Books with author John Reader

John A. Read covers everything needed to identify constellations, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae and more. Inquisitive stargazers will find planet hunting and star hopping easy with clearly plotted routes and images of the sky both as seen by the naked eye and detailed views from a telescope.Many fascinating cosmic objects can be easily spotted with the help of this book including beautiful Cassiopeia, regal Leo, the plentiful Kemble's Cascade, the explosive Crab Nebula, the rings of Saturn — even the moon!This easy to read, fully illustrated reference book will enrich every young person's experience of the skies above.

Written as a follow up to 50 Things to See with a Small Telescope,containing virtually no overlap in content, 50 Targets for the Mid-Sized Telescope introduces the beginner stargazer to a new assortment of astronomical wonders. With easy to follow star maps, unique for each target, the budding astronomer will explore the universe like never before. Each target has been carefully chosen to be observable in telescopes with apertures between four and eight inches. Most objects can be viewed from the suburbs in mildly light polluted conditions, with only a few noted exceptions requiring darker skies. On dark, moonless nights, most targets will be visible in small telescopes and binoculars too.

During the last century, global domestic cat numbers rocketed past 200 million, along with a surge in cat diseases and numbers of feral cats and sick, injured and malnourished cats. Cat shelters are overflowing. Hundreds of thousands of cats are euthanised every year by despondent animal welfare workers. Misplaced sentimentality, sometimes promoted by corporate greed of cat food companies, has exacerbated this situationthrough promoting irresponsible feeding of strays.Ecologist and author John Read has travelled the world consulting cat experts and collating the most recent science. In Among the Pigeons he balances the allure of indoor cats with the animal welfare, human health, and conservation issues they create when allowed to roam. But he also presents solutions, from breeding ideal indoor pet cats to development of humane and targeted tools to control feral cats.In striking parallel to the repercussions of human-induced climate change, warnings about the damage wrought by free-ranging cats have been largely denied or overlooked. But we ignore these issues at our peril. For our own mental health and endangered wildlife worldwide, time is running out.

Since the first spacecraft launched in 1957, there have been many ground-breaking missions that have expanded our knowledge of the solar system. The 50 featured in this collection include Voyager's Grand Tour, Apollo 8 and the first crewed mission to the Moon, the first woman in space and the first communication satellite that brought live television to the world. You can also find information on spy satellites, space tourism and climate change. In the early days of space exploration, the focus was on military dominance. Today most missions require the collaboration of several different countries and there's a broader range of research. This is an exciting time we are living in. Space history is unfolding right before our eyes.

The story of one of the world’s most important food crops.From the first nomads travelling down the coast of the Americas nearly 15,000 years ago to the contemporary uses of potato starch in industrializing China, the story of the potato is both satisfying and fascinating. Consisting mainly of energy-giving carbohydrate, protein, vitamin C and potassium, potatos have been grown safely and cheaply underground in almost any weather and soil conditions, helping to fuel industrial revolution and population explosions. As global population swells and famine remains a constant risk, and environmental sustainability becomes ever more crucial, Reader asks what role the spud still has to play.The familiar, ubiquitous potato is part of our sense of mundane normality, but its story is one of struggle, disease and survival. The Untold History of the Potato is a fascinating exploration of the biology, history and social influence of our most humble and versatile foodstuff.

Have you always wanted to explore the Moon like Neil Armstrong or the eleven other astronauts who have walked on its surface? You can tour the Moon from your own backyard with a small telescope or binoculars. This book will point you to the Sea of Tranquility (the landing spot for Apollo 11) and many other fascinating features you can spot on the Moon's surface.Beginning with the New Moon, as each day passes, an additional slice of the Moon becomes visible. With each new slice comes new craters, lunar seas and jagged mountain ranges. This easy-to-use, illustrated reference book enables everyone, young and old, to better appreciate our nearest neighbour in space.

John A. Read covers everything needed to identify constellations, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae and more. Inquisitive stargazers will find planet hunting and star hopping easy with clearly plotted routes and images of the sky both as seen by the naked eye and detailed views from a telescope.Many fascinating cosmic objects can be easily spotted with the help of this book including beautiful Cassiopeia, regal Leo, the plentiful Kemble's Cascade, the explosive Crab Nebula, the rings of Saturn -- even the moon!This easy to read, fully illustrated reference book will enrich every young person's experience of the skies above.A previous version of this book called "50 Things to See with a Telescope - kids" is also available.

Written as a follow up to 50 Things to See with a Small Telescope, containing virtually no overlap in content, 50 Targets for the Mid-Sized Telescope introduces the beginner stargazer to an assortment of astronomical wonders. With easy-to-follow star maps, unique for each target, the budding astronomer will explore the universe like never before.Each target has been carefully chosen to be observable in telescopes with apertures between four and eight inches. Most objects can be viewed from the suburbs in mildly light polluted conditions, with only a few noted exceptions requiring darker skies. On dark, moonless nights, most targets will be visible in small telescopes and binoculars too.

The Prophecy of Merlin and Other Poems by John Reade Sir Bedivere, in silence, watched the bargeThat bore away King Arthur to the valeOf Avalon, till it was seen no more.Then, on the beach, alone amid the dead,He lifted up his voice and sorely wept.“Alas!” he cried, “gone are the pleasant daysAt Camelot, and the sweet fellowshipOf noble knights and true, and beauteous damesWho have no peers in all the living world,Is quite dissolved for ever, and the KingHas gone and left none like him among men.O happy, thrice and fourfold, ye who rest,Both friends and foemen, in one peaceful bed,While I am sick at soul and cannot die!Oh! that the battle might be fought again!Then would I surely seek the way to death,And bleed and sleep like you, and be at peace.But now, ah! whither, whither can I go,Since he is gone who was my light of life,And whom to see was bliss? What can I doWithout the voice that gave my arm its strength?Or wherefore bear a sword, since now no moreExcalibur points forth to noble deeds?”And then he drew his blade, and threw it farInto the Lake, and, as he saw it sink,“Would God,” said he, “that so I followed him.”But with the strain his wounds began to bleed,And he grew weak, and sank upon the ground,And swooned.And when he woke, he was awareOf Merlin, who stood watching by his side.Then cried Sir Bedivere: “O good and wise,I bid thee welcome, for, in all the world,There is none other I would fainer see.Yet am I sad to see thee, for the KingIs gone, and none is left of all his KnightsSave me, and I am weary of my life.”

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