--- On Sat, 11/7/09, JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:

Is there a book or something from your childhood that made a major impact on your life and got you interested in astronomy?

I first became interested in Astronomy in college. The works that made that interest into a lifelong pursuit were Richard Feynman's "Six Easy Pieces" and the companion work "Six Not So Easy Pieces". My interest in Astronomy has always been tied to the study of Physics and Chemisty. Without these other two branches of science Astronomy is rather empty to me. DT

Jay, This news indeed breaks my heart -- I'm with you, this is the very book that hooked me many years ago, at age 10 when my father brought home a copy.  I was fascinated by the way the lines were redrawn, and spent many nights with a penlight painted with my sister's red nail polish tracing the constellations in my backyard in a San Diego suburb.  I learned the constellations, and grew to love the night sky, long before I ever looked through a telescope, thanks in part to Mr. Rey. /R --- On Sat, 11/7/09, JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote: From: JayLEads <jayleads@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] H.A. Rey's The Stars A New Way to See Them going out of print? To: "Utah-Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 4:01 AM A post over at Cloudy Nights reported that H.A. Rey's The Stars, A New Way to See them is going out of print after being available for 50 years. I contacted a local Barnes and Noble and they confirmed that the book is going out of print. I need to call back and find out if this is the older version or the updated version but the updated version is listed as out of stock by all B&N's in the area. If the book is being retired its a sad day to me. This was a book given to me, as I am sure most of us have a copy, when I was a kid by my father. It taught me the constellations and gave me an appreciation for the stars that has come out in this hobby as an adult.  I remember that I went through the book and used it so much outside, and I lived in Illinois at the time, that tdew basically caused the pages to crinkle up. I received a Tasco spotting scope that I still have and works great as a result of learning these constellations and looked at some of the planets and the moon with that. As an adult I own two copies, one being the updated version with planet info through 2016. I was lucky I guess because last April I found it on clearance at a Borders Book Store in Las Vegas and picked up 3 extra copies thinking for a $2.00 each thinking  I could give them away. IF the book is going away, I will have to keep some to hopefully share with my grandkids one day (though the planet information will long have gone by the wayside).  Three other books from the 1950's, and though outdated, influenced my interest in space as a child. They were based on the Collier's articles featureing Von Braun's plans for manned space exploration. They were "Across the Space Frontier", "Conquest of the Moon", and "The Exploration of Mars". Wish I still had these but they got lost in the move from California to Utah in the early 1990's. So regardless if H.A. Rey's The Stars is going out of print, that news got me thinking to ask Is there a book or something from your childhood that made a major impact on your life and got you interested in astronomy? _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com