James B. Kaler (1938–2022)

Not one of the better offerings in the Portable Professor series. While quite informative, it was full of way too many instances that required visuals. Professor Kaler repeatedly described objects as "about this big" or as moving "like this". I believe that taking a class from him in person would be fascinating and very enjoyable, but this did not translate well in the audio format.

Professor Kaler picks his 100 favorite stars. You can pick this up, browse through the stars, and learn a lot about chemistry, astrophysics, stellar evolution, spectroscopy, and the nature of the universe. For me, it fills a gap in the books usually used and subjects usually addressed by amateur astronomers.

External influences on Earth include tides, solar activity, seasons and ice ages, meteor/asteroid/comet impacts, cosmic rays, and vulnerability to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts and Sol's old-age brightening. Kaler uses these for a sprightly telling of astronomy's story, including how all material stuff itself was originally synthesized by stars.

This is a series of 14 lectures given by Professor Kaler in his course on Astronomy. The lectures are somewhat basic at times but are interesting and educational. Dr. Kaler appears to have significant experience and knowledge in astronomy. Some of the physics described is almost at the high school level. I mildly recommend the audiobook.