Free Astronomy Education Downloads
Besides selling science gifts and merchandising at Nostromics Store (some examples at left), we produce free science education resources whose costs are supported by sales of our products. Here you can download free educational material created by Nostromics. Latest news in the Nostromics page on Facebook, @Nostromics on Twitter and Nostromics News.
Ideas of astronomy: free ebook
Cover of 'Le idee dell'astronomia'
Mauro Arpino wrote the free ebook Le idee dell'astronomia - Come lo studio del cielo ha cambiato il mondo (Ideas of astronomy - How the study of the sky changed the world), a 155 pages history of astronomy ebook in Italian. Download Le idee dell'astronomia (12,0 MB PDF) free of charge. You are encouraged to freely use, distribute and share the book under the Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non commerciale-Non opere derivate 3.0 Unported license (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported).
Browse Le idee dell'astronomia. Download a printer-friendly version of the book, a 710 KB PDF file you can easily share by email.
The book is currently available in Italian. We plan to translate and publish selected chapters in English, and then a full English edition. Check Nostromics News for announcements.
About the book
Le idee dell'astronomia collects and organizes the astronomy and history material Mauro Arpino covers in his planetarium lessons for schools at the Planetarium of Milan, Italy. It is not an astronomy textbook, but a journey in time through the views on the universe developed by different civilizations.
It focuses on ideas prompted by the observation of the sky that changed history and culture, up to and including Copernicus. Mauro will write a followup ebook that starts where Le idee dell'astronomia ends, i.e. since after Copernicus.
Table of contents:
Do you like Le idee dell'astronomia? Let us know.
Browse Le idee dell'astronomia. Download a printer-friendly version of the book, a 710 KB PDF file you can easily share by email.
The book is currently available in Italian. We plan to translate and publish selected chapters in English, and then a full English edition. Check Nostromics News for announcements.
About the book
Le idee dell'astronomia collects and organizes the astronomy and history material Mauro Arpino covers in his planetarium lessons for schools at the Planetarium of Milan, Italy. It is not an astronomy textbook, but a journey in time through the views on the universe developed by different civilizations.
It focuses on ideas prompted by the observation of the sky that changed history and culture, up to and including Copernicus. Mauro will write a followup ebook that starts where Le idee dell'astronomia ends, i.e. since after Copernicus.
Table of contents:
- Cieli arcaici: Il fenomeno del Megalitismo, Il moto diurno del sole, Il termine nord, Terra piatta (ma cosa fa il sole di notte?), La Terra sferica, Come sappiamo che la Terra è sferica?, Astronomia Egizia, Astronomia Babilonese (archaic skies: megaliths, shape of the Earth, Babylonian and Egyptian astronomy)
- Il meccanismo dei moti planetari: L’ellenismo, La Biblioteca di Alessandria, La misura della terra di Eratostene, La retrogradazione dei pianeti, Eliocentrismo?, La macchina di Antikythera, Ipparco e la precessione degli equinozi, La scomparsa del sapere ellenistico (the mechanism of planetary motions: Hellenism, the library of Alexandria, Erathostenes and his measurement of the Earth's circumference, the Antikythera mechanism)
- Tavole planetarie: Il tentativo di Boezio, Astronomia islamica, L’astronomia nell’Europa latina, Astronomia indiana, Manoscritti perduti (planetary tables: Boethius' attempt, Indian, Islamic and latin astronomy)
- Rivoluzioni: Rivoluzione geografica, La rivoluzione Copernicana (revolutions: the geographic revolution, the Copernican revolution)
Do you like Le idee dell'astronomia? Let us know.
Binoculars to the stars: free ebook
Cover of 'Un binocolo verso le stelle'
Mauro Arpino wrote the free ebook Un binocolo verso le stelle - Potresti già avere i mezzi per esplorare l'universo (e non saperlo!) (Binoculars to the stars - You may already have the means to explore the universe (and not know!)), a 20 pages amateur astronomy ebook in Italian. Download Un binocolo verso le stelle free of charge (1.8 MB). You are encouraged to freely use, distribute and share the book under the Creative Commons Attribuzione-Non commerciale-Non opere derivate 3.0 Unported license (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported).
Browse Un binocolo verso le stelle online.
The book is currently available in Italian. However, we plan to translate it and publish an English edition, check Nostromics News for announcements.
About the book
Un binocolo verso le stelle is an introductory amateur astronomy book. It explains how to observe the sky with a pair of binoculars, i.e. one of the cheapest, simplest and most readily available astronomical instruments.
The book, which does not require previous astronomy experience, presents the main objects visible in the night sky, explains how to select binoculars, how to use such an instrument, and what objects can be observed with it.
Contents:
Browse Un binocolo verso le stelle online.
The book is currently available in Italian. However, we plan to translate it and publish an English edition, check Nostromics News for announcements.
About the book
Un binocolo verso le stelle is an introductory amateur astronomy book. It explains how to observe the sky with a pair of binoculars, i.e. one of the cheapest, simplest and most readily available astronomical instruments.
The book, which does not require previous astronomy experience, presents the main objects visible in the night sky, explains how to select binoculars, how to use such an instrument, and what objects can be observed with it.
Contents:
- Alziamo lo sguardo al cielo (Let's gaze the sky)
- Consigli (molto) pratici: Impariamo a misurare gli angoli con le mani, Controlli all'acquisto di un binocolo, Adattamento al buio, Visione distolta ((Very) Practical tips: Learn how to measure angles with hands, Checklist for purchasing binoculars, Dark adaptation, Averted vision)
- E adesso cosa osserviamo?: Luna, Giove, Mizar e Alcor (Orsa Maggiore), Alpha Capricorni, Iadi (il muso del Toro), Pleiadi, Cintura di Orione, Nebulosa di Orione, Ammasso doppio h e Chi Persei, Presepe, Via Lattea, Nebulosa Laguna, Ammasso globulare M22 nel Sagittario, Galassia di Andromeda, Nebulosa della Carena, Comete (What shall we observe now? Moon, Jupiter, Mizar and Alcor, Alpha Capricorni, Hyades (bull's head), Pleiades, Orion belt, Orion Nebula, h and Chi Persei double cluster, Beehive, Milky Way, Lagoon Nebula, M22 globular cluster in Sagittarius, Andromeda galaxy, Carina Nebula, Comets)