Book Review: Star Gazers: Finding Joy in the Night Sky
June 2025 :
Book Review: Star Gazers: Finding Joy in the Night Sky
by David H. Levy, Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2025, ISBN 978-0-8165-5464-5 paperback, $19.95 US
Reviewed by Francine Jackson
Every so often, a book comes along that is not meant to actually teach a topic, but to introduce an author as a living human being who has a love of life, and wants to reveal it to the public. Such is the case with Star Gazers, where the author introduces himself, not as a professional astronomer, but a dedicated amateur who has spent most of his life enjoying the beauty of the sky.
Levy’s love of the sky apparently began with a streak of light in the sky when he was very young, what years later he would identify as an Omicron Draconid meteor. From that moment, he never stopped looking up. Although he never went on to become a professional scientist, instead becoming proficient in Literature, Levy became known for his astronomy writing and his telescopes. Each instrument had a unique name, and brought him closer to the stars.
Star Gazers, rather than a book about the sky, per se, is more a memoir of Levy’s life, detailing his many journeys to observe solar eclipses, to tour observatories, and, of course, to discover comets. Of them all, his best known is one found with husband and wife Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker, their ninth, that they discovered soon before it was to impact the planet Jupiter. The frenzy with which this discovery caused became one of astronomy’s most public moments.
This book introduces one of the most prolific astronomy writers to his life, both as a sky watcher, and as a person, who brings himself to the reader as someone everyone would want to know. From his early life, to his life with Wendee – and the sadness of her fatal illness – all is encapsulated in this very formative book. Also, as a part of his other love, literature, snippets of relevant historical writing is placed throughout.
As each section is a separate sector of his life, the reader can pick up and read any part of this book, and learn how he became the famous observer we all know. In addition, you, the reader, as the author has, may find joy in the night sky This is a book for everyone to read and enjoy.
