discipline_number=19

http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0534421970&discipline_number=19

http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/astronomy/fix/fix_splash/



http://www.thomsonedu.com/search/index.do

http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson/details2.html

http://www.aw-bc.com/astronomyplace/

http://www.aw-bc.com/astronomyplace/

http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/jay/

http://info.brookscole.com/pasachoff/

http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=049501303X&discipline_number=19

http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=049501303X&discipline_number=19


http://bcs.whfreeman.com/deu3e/

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/dtu7e/


I http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072509856/information_center_view0/ Y

S http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072509856/student_view0/index.html








G http://www.jbpub.com/starlinks/4e/


G http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/classware/infoCenter.do?isbn=0072499656


Shttp://wwnorton.com/astro21/New site preview at http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/demo/index.shtml

Universe S and I http://bcs.whfreeman.com/universe7e/


Ihttp://info.brookscole.com/fraknoi/http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20bI&product_isbn_issn=0495017892&discipline_number=19

Y


Table 11. Publisher Web Sites

Publisher URL for Introductory Astronomy Texts

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072509856/information_center_view0/

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072509856/student_view0/index.html







http://www.jbpub.com/starlinks/4e/

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/classware/infoCenter.do?isbn=0072499656

http://wwnorton.com/astro21/

http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/demo/index.shtml

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/universe7e/

http://info.brookscole.com/fraknoi/




Addison-Wesley (Pearson)

http://www.aw-bc.com/http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/course/1,1143,70218,00.html

Brooks/Cole (Thomson)

http://www.thomsonedu.com/http://www.thomsonedu.com/thomsonedu/product.do?courseid=AY03&disciplinenumber=19

CambridgeUniversity Press

http://www.cambridge.org/us/http://www.cambridge.org/us/textbooks/default.asp?subject=76

Jones and Bartlett

http://www.jbpub.comhttp://physicalscience.jbpub.com/astronomy/

Kendall/Hunt http://www.kendallhunt.com/

McGraw-Hillhttp://www.mhhe.com/http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/viewProductList.do?cnt=10&catid=934051

Prentice Hall (Pearson)

http://www.aw-bc.com/http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/course/1,1143,70218,00.htmlPrenHall books became part of Addison-Wesley as of 1 January 2007

UniversityScience Books

http://www.uscibooks.com/http://www.uscibooks.com/astro.htm

W.H. Freemanhttp://www.whfreeman.com/http://www.whfreeman.com/?disc=Astronomy+%26+Physics&course=Introduction+to+Astronomy

W.W. Nortonhttp://www.wwnorton.com/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/physics

The first entry is the generic Web site for the publisher.The second entry is the astronomy catalog page.

References

Bruning, D. 2006, "2006 Survey of Introductory Astronomy Textbooks," Astronomy Education Review,4(2), 54. http://aer.noao.edu/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=162.

http://www.aw-bc.com/

http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/course/1,1143,70218,00.html

http://www.thomsonedu.com/

http://www.thomsonedu.com/thomsonedu/product.do?courseid=AY03&disciplinenumber=19

http://www.cambridge.org/us/

http://www.cambridge.org/us/textbooks/default.asp?subject=76

http://www.jbpub.com/

http://physicalscience.jbpub.com/astronomy/

http://www.kendallhunt.com/

http://www.mhhe.com/

http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/viewProductList.do?cnt=10&catid=934051

http://www.aw-bc.com/

http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/course/1,1143,70218,00.html

http://www.uscibooks.com/

http://www.uscibooks.com/astro.htm

http://www.whfreeman.com/

http://www.whfreeman.com/?disc=Astronomy+%26+Physics&course=Introduction+to+Astronomy

http://www.wwnorton.com/

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/physics

APPENDIX: AUTHOR COMMENTS

I wrote to each author team and asked them to respond in about 350 words to the questions below (seriesthat have splits or that include brief editions were only allowed one response).

1. What influenced you to write a text? 2. What pedagogical flavor have you tried to instill that makes your book different? 3. What do you think a student will understand differently about astronomy from your text? 4. What truly makes your text unique in your eyes? 5. What makes you most proud about your text?

Some authors responded directly to the questions, while others took a more free-form approach to describetheir text and writing. Not everyone chose to participate; the responses I received are included below inalphabetical order by text title.

Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe (Jay Pasachoff)

1. What influenced you to write a text?

Just before I started teaching, I made a list for myself of the topics I wanted to emphasize, and Ifound no text that devoted a lot of space for them. The best text of the time started out with weeksand weeks of material that did not represent contemporary astronomy and that bored students beforegiving them the good stuff. I chose a textbook for first use, but I recorded my lectures in hope ofdoing better. It ultimately turned out that working from transcripts didn’t make sense, but I sat downand typed (yes, on a typewriter) a new book, Contemporary Astronomy, from scratch, with what Iviewed to be proper representation of both traditional and modern topics. That book had stars first,and when it was a runaway success, the publisher asked me to do a version with planets first, the firstedition of Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe.

2. What pedagogical flavor have you tried to instill that makes your book different?

My book Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe is organized as a set of stories. Each chapter isself-contained in a way that a professor can use it to organize a whole lecture. In each chapter, I firstset the scene with what was known for a long time, then describe more recent discoveries (for theplanets, with the first round of spacecraft for example), then describe what is being worked on now,and then tell what is expected in the future. I am proud that each planet has its own chapter and thatsuch important topics as black holes, quasars, and, most recently, exoplanets have their own chapters.This separation helps students keep the information clear in their minds. And the chapters are ontopics of special interest to students. At the same time, my inclusion of changing and importantcurrent research, and the latest and best illustrations, keeps the professors interested as well fromedition to edition. I have had some very long-term loyal adopters, to whom I am most grateful.

3. What do you think a student will understand differently about astronomy from your text?

I think students will come to understand how active today’s astronomy is and how it is far from amere set of facts. They should see how astronomers now tackle problems of astronomy and howcritical thinking and reasoning leads to our current understanding of the universe and of types ofobjects in it.

4. What truly makes your text unique, in your eyes?

I think my text is unique in the care and attention that I have paid to every aspect—every sentence,every drawing, every photograph, every updatable table or appendix—and the result that reflects theexperience I have in teaching the survey course every semester for a long time (leaves excepted). I alsothink it reflects the understanding I have gained over the years of not only teaching methods but also ofstudent learning. Further, my books incorporate knowledge about contemporary trends in astronomyteaching, reflecting my service on education committees including those of the American AstronomicalSociety, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, andof the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and, currently, as President of theInternational Astronomical Union’s Commission on Education and Development.

5. What makes you most proud about your text?

I am proud that I can incorporate the knowledge I have of research in many fields of astronomythrough my own studies of the sun, of x-radiation from stars, of planetary atmospheres, of interstellarmolecules, and of the cosmological results of nucleosynthesis studies, for example. My own studies withoptical and radio observatories on the ground and with telescopes in space give me experiences I havebeen able to share with students through discussions and features in my books. I am particularly proudhow I have been able to build on a solid base of traditional astronomy in presenting a current validframework of astronomy, properly giving students an idea of what astronomy is now. I am furtherparticularly proud of how I have been able to break down the reasoning relevant to various importanttopics in astronomy—such as why we think pulsars are rotating neutron stars or how spectral lines areformed—into steps, in both text and diagrams, that help student understanding. I am proud to haveproduced books that are colloquial and understandable at the same time that they are authoritative. And, ofcourse, I am very proud that so many astronomers and others teaching astronomy over so many years havefound my texts useful, authoritative, readable, and interesting.

The Cosmic Perspective and The Essential Cosmic Perspective (J. Bennett, M. Donahue, N. Schneider,and M. Voit)

There are many good textbooks out there, and I myself used several of them successfully in the past. Sowhy did I write my own? In brief, I hoped to improve on three particular things that gave my studentstrouble: First, the books were too jargon-heavy and difficult to understand; second, while many books dida good job on facts and details, they were weak on connecting to the "big picture"; third, I felt that thebooks tended to leave the all-important topic of how science is done to sidebars or occasional mentions,rather than making the nature of science an integral theme throughout the book. I believed it would bepossible to write a book that would give students both the big picture of our modern scientific view of theuniverse and a deep understanding of how science has allowed us to develop this big picture.

My opportunity to write arose after I completed a successful a mathematics text for the same audience ofnonscience majors; when my publisher realized I was an astronomer (rather than a mathematician), theyoffered me the chance to write an astronomy text. Knowing that astronomy is too large a field for oneperson to cover well, I recruited as co-authors three good friends whose expertise spans planetary science,stellar and galactic evolution, and cosmology. Together, we set out to write a book that would: (1)accomplish my goals with respect to the big picture and the nature of science; (2) be fully modern inreflecting the latest research; and (3) adhere to time-honored principles of effective teaching.

If you are unfamiliar with our texts, I encourage you to read our Prefaces, in which we lay out in moredetail the themes and pedagogical principles around which we’ve built our books. I also hope you’llexplore our web site, MasteringAstronomy.com, for which we authors have worked to ensure that thecontent ties directly to our book pedagogy. Finally, I invite you to e-mail me at any time ([email protected]) with your textbook questions, comments, or concerns.

The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium (J. Pasachoff and A. Filippenko)

1. What influenced you to write a text?

One of us (J. Pasachoff) was originally influenced to write a text when he found that none of the thencurrent texts met his teaching priorities, which included an emphasis on the progress of contemporaryastronomy and on the fact that the original standard topics, which should still be taught, were decadesor centuries old while students and faculty are interested in what is going on now. The other of us (A.Filippenko) used a prior version of the book for years in his very popular courses at Berkeley and,when asked, agreed to join in the project to help make the book relevant and exciting for the 21st century.

2. What pedagogical flavor have you tried to instill that makes your book different?

As active research astronomers, we have tried to provide personal examples of how we carry outastronomy today, and to provide our evaluation on the relative importance of various topics inmodern astronomy. In addition to the discussions of both standard and contemporary astronomicaltopics, we have special features "A Closer Look" and "Figure It Out" that allow professors to assigndeeper considerations of various topics. The interviews with several individual astronomers give alook at a diverse group of individuals who are working at the forefront.

We are also glad to have a new edition (which came out in February 2006) with coverage of so manyexciting astronomical events, such as the discovery of a Pluto-like object twice as far away, the crashof a spacecraft into a comet, the Huygens landing on Titan, and the discovery and analysis of newsupernovae, as well as updated images from Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer.

3. What do you think a student will understand differently about astronomy from your text?

With one of us working on the forefront of supernova research and the discovery that the universe’sexpansion is accelerating, and the other working on a variety of solar, planetary, and x-ray topics, wehope that our excitement comes through.

4. What truly makes your text unique in your eyes?

The perspective of two active research scientists who are also involved in pedagogy (Pasachoff asPresident of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission on Education and Development andFilippenko as recent President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific), as well as carefulsurveying and taking account of student experiences in the classes taught by the two over many years,has honed this text to excellent shape.

http://www.MasteringAstronomy.com/

5. What makes you most proud about your text?

We are proud that we can bring so many topics of astronomy, both standard and contemporary,before students in an accurate, readable, and exciting way, beautifully and clearly illustrated throughout.We are proud to show students about priorities by, for example, having a separate chapter on the newplanets that are being discovered around other stars and, for a longer time, about black holes.

Discovering Astronomy (S. Shawl, K. Ashman, and B. Hufnagel)

The book was originally written to integrate into the textbook meaningful observational activities for usein a large lecture course and to emphasize active learning. The in-text questions causing students to slowdown and to think about the material was a new concept now duplicated by some others. The current leadauthor, brought in at the 3rd edition, became part of this project because he realized the approach of thebook was unique and was the best way to teach introductory astronomy. The opportunity to be involved insuch a book, and to help make it a mainstream book, was an opportunity that was seen as exciting,valuable, and worth doing.

The main flavor is active involvement by the reader, which is accomplished through "inquiries"(in-chapter questions asking the student to think about what was just read, or to predict, on the basis ofprevious reading and knowledge, something that is coming next [and answered in the coming subsection])."Discoveries" at the end of some chapters are relatively short activities; some use mathematics and aregood summaries of material discussed in the chapter. Although the separate Activities Manual is no longeran integral part of the text, users can make arrangements with the first author to obtain it for their classes.Thus, the original intent of integrating observing activities into a lecture course is still present for thosewho want their students to have such an experience.

A major theme of the book is the nature of science, which is why chapter 2 is a chapter on science andpseudoscience. The theme is carried throughout the book to provide students with an understanding ofwhat science is, what science is not, and what is not science.

Discovering Astronomy is unique in its emphasis on the nature of science and active learning. It was thefirst major textbook to approach the planets with a comparative planetology approach to the student of theplanets.

The authors feel their book presents the excitement of astronomy in an approachable way. We areconvinced that active involvement is the best way to help students learn. We are convinced that the mostimportant knowledge students can take from an introductory course is not the astronomy per se but anunderstanding of the nature of science, which we have worked hard to promote in our book.

Discovering the Universe (Neil Comins)

I had an epiphany one day while lecturing in introductory astronomy: what students hear in lecture andread in their textbooks frequently contradicts what they believe to be logically true. I researched andexperimented until I found ways of overcoming that problem in my teaching, namely to wake students upto their incorrect beliefs and so they’d be more receptive to the scientific explanation. When I started tosee the success of this in my classroom, the natural next step was to want to put some of these ideas into a textbook.

My goal is to make the student an active participant in the reading process. I ask questions designed to getstudents to think about their prior beliefs (both correct and incorrect) at the beginning of each chapter. Iflag the sections where the question is answered within the chapter, and then conclude the chapter withsummaries of the correct answers.

My hopes are that students will realize: that science is both an evolving body of knowledge as well as aprocess of discovery and understanding; that science has explanations for many things that the studentsdidn’t realize could be explained rationally; [and] the wide variety of things that astronomers understandabout the cosmos, how these things are related to each other and to our existence, and that they, thestudents, can understand this material, too. I also want them to see the beauty of the things in the universe.

If I had to choose one thing, it would be that the book is written at a level where students feel that they arelearning a lot, but don’t feel that they are being "talked down" to or pushed to understand information thatthey perceive as "over their heads."

Two related things make me most proud of the book: Student feedback includes comments like, "this isthe only textbook I kept after college"; and many of our peers around the world adopt it and keep using itand subsequent editions.

Foundations of Astronomy (Michael Seeds)

I began teaching astronomy in 1970 and quickly became unhappy with the books available. I didn’t wantto teach facts for students to memorize. I began writing my own text in 1977, and I focused on two goalsthat can be summarized as two questions: What are we? How do we know? The first question asks howhuman existence fits into the origin and evolution of the universe, and culminates in helping the studentsunderstand that their existence on the surface of a world is the product of billions of years of starbirth andstardeath. The atoms in our bodies were made in the big bang, cooked in stars, captured in the solar nebulaand now we are using them. That is a deep understanding of human existence that everyone should have.Only astronomy teaches it.

The second of my two questions is about science. When I say, "How do we know?" I mean "How doesscience work?" It is critical for students to understand that science is not belief or policy—it isunderstanding based on evidence. I have written every one of my books with the ideal of showing studentshow astronomers use evidence to understand our role in the universe. Books of facts can’t show studentshow wonderful our universe is. They must understand the logic instead of memorizing the facts, and thatmeans their book must present astronomy in the form of scientific arguments based on evidence.

As I began, I realized that writing a book based on evidence and scientific arguments meant I should keepthe solar system for last. Students could not understand what the solar system was until they had learnedabout the big bang, galaxies, stars, and stellar evolution. Otherwise they would be memorizing planetfacts. That stars-first order is my favorite way of teaching astronomy because it puts the solar system into perspective.

The key to teaching astronomy is perspective. We need to give students perspective on their role in theuniverse as tiny but highly gifted creatures trying to understand what we are.

21st Century Astronomy (J. Hester, D. Burstein, G. Blumenthal, R. Greeley, B. Smith, and H. Voss)

We are six authors whose collective professional experience covers the wide range of expertise needed inmodern astronomical research, including the solar system, the interstellar medium, stellar formation andevolution, the nature of galaxies, and cosmology. One author with more than 40 years of experience inteaching basic physics provides close watch over our pedagogical approach. Our writing style is lessformal than that found in most textbooks. As such, we allow ourselves to be conversational, sometimesprovocative, and occasionally irreverent. Our philosophical approach is to emphasize concepts rather thanrote facts, learning as opposed to memorization. Students are taught that all knowledge is provisional andthat in science we never prove things to be true; we only fail to show them to be false.

We have chosen an organization that is less traditional in favor of one that more accurately reflects theway astronomers think and work today. Rather than walk our way through the solar system in thetraditional manner, we organize the solar system section around the theme of comparative planetology.We discuss the formation of our solar system before discussing the planets themselves, allowing us to lookat planets within the context of how they were formed. Gravity is introduced early in the text, but we pullits more complex effects such as tidal interactions, orbital resonance, chaos, and similar phenomena into aseparate chapter that comes later when it is needed. The subject of origins is a recurring theme that runsthroughout the chapters, because the understanding of our origins embraces cosmology, stellar evolution,planetary atmospheres, geology, and biology.

Astronomy is one of the more rapidly advancing fields in modern science, and we owe it to the student toinclude the latest discoveries, interpretations, and definitions. In revising our second edition, we struggledwith the contentious decision by the IAU regarding Pluto and dwarf planets, realizing that manyastronomers strongly disagree with the IAU resolution. In the end we decided to treat the "classical" anddwarf planets exactly as the IAU had defined them, leaving it to the instructor to draw the student into the debate.

Voyages through the Universe (A. Fraknoi, D. Morrison, and S. Wolff)

When George Abell passed away suddenly, David Morrison and Sidney Wolff were asked to continue theline of textbook that he had started. After a number of years of updating the books, we asked AndrewFraknoi to join the team because of his teaching experience. Rather than revise and amend, our teamdecided to take a fresh look at making a modern textbook for non-science majors, and the Voyages serieswas born. Our philosophy is to take advantage of the distinct expertise of the three authors (the solarsystem for Morrison, stars and galaxies for Wolff, and education for Fraknoi) to write a book that isauthoritative and up to date, but selective in the material it presents. We want to offer a coherent "bigpicture" of what we know about the evolution of the universe, of galaxies, of stars, of planets, and of life,while making the book readable and accessible through the use of pedagogical tools and a careful choiceof illustrations. We focus on the ideas that matter in a form that makes sense.

We generally try to have less jargon and fewer disconnected factoids, but instead to tell the story ofmodern astronomical exploration in everyday language and with analogies drawn from the students’ ownexperiences. The books are written with a distinctive voice and a sense of humor (heaven knows,instructors and students can both use one.)

Some of the tools that we have incorporated into the books include

1. Collaborative group activities for each chapter (we are the first book to have this) 2. Boxes profiling noted astronomers of the past and present 3. "Making Connections" boxes which relate astronomy to other fields 4. "Figuring for Yourself" section that shows quantitative applications of the material at the level

non-science students can understand 5. A test bank with five answers to each question and a wide range of questions that require thought

(and not just memorization) 6. A strong list of review questions, thought questions, numerical problems, and Web sources for each

chapter

ÆR182 - 216

survey of introductory astronomy textbooks: an...

Documents