Principles of Astronomy You can purchase Principles of Astronomy for only $30! If you are not happy with your purchase you can return it for a full refund. Get a FREE sample of the first quarter of this course

Principles of Astronomy, by Dr Jamie Love, is a specially written, self-paced, self-learning "hypertextbook" used offline from your hard disk. This means you do not have to waste time online and it also means that these lengthy "webpages" load faster. Your connection speed is no longer an issue because you own a copy on your own machine. You can install the hypertextbook on any computer (PC or Macs).

These 48 lessons and 8 exams evolved out of eight years of teaching astronomy over the Internet preceded by many years teaching astronomy in a more conventional setting. From that feedback, Dr Love learned where students had the most difficulty so he rewrote or added new material to the hypertextbook in order to address those problems. It is now a complete, tried and tested astronomy course, perfect for home schools, high schools or hobbyists - anyone wanting a solid education in astronomy. It is also useful as a university-level introduction to Astronomy.

What do you teach?

This course is a healthy mix of both observational astronomy and academic astronomy. Jamie tries to teach the identification along with the concepts and to do that he has chosen specific topics to coincide with things you can actually observe (most of the time). Students will learn how to identify most of the bright stars and obvious constellations as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. [There's also a lesson about the night sky as seen from the South Pole.] More importantly, students will gain an understanding of astronomy to the level expected of a first-semester, university-level astronomy course, but pretty light on the math.

Principles of Astronomy is a complete educational package using all the advantages of the Internet while keeping the technology simple and online use to a minimum. If you have an Internet browser, then you have the technology to learn astronomy using this innovative hypertextbook. Self evaluation exams provide instant feedback and reinforce the learning. In addition to the hypertextbook, students are directed to websites where further (often more advanced) information can be found. Also, students are told where to get free astronomy software that complements what is taught in the hypertextbook. These ancillary websites and programs are NOT required for the course but it would be a shame not to point them out to the curious student.

Each lesson comes with a Study Guide to help the student plan and organize his or her thoughts. The student can complete a glossary to keep track of the 425 new terms and phrases taught in this course. An alphabetical list of the more than 300 astronomy objects (mostly stars and constellations) encourages the student to keep a list of objects seen.

The course is divided into four quarters with 12 lessons in each. After finishing a quarter the student is encouraged to take the pair of exams - one tests the student's understanding of the academic astronomy and the other examines the student's ability to identify stars, constellations and other objects. All exam consists of 20 questions with 4 (multiple) choices. (That's a total of 8 exams and 160 questions.) The browser's JavaScript must be enabled in order to give feedback and score the exams.

The Harrisonburg City Public Schools use Principles of Astronomy for their high school astronomy course. The teacher says, "We continue to enjoy your wonderfully written 'book'... What I like best about your approach is that it is NOT an advanced physics course and is accessible to a wide range of students."
Royal Palm Beach High School is also using Principles of Astronomy!
And, it's a big hit among hobbyists and homeschoolers too.

"You have a very amazing website and it is the ONLY one I have seen among non-degree astronomy education resources that contains all the principles of a successful online course."
Leila Sadeghi Ardestani - Swinburne Astronomy Online

"I have just finished your course and would like to thank you for the time and effort you must have put into it. Over the past 35 years, as time permitted from family and a demanding professional life, I have taken a number of astronomy courses but yours is by far and away - the best!"
Doug

"I found your website online. I am thoroughly enjoying the course, and will buy the rest now!"
John

"I am a Gran who is home schooling my grandson for his 11th grade year in school. We are using your Astronomy lessons for this coures and enjoy its easy reading style, understandable science and useful exams."
Dian

"Absolutely intriguing.
Thank you for producing something that I, and my 9 month old Ridgeback, can study when we're out on the beach at night. ... your explanations make everything much easier to rotate in my mind."
Ian

"Well this has really been an eye opener. Thanks to you I have learned so much in this past 4 months. I only wish i had started this course earlier . Such a wonderful package that you have put together."
Mark

Feel free to have a look at the on line sample containing ...
the first quarter of this course (16 lessons plus two exams) and support materials including ...
the Study Guide,
the list of terms learned,
the list of astronomical objects taught,
recommended websites and
suggested software.
Get a FREE copy of this sample on your own computer by sending an email to Dr Love requesting a copy of Principles of Astronomy and he will reply with instructions on how to collect it. (The sample is a 1.4 Mb zipped file) . If you want the download instructions sent to an address other than the one you are sending from now, please write the address in the body of the message. Your email address will not be sold, shared or distributed.

Also, check out the Night Sky This Month and Next Month. Night Sky is a FREE, online, monthly astronomy page presenting information for time-dependent (monthly) observations as well as providing some "astro-lite" lessons.

You might also want to browse the Frequently Asked Questions about the course.

You can purchase Principles of Astronomy for only $30 online through the secure server at Merlin Science. If you are not happy with your purchase you can return it for a full refund.