Noob Definition and 104 Threads

I just started physics and I'm already very much interested in astronomy. What are some good books to read for an amateur? Ive read the Universe in a Nutshell, I liked it but it felt too brief. Thats about it.

I just found this on another forum (:redface: Sorry, I promise I won't stray again) and was just dying of laughter reading it. :smile: :smile: I thought this guide might be helpful here too. :smile: Sorry, I don't know the original source, it was posted without any reference. Noob/newb...

OK, so I'm not a math major. :( or is it :) (I guess that's philosophy) Anyway, here is what I'm stumped on. Population. It is always changing. So, let's say that only 1 person in the population has a particular skill that no other person has. What would the correct ratio be of...

Hopefully somebody here can clue me into figuring out a math problem. I'd like to create an Excel spreadsheet that will allow me to enter my numbers and have it calculate the results, but I'm not sure how to do the calculation (or for that matter, perhaps how to enter it into Excel...) So...