Seeing in the Dark: How backyard stargazers are probing deep space and guarding Earth from interplanetary peril by Timothy Ferris, Simon & Schuster, $26, ISBN 0684865793
ASTRONOMY is one of the few sciences that embraces the amateur as well as the professional. The reason is historical. In the mid-19th century the amateur was at the forefront. We’re not talking here of dabblers or hobbyists: these were people of independent means, glad to use their personal fortunes and time to advance knowledge.
There were no pleas for taxpayers’ money. Amateurs simply got on with it, and leapt into telescopic spectroscopy, double-star astronomy…
