Martin Beech is a Professor of Astronomy at Campion College, The University of Regina, Canada. He has an MSc from Sussex, UK, and earned his PhD at Western Ontario. He has written several books for Springer.
“I found this to be a thoroughly fascinating, thought-provoking, and engaging volume and can recommend it. The text is well-written and draws the reader in, and, speaking personally, the slightly larger font makes it easier on the eyes.” (Robert Argyle, The Observatory, Vol. 136, April, 2016) “In general this book was wonderful in making the reader think more deeply about stars, their distances and their similarities and differences to our Sun. Also the question whether Proxima Centauri is actually a part of the Alpha Centauri system is very interesting. The book is well written and researched and it makes you long for other similar books about some other remarkable stars as well.” (Kadri Tinn, AstroMadness.com, August, 2015) “Beech spins a remarkable tale of research on the three-star Alpha Centauri (Alpha Cen) system, includingProxima Centauri, the nearest known star to the sun. … There is no other book quite like this. Suitable for students with some physics and mathematics preparation and researcher-writers for future films in the spirit of Interstellar. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students.” (S. P. Maran, Choice, Vol. 52 (10), June, 2015)