Atlas of Great Comets

'I own many comet books, but simply for the pleasure of casually browsing the illustrations in this atlas, I would have to say that it has instantly become my favourite. It will surely appeal to all who are fascinated by the awesome 'broom stars' of yore.' Journal of the British Astronomical Association 'There is no other current book of this kind. Whether you want a lavishly illustrated large format coffee-table book, a cultural history of comets, or clearly written accounts of fundamental cometary science, Atlas of Great Comets could give you pleasure for years to come.' BBC Sky At Night Magazine 'Stoyan's atlas ... evokes rich memories of great comets, and its generous format enables its many superb full-page illustrations to be reproduced to great effect. ... The text is excellent throughout. I enjoyed dipping into it and am glad to be adding it to my collection.' Richard McKim, The Observatory 'Stoyan, editor in chief of an astronomy journal and proprietor of an independent German publisher that specializes in amateur astronomy books, has authored an amazingly beautiful large format book. The German title is more descriptive: Die 30 grossten Kometen in Wissenschaft, Kultur und Kunst (The 30 Greatest Comets in Science, Culture and Art). The translation is excellent, and a stunning array of images accompanies the text ... A useful glossary, bibliography, and index are included.' M.-K. Hemenway, Choice 'Each chapter in the book is lavishly illustrated ... [For] comets which appeared in the sky before photography, the illustrations are woodcuts, engravings and paintings, and some of them are simply jaw-droppingly beautiful, every bit as striking as the more modern photographs. At the start of the book particularly, every turn of a page brings into view a new vision of wonder. ... But this book isn't just a collection of lovely images with some interesting text wrapped around them. It's essentially a time machine, allowing you to travel back through the centuries to imagine what it must have been like to actually see some of the Great Comets of the past. ... Should you buy this book? That depends. Do you love comets? Do you love looking at and photographing comets? If you answered yes to either or both of those questions then the answer is yes, you should buy this book. Because it will make you fall in love with them all over again.' Stuart Atkinson, Cumbrian Sky blog (cumbriansky.wordpress.com)