The Power of Stars

Our Experience of the Sky and Star Knowledge.- Pictures in the Sky: A World of Constellations in the Night Sky.- World Systems: Models of the Universe Thoughout Time.- Stars that Bind: Civilization, Calendars, and the Sky.- Celestial Architecture: Monuments of the Sky.- Modern Monuments: Mirroring the Sky.- Astronomy and Astrology - Its Past and Future.- Scientific Cosmology - Fact, Modern Mythology, or a Religion?.- A Universe of Knowledge.- Concluding Thoughts.

Dr. Bryan Penprase received a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Applied Physics from Stanford University in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1992 from the University of Chicago. He served at both universities as both a Research and Teaching Assistant, was a Predoctoral Research Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and an NRC Postdoctoral Researcher at IPAC/Caltech in Pasadena. Dr. Penprase has been a professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Brackett Observatory at Pomona College since 1993. Dr. Penprase recently was awarded a Downing Exchange Award to become a visiting fellow at Downing College, Cambridge, in his work on quasar absorption lines. He also was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and an ASEE/JPL Summer faculty fellow. Dr. Penprase recently has been conducting research at Caltech, the Carnegie Observatories, and JPL using the Las Campanas Observatory, the Keck Telescope and Hubble Space telescope, among other facilities. He has worked extensively in many areas of astrophysics, primarily in observational astronomy related to the interstellar medium and star formation. Dr. Penprase most recently has focused his observing efforts to include observations with the Pomona College 1-meter telesccope, and the Keck telescope in Hawaii. Dr. Penprase's research in astronomy and astrophysics has taken him around the world, to observe with telescopes such as the Australian AAT, the observatories of CTIO and ESO in Chile, Caltech's telescopes on Mauna Kea and at Palomar, and the Nordic Optical telescope in La Palma, Spain. He has given astronomy tours and talks since 1986 at the Yerkes Observatory, in Williams Bay Wisconsin, and public sky shows at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, as well as a popular monthtly planetarium show in Claremont at the Millikan Planetarium of Pomona College.

From the reviews: "It's rarely been my pleasure to read a book of such expansive, eloquent erudition. ... illustrate the plethora of ways humans throughout history 'responded to the sky' - sometimes 'with fear, sometimes with great artistry and other times with great rationality'. Indeed, some ancient responses seem remarkably prescient. ... will fascinate everyone from the most hardened scientific materialist to astrologers to ancient astronaut advocates. ... The Power of Stars is a fascinating testament to that endearing fascination. Very highly recommended." (Mark Greener, Fortean Times, 2011)