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Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy, by Ian Ridpath

Article  in  Contemporary Physics · September 2012

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2012.699474

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 Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy
Ian Ridpath
Oxford University Press
2012
535 pages
price 12.99 GBP
softcover
ISBN 978-0199609055
reference
anybody
Dr. Manuel Vogel, TU Darmstadt and GSI Darmstadt, m.vogel@gsi.de

This is the revised second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy, following the first edition
and its revisions (1997 to 2004) and the second edition 2007. It is part of the "Oxford paperback
reference" series, which covers a broad range of topics. The present 2012 revision features about 50
new entries and about 500 entries which have been revised or updated. Editor Ian Ridpath has put
together the presented material supported by about 30 mostly British contributors. He is a well-
known "professional" amateur astronomer, who has been a full-time writer, editor and broadcaster
for about 40 years. He is also known as editor of the last three editions of the Norton Star Atlas, and
as author of several mainly graphical books on astronomical topics, including the Dorling Kindersley
Handbook of
Stars & Planets. In the present dictionary, we find in total about 4300 entries from the fields of
astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and space exploration. Many of those are supported by material
on the internet page http://www.oup.com/uk/reference/resources/astronomy. Here, for selected
topics, weblinks provide numerous additional figures and pictures as well as access to internet pages
of space missions, institutes, associations and so forth. Entries in the dictionary are not limited to
terminology and objects, but mention also relevant astronomers and other scientists. The ordering is
done in the common alphabetical manner with grey shaded letters on the page margin which
support a fast search. Counting roughly 4000 entries on roughly 500 pages means that on average
there are about 8 entries per page. This leaves room for the most relevant information, but not for
equations, figures and detailed discussions, although the font size is rather small. The information is
presented in a compact form and always helpful for a first answer to an open question. In the
present revision, the spelling of star names has been changed from the one used in the Hipparcos
Catalogue to the more commonly used one on the International Astronomical Union website. A short
appendix has tables about the Apollo lunar landing missions, the main satellites of the planets, the
constellations, the brightest stars, the nearest stars, the Messier objects, the main members of the
Local Group of galaxies, an A to Z of variable star types and the planets: orbital and physical data.
This dictionary is a good quick reference for amateur astronomers, students of astronomy and
astrophysics, and for anybody looking for a handy reference in this field. The price of the book is
rather affordable, however one has to make a concession regarding the quality of the paper. In times
of nearly unlimited access to knowledge on the internet, books like the present one still serve well as
a short, fast-access reference from a trustworthy source.

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