As in earlier editions, the author aims to reduce the trend towards fragmentation of astronomical studies. The underlying unity of all of astronomical observation is emphasized by the layout of the book: the pattern of detection → imaging → ancillary techniques has been adopted so that one stage of an observation is encountered together with the similar stages required for all other information carriers.
The book is written in a very accessible manner, and most of the mathematics is accessible to those who have attended a mathematics course in their final years at school. Nevertheless, the treatment of the topics in general is at a sufficiently high level to be of use to those professionals seeking technical information in areas of astronomy with which they might not be completely familiar.