On August 21, 2017, more than ten million Americans will experience an awe-inspiring phenomenon: the first total eclipse of the sun in America in almost forty years. In Sun Moon Earth, astronomer Tyler Nordgren illustrates how this most seemingly unnatural of natural phenomena was transformed from a fearsome omen to a tourist attraction. From the astrologers of ancient China and Babylon to the high priests of the Maya, Sun Moon Earth takes us around the world to show how different cultures interpreted these dramatic events. Greek philosophers discovered eclipses’ cause and used them to measure their world and the cosmos beyond. Victorian-era scientists mounted eclipse expeditions during the age of globe-spanning empires. And modern-day physicists continue to use eclipses to confirm Einstein’s theory of relativity. Appearing in Hardcover on bookshelves September 2016.

Stars Above, Earth Below is Dr. Nordgren's first book. It details the full range of ways that visitors to U.S. National parks can experience astronomy. What starts with a dark starry sky doesn't end when the sun comes up. The Earth is aplanet amongst an ever groing family of planets and the geology the parks is often an analog to processes and features on other planets. FInally the Native American people that have lived in these places have included astronomy and the night sky in their culture to an extent that the sky tonight is now a window to cultures and times long distant from the typical park visitor today. Each chapter is typically its own park and its own astronomical phenomenon or planet. Sights described in each chapter are point out in the sky in a "See for Yourself" section and chapter's end. Read the book that many park rangers now use to plan their evening astronomy programs. On sale in national parks around the country.