Wisconsin Public Radio produces some of the best programming in the country, and I was delighted to hear from producer Jim Packard (also of Whad’ Ya Know? announcer fame) that Paul Kinzer would be a guest on Conversations with Larry Meiller.

Here’s a link to the interview >>

Kinzer is a Wisconsin astronomer and educator; author of Stargazing Basics, one of the most elegantly useful introductions to buying equipment and stargazing we’ve seen. That’s why we published it!

Over at Astronomy.com, the website and blog of Astronomy magazine, Daniel Pendick has posted a Q&A with one of our longtime guides to the heavens, Stephen James O’Meara.

This month, Cambridge University Press published Astronomy columnist Stephen James O’Meara’s latest book for stargazers, Observing the Night Sky with Binoculars. The book — billed as “a simple guide to the heavens” — is for beginners. This is a new direction for Steve, who has published several guides to observing deep-sky objects with telescopes. I asked him why he wrote the book and how readers could benefit from it.

Pendick: How did this book come about? When and how did you get the idea?

O’Meara: It happened after I completed my research-intensive Deep-Sky Companion trilogy (The Messier Objects, Caldwell Objects, and Hidden Treasures), followed by the extensive Herschel 400 Observing Guide. These are all deep-sky works largely to challenge telescope users.

I became aware of the need for a simple book to help pure novices get into our hobby. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I didn’t get fired up to write the book until I learned that a friend of mine in Boston had bought a pair of binoculars and was trying to learn the night sky.

He was struggling with some basic concepts, and he would call and e-mail me with questions. I was enjoying helping him so much, that I thought I’d take what I was teaching him and share the knowledge.

More >>

Weekend Edition Sunday paid a visit to two Cambridge editors to discuss their work in climatology and their new book, Our Changing Planet.

Listen here!

Michael King and Claire Parkinson gave Liane Hansen a warm welcome when she visited NASA Goddard Flight Center for a view of how our planet has changed over the years.

King and Parkinson recently edited Our Changing Planet (November, 2007), a large-format book packed with gorgeous satellite photographs of Earth’s surface. The book shows dramatic changes, from the drying Aral Sea to melting glaciers.

Have a listen at the link above.