Interview with Author Thomas Hamilton

Thomas Wm. Hamilton's latest book Astronomical Numbers provides most of the commonly referenced and used numbers in astronomy. This includes the diameters of the sun, all the planets, and major moons, distances of orbits, magnitude scales, frequency of eclipses, the five different kinds of lunar month, and more. To maximize usefulness, all values are in both English units (e.g. miles) and metric (e.g. kilometers), and provide conversions for units commonly used in astronomy, such as the astronomical unit, lightyear, and parsec. Says the author, "There is a real need for a convenient and quick reference for all this astronomical data, which is scattered and time consuming to find." About the Author: Thomas Wm. Hamilton of Staten Island, New York, is the author of five other astronomy books, one science fiction novel, and an anthology of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and satire. He worked three years on the Apollo Project determining orbital characteristics, fuel usage, and radar accuracy requirements. The author taught college astronomy for thirty-three years while running planetariums and training students to enter the planetarium field. Retired in 2003, he has been writing ever since.