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Posted by Paul A Brierley at 17:16 on 2011 Jul 05
Do the BAA shop have any copies of Mr Baum’s book,Haunted Observatory. Or should I look to buy this from Amazon?
Posted by Callum Potter at 09:56 on 2011 Jul 06
Hi Paul,no, the BAA does not have any stock of this book.Of course, as Brian Cox pointed out on TIMC yesterday, "ghosts don’t exist – they are against the laws of thermodynamics" (i may be paraphrasing).Cheers, Callum
Posted by Jeremy at 21:48 on 2011 Jul 06
Paul,if you can get hold of a copy of this book, it’s definitely worth a read.Highly recommended.Go well!Jeremy
Posted by Paul A Brierley at 06:24 on 2011 Jul 07
Jeremy,Thank you. I have seen copies of his book on both Amazon.co.uk and Waterstones.I am a little surprised that the shop doesn’t stock Richards book. However; I shall endeavour to get hold of this tome, together with his work on the planet Vulcan.
Posted by D Gray at 16:41 on 2011 Jul 07
Dear Paul,I hope you manage to find a copy of The Haunted Observatory, which I heartily commend.Shame on the BAA for not having it; and on you Callum Potter for your rather disrespectful humour which could be construed as a slight against the book. As its subtitle Curiosities from the Astronomers Cabinet implies it details episodes from the history of Astronomy that are a delight to read; but I suspect it may be a disappointment to seekers of the supernatural!Perhaps you have a copy by now Paul; I come to this a little belatedly as I rather infrequently visit the BAA site: finding it ponderously slow and unresponsive; even with broadband and two fast desktops! But I persevere.Regards,David Gray.
Posted by Paul A Brierley at 17:24 on 2011 Jul 07
Hi David,I have found the book is still available and I have found a couple of copies available from Waterstones and Amazon.I will make my purchase later this month. And take this volume with me, to my holiday home on Anglesey to read, when I am there for my annual two week leave.I agree with you. It is a great shame the BAA are not selling his book, given Richards long standing with the association.Richard was director of the Mercury and Venus section during 1979-2000.
Posted by Andrea Tasselli at 18:14 on 2011 Jul 07
I believe that Collum’s was just tongue-in-cheek humor not an attempt to disparage either the book or the author. As for responsiviness of the site I suspect it has more to do with local factors affecting bandwidth than anything else, proof being that I find its response good enough with my rather dated laptop.Andrea T.
Posted by Callum Potter at 11:03 on 2011 Jul 08
Dear David,I certainly had no intention to disparage the book in any way, and am sorry if you took the comment that way.Regarding policy on stocking books written by BAA members, I would suggest writing to Council about that. Callum
Posted by D Gray at 10:08 on 2011 Jul 11
Dear Callum & All,I pretty much took the remark as tongue in cheek but thought it rather unfortunate in the fear that it might be taken by some that the book was a mere ghost tale. However please excuse my harshness.Richard Baum has told me personally that the work involved took a great toll, as we can gather from the last paragraph of the Preface page 12:-In conclusion the deepest debt of all is owed to my wife Audrey for her patience, tolerance, sacrifice, and unremitting assistance over the years I researched the book. Without her support it could not have been completed. Her death before it was finished robbed me too soon of a very special companion in whom I could confide all things. My remarks on the BAA site were more of an explanation of my infrequent visits than a complaint, as I suspected our line was the cause. Over the weekend I have been at the home of our eldest son Stuart and found that the site worked much quicker and smoother there than in my more rural location. His line we find is some three times faster than mine; but my skies are far better so I will have to await BT / The Government getting their hindquarters into gear! Regards,David.
Posted by Richard Miles at 19:50 on 2011 Jul 11
Thoroughly recommend Richard Baum’s book – Lee Macdonald reviewed the book in JBAA, Vol. 119, No. 2 (2008 April). It is a mine of information and a good read at the same time. Richard is one of our pre-eminent wordsmiths and this realy shows through in this particular book of his.Re. the comment about the BAA Sales List stocking individual members’ books – I don’t believe this has ever happened as it would not be right for the Association to favour one author’s work as opposed to another author’s. Also, there would be so many items and what would happen to copies which were not sold?Instead, we do have a link to Amazon.com on the BAA website (or we did last time I looked for it). Anyone navigating to Amazon from the BAA website ‘earns’ a small sum of money for the Association and this gradually mounts up.Richard
Posted by Paul A Brierley at 20:36 on 2011 Jul 11
Thanks for the tip Richard,If I can find the link from here too, Amazon.co.uk/ I will place my order during early August, in time for my summer holiday on Anglesey, from the end of August.
Posted by Richard Miles at 20:55 on 2011 Jul 11
I’m sure you’ll enjoy it – Each chapter is more or less stand-alone and so you can devour them one by one!Richard
Posted by Callum Potter at 10:00 on 2011 Jul 12
If you go to Amazon via the Amazon logo on This Page then things you buy will be accounted to the BAA Amazon affiliation (actually anything you buy from Amazon – not just books).Callum
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