Tales of a Three-legged Newt
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About
In his book Mr. Olcott's Skies: An Old Book and a Youthful Obsession, author Thomas Watson explored the origins of his love for the night sky, and how after a nearly thirty year hiatus he returned to the pursuit of amateur astronomy. Tales of a Three-legged Newt is in part the rest of that story, recounting the acquisition of the telescope of boyhood dreams and sharing some of the experiences it brought in the years that followed. It's also a collection of ideas and opinions written for the entertainment of those who share a love for the night sky. This is not a book about how to observe the stars and planets. It's a book about why people do so, from the perspective one amateur star gazer.
Praise for this book
This book is an absolute gem! It is beautifully written, and the author's experiences in astronomy pretty much parallel my own. I think almost anyone who has ever gazed in awe and wonder at the moon, stars and planets through the eyepiece of a small telescope on a shaky tripod as a kid will love this book. Reading this book brought back so many great memories, memories that I continue to build on to this day each time I point my telescope skyward, or just look at the night sky with my eyes. The thrill I experienced that first time I saw the moon through my little (which seemed so big at the time!) telescope as a kid is still there, 60 years later. I loved this book, and you will too!
But first, you really should read the author's earlier book, "Mr. Olcott's Skies", which is, dare I say, in its own way even better! It truly is destined to be a classic, and holds an honored space on my bookshelf, right next to Leslie Peltier's "Starlight Nights."