Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0802713696, Hardcover)

"We are children of the night," proclaims Chet Raymo in his excitingly original and many-layered guide to the universe and our place in it. Not so very long ago, the night sky was an intimate part of people's lives. That intimacy has eroded over time, but Raymo's new book offers readers the chance to recapture a personal connection to the heavens.

On one level, An Intimate Look at the Night Sky is a unique star guide: twenty-four beautiful star maps, created specifically for this book, cycle through the seasons and across the heavens, revealing what you can see with the naked eye throughout the year on a clear night in the northern hemisphere. Raymo's commentaries amplify the maps, offering intriguing details and tips on identifying stars, planets, and constellations.

On another level, Chet Raymo challenges our imagination-to see what is unseeable in the universe, to perceive distance and size and shape that is inconceivable, to appreciate ever more fully our extraordinary place in the cosmos. His elegant essays on the heavens blend science and history, mythology and religion, making clear why he is one of the most insightful and passionate science writers of our time.

After reading and viewing An Intimate Look at the Night Sky, which is as visually appealing as it is intellectually stimulating, readers will marvel as much at the wisdom of the ancients as at the advances of modern science: Raymo's artistry enables us to see the universe we inhabit through new eyes.