Advance praise: 'David J. Eicher has written a wonderful, up-to-date book on the history and science of comets. The book is written in a more conversational style, with occasional humor thrown in, and is not too technical. The result is a very enjoyable read for everyone.' Gary W. Kronk, author of the 'Cometography: A Catalog of Comets' series Advance praise: 'Eicher's book brings the magical world of comets to life. It is not an arcane mathematical textbook but a celebration of these slowly wandering objects.' David H. Levy, author and discoverer of 22 comets

David J. Eicher is Editor-in-Chief of Astronomy magazine, the world's largest publication on the subject. He is president of the Astronomy Foundation, the telescope industry's first-ever trade association. He is author of seventeen books on science and history, and at age fifteen founded a magazine on observing galaxies, clusters, and nebulae, Deep Sky Monthly. An avid observer of astronomical objects for more than thirty-five years, he was honored in 1990 by the International Astronomical Union with the naming of minor planet 3617 Eicher. David H. Levy is President of the National Sharing the Sky Foundation, and is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. He has discovered twenty-two comets (eight of them using his own backyard telescopes) and was co-discoverer of Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994 producing the most spectacular explosions ever witnessed in the Solar System. Asteroid 3673 (Levy) was named in his honor. He has written several books, is a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Astronomy, and was the former Science Editor for Parade magazine. In 1998 he won an Emmy as part of the writing team for the Discovery Channel documentary 'Three Minutes to Impact'.

Foreword David H. Levy; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Strange lights in the sky; 2. Great comets of the past; 3. What are comets?; 4. Comets of the modern era; 5. Comets in human culture; 6. Where comets live; 7. The expanding science of comets; 8. Observing comets; 9. Imaging comets; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.