It is said that astronomy is one of the few remaining fields in which amateurs can make a real contribution to science, and nowhere is this more true than in the field of meteors and meteorites.

Although meteors are isolated and unpredictable, it is possible to predict when meteor showers - usually associated with old comets - are due;

Imagine the unique experience of being the very first person to hold a newly-found meteorite in your hand – a rock from space, older than Earth!

"Weekend meteorite hunting" with magnets and metal detectors is becoming ever more popular as a pastime, but of course you can’t just walk around and pick up meteorites in the same way that you can pick up seashells on the beach. Those fragments that survived the intense heat of re-entry tend to disguise themselves as natural rocks over time, and it takes a trained eye – along with the information in this book – to recognize them.

Just as amateur astronomers are familiar with the telescopes and accessories needed to study a celestial object, amateur meteoriticists have to use equipment ranging from simple hand lenses to microscopes to study a specimen, to identify its type and origins.

Equipment and techniques are covered in detail here of course, along with a complete and fully illustratedguide to what you might find and where you might find it. In fact, the Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites contains pretty much everything an amateur astronomer – or geologist – needs to know about meteors and meteorites.

It is said that astronomy is one of the few remaining fields in which amateurs can make a real contribution to science, and nowhere is this more true than in the field of meteors and meteorites.

Although meteors are isolated and unpredictable, it is possible to predict when meteor showers - usually associated with old comets - are due; they last a couple of days, during which many meteors can be observed in a single night. Equipment for watching, counting and even measuring meteors can range from the simplest (a chair) to sophisticated all-sky cameras.

What is unique about meteors in astronomical observation is that many survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere and impact the ground - the only easily-analysed extraterrestrial material available to science.

What is unique about Richard Norton's book is that it is both a field guide to observing meteors, and also a field guide to locating, preparing and analysing meteorites. In addition to giving the reader information about observing techniques for meteors, this book also provides a fully detailed account of the types of meteorites, how and where to find them, how to prepare and analyse them. It is thus the only complete book on the subject available at present.