Once we understand the concept, the mass of Jupiter fits into a bigger picture. It not only makes sense, but it is easy to remember without memorization. This book innovates not so much by omitting facts as it does by using facts the way real scientists use them-as springboards to understanding. I have focused discussions to show students how astronomers use facts as clues to new hypotheses and as evidence to test existing hypotheses. Of course, there are certain facts that should be in any astronomy book in case a student needs to look up the radius of the sun, for example.
All textbooks serve, to some extent, as reference books.
I have collected those basic descriptive facts into Data Files in appropriate chapters, which not only get the factual data out of the discussion of concepts, but help the student form a quick impression of the principal objects of study. There are no Oscars for college courses, but teachers of introductory astronomy can take heart that they would be big winners if there were. Introductory astronomy focuses on the things that non-science students should understand to function in the modern world and to appreciate their lives in this beautiful universe. That is why introductory astronomy is the ideal introductory science course. It focuses not on the facts of astronomy but on an understanding of what we are, where we are, and how we know.