The Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage

In THE SOUL OF THE NIGHT, a collection of tender, lyrical essays praising the night sky, astronomer, physicist and college professor Chet Raymo teaches by example that science and passion are intimately, irrepressibly connected; they're meant for each other.Through his eyes and pen, Raymo draws breathtaking pictures of our universe and connects them to mythology, literature, religion, history and anthropology. He calls on Roethke, Rilke, Shelley, Thoreau, Buddha, the Bible and the Koran, among others, to inspire his instructive reveries. He compares the night sky to Moby Dick, a butterfly's chrysalis to stardust, and the Earth's cone-shaped shadow in outer space to a wizard's cap "8000 miles wide in diameter at the rim, where it fits snugly on the Earth's brow." And when the sun and moon come together in eclipse, he transforms the view into a gentle kiss between lovers.Now THIS is the way to learn astronomy.Raymo deserves to be savored slowly, by candlelight.

Read the music which moves his soul. Open your mind to the poetic prose of this man and you can dance in the sunlight of distant stars and commune with past like minds.

I already owned this book and I usually re-read it about once a year. I love the writing. It takes scientific concepts and turns them into a poetic prose that reminds me of the writing of Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman.I purchased this copy as a gift to a friend who was flying to Australia. What better way to spend the hours in flight than taking flight with Chet Raymo.

Chet Raymo is an astronomer, a poet and a prophet. There are so many books out now in the new cosmology, but not many of them explore the heart, the depth, and the meaning of the universe as Chet Raymo does in breathtaking, prophetic prose and poetry. The woodcuts are gorgeous too, and it's altogether a soulful book.

Fulfilling philosophical musings by a denizen of the night, the astronomer. Laymen and stargazers alike will enjoy the introspective account of many years full of starry skies. Definitely worth the time and money to buy and read it.

good mix of philosophy and learning about the history of the universe, different stars, theories, I really enjoyed it as someone who wanted to learn but not get too technical

If you have any interest at all in the night sky, or in astronomy, buy this book. It is beautifully written, and very evocative. There is nothing like it in my experience, for evoking the awe, and the poetry of the night sky.

A little beyond me, but thought provoking.

An excellent book again.