Simple Astronomy

Nearly everyone knows something about astronomy - the phases of the moon, or how to find the constellation Orion in the sky, or some of the bizarre phenomena that accompany black holes.  But a lot of basic astronomy is simply not taught in most high schools; then, when students sign up for a college introductory course on the subject, they're immediately overwhelmed by a lot of terms and concepts they'd never heard of.   In Simple Astonomy , these new ideas are explained in basic, conversational English, with a view toward understanding how we have come to know as much as we do about the Universe, and our place among the stars.