The Man Who Sold the Milky Way

The Man Who Sold the Milky Way PDF Author: David H. Levy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780816515240
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
Distinguished astronomy researcher, teacher, and lecturer, "Bart Bok always loved to talk about astronomy's big picture," observes David Levy, "and in his lifetime of commitment to the Milky Way, he had seen that picture evolve." Drawing on more than fifty interviews with Bok over the two years before his death, Levy's biography was first undertaken over Bok's protests but later gained his full cooperation. The book shows not only what made Bok an exceptional scientist but also what it was like to be an astronomer in an era of significant progress in that field.

The Man Who Sold the Milky Way

The Man Who Sold the Milky Way PDF Author: David H. Levy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780816515240
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Get Book Here

Book Description
Distinguished astronomy researcher, teacher, and lecturer, "Bart Bok always loved to talk about astronomy's big picture," observes David Levy, "and in his lifetime of commitment to the Milky Way, he had seen that picture evolve." Drawing on more than fifty interviews with Bok over the two years before his death, Levy's biography was first undertaken over Bok's protests but later gained his full cooperation. The book shows not only what made Bok an exceptional scientist but also what it was like to be an astronomer in an era of significant progress in that field.

Coming of Age in the Milky Way

Coming of Age in the Milky Way PDF Author: Timothy Ferris
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062006541
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 575

Get Book Here

Book Description
An eloquent and accessible journey through our evolving notions of the cosmos from “the best science writer of his generation” (Washington Post). From the second-century celestial models of Ptolemy to modern-day research institutes and quantum theory, our perception of the universe—and out place in it—has changed drastically. This classic book offers a breathtaking tour of astronomy and the brilliant, eccentric personalities who have shaped it through the ages. From the first time mankind had an inkling of the vast space that surrounds us, those who study the universe have had to struggle against political and religious preconceptions. They have included some of the most charismatic, courageous, and idiosyncratic thinkers of all time. In Coming of Age in the Milky Way, Timothy Ferris uses his unique blend of rigorous research and captivating narrative skill to draw us into the lives and minds of these extraordinary figures, creating a landmark work of scientific history.

Astronomical Enigmas

Astronomical Enigmas PDF Author: Mark Kidger
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801880261
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Get Book Here

Book Description
Astronomer Kidger has spent his career helping the general public understand the nature of the universe and astronomy. In "Astronomical Enigmas," he offers answers to the questions he is asked most frequently.

The Milky Way

The Milky Way PDF Author: William H. Waller
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691178356
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Get Book Here

Book Description
A grand tour of our dynamic home galaxy This book offers an intimate guide to the Milky Way, taking readers on a grand tour of our home Galaxy's structure, genesis, and evolution, based on the latest astronomical findings. In engaging language, it tells how the Milky Way congealed from blobs of gas and dark matter into a spinning starry abode brimming with diverse planetary systems—some of which may be hosting myriad life forms and perhaps even other technologically communicative species. William Waller vividly describes the Milky Way as it appears in the night sky, acquainting readers with its key components and telling the history of our changing galactic perceptions. The ancients believed the Milky Way was a home for the gods. Today we know it is but one galaxy among billions of others in the observable universe. Within the Milky Way, ground-based and space-borne telescopes have revealed that our Solar System is not alone. Hundreds of other planetary systems share our tiny part of the vast Galaxy. We reside within a galactic ecosystem that is driven by the theatrics of the most massive stars as they blaze through their brilliant lives and dramatic deaths. Similarly effervescent ecosystems of hot young stars and fluorescing nebulae delineate the graceful spiral arms in our Galaxy's swirling disk. Beyond the disk, the spheroidal halo hosts the ponderous—and still mysterious—dark matter that outweighs everything else. Another dark mystery lurks deep in the heart of the Milky Way, where a supermassive black hole has produced bizarre phenomena seen at multiple wavelengths. Waller makes the case that our very existence is inextricably linked to the Galaxy that spawned us. Through this book, readers can become well-informed galactic "insiders"—ready to imagine humanity's next steps as fully engaged citizens of the Milky Way.

We Who Pave the Milky Way

We Who Pave the Milky Way PDF Author: Hal Arnold
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578969350
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Humans are pretty grass-fed now." That's the general opinion about the remnants of the human race existing in the three compounds of the dust planet Yalk. Humanity lost their freedom centuries ago to the Lovindians, who live forever at the expense of their conquered species. Jacob tries to find contentment in his life, which is destined to be short. He tries to repress the losses of his traumatic childhood and ignore when people continue to disappear but is violently forced from his apathetic life. When Jacob is the only one to see the massacre of the Yalkian rebels, he adopts the role of an unwilling anti-hero. Can a single human's rage make any difference against the strength of the conquerors of a galaxy? Will Jacob be able to keep his loved ones safe from the greed of an impossible enemy?

Cosmic Discoveries

Cosmic Discoveries PDF Author: David H. Levy
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592566X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Get Book Here

Book Description
For many millennia the starry night sky has been a source of wonder and awe to men and women who have tried to unravel the mystery of the billion distant lights that fill the heavens after dark. The story of the great discoverers who succeeded in explaining part of the mystery is told here with the joy and infectious enthusiasm that only a fellow discoverer can convey. David Levy, codiscoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, with his wife, Wendee Wallach-Levy, evokes that marvelous moment of Eureka! as he masterfully relates each story. He gives the reader a glimpse of the enthralling adventure of cosmic discovery through stories of the most famous and brilliant astronomers. Beyond their personal accomplishments, these scientists expanded all of humanity's understanding of the universe and our place within it.For example, Galileo's breathtaking discovery of the moons of Jupiter, new worlds that refused to orbit the sun, challenged the whole doctrine of the earth being the center of the universe. With the start of the 20th century, Shapley pushed back the envelope that had been opened by Galileo by proving that the center of our galaxy is very far beyond our own sun. And Hubble showed that even our galaxy is but a tiny part of a universe that is rapidly expanding. In describing these milestones of science, Levy reveals his own spirited conversations with such luminaries of the imagination as the discoverer of the planet Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, and one of the world's greatest science fiction writers, Sir Arthur C. Clarke.Through Levy's unique perspective on cosmic discovery, he is able to connect his own personal life story with that of astronomers of the past and by extension with the history of the whole universe. As the codiscoverer of the spectacular comet that crashed into Jupiter, Levy formulated a whole new range of exciting questions about the universe: Do comets serve to transport the elements of life from one planet to the next? What is the evidence that a large comet once hit the earth? Will the earth someday be in danger of colliding with another such comet and will we have the technology to stop it?This fascinating book will excite any of us who have stared at the night sky in awe and amazement.David Levy and Wendee Wallach-Levy (Vail, AZ) are continuing their ongoing search for new comets. David Levy is the president of the Jarnac Observatory, science editor for PARADE magazine, a contributing editor to Sky and Telescope and Sky News magazines, and the author of Starry Nights, The Quest for Comets, and Impact Jupiter, among other books.

Discovery of Our Galaxy

Discovery of Our Galaxy PDF Author: Charles A. Whitney
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307817091
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a book about the mystery and the passion, the imagination, religion, and poetry, the philosophy, the intellectual flights—and, above all, the people—that have created the science of astronomy, from Thales of Miletus predicting eclipses in the sixth century B.C. to today’s scientists probing the cosmic significance of the mysterious “black holes” discovered in 1970. With authority and charm, the distinguished Harvard astronomer Charles A. Whitney here re-creates the lives and temperaments of the great astronomers and retraces the ingenious arguments, the feats of observation and deduction, and the leaps of intuition by which they have gradually unveiled a picture of the universe and have brought us to an understanding of our own planet’s place in it. Among them: KEPLER, searching the solar system for visible evidence of the transcendent order he believed in GALILEO, constructing the first telescope and proposing the concept of universal gravitation NEWTON, paragon of logic, paradoxically driven by an unshakable belief in himself as God’s appointed prophet to create a world of mathematical certainty and thus expose the wonder of his Father in Heaven WILLIAM HERSCHEL, the nineteenth-century German who may well be considered the father of modern astronomy, first man to chart the nebulae EDWIN HUBBLE, in the present century, discovering and exploring galaxies beyond our own Finally, Professor Whitney makes clear for the layman the fascinating problems astronomers wrestle with today: the mysterious nature of quasars, strange cosmic bodies discovered in 1963; the unknown forces behind cataclysmic explosions recently glimpsed in other galaxies; the elusive nature of “interstellar dust”; the eternal question of how it all began.

The Milky Way

The Milky Way PDF Author: Bart Jan Bok
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Milky Way
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description


Seven Wonders of the Solar System

Seven Wonders of the Solar System PDF Author: David A. Aguilar
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698406915
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ready for a wondrous celestial journey? This extraordinary book puts you right there in the middle of our solar system: breaking through colorful gaseous hazes; exploring the surface of red-hot or ice-cold planets; hurtling through rings of flying, frozen ice chunks; and rocketing on out to deep space. Astronomer David Aguilar is our navigator on these seven wonderful trips through space—journeys that someday may actually happen!

Beyond the Galaxy

Beyond the Galaxy PDF Author: Ethan Siegel
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 981466717X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 387

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A look up at the night sky reveals a treasury of wonders. Even to the naked eye, the Moon, stars, planets, the Milky Way and even a few star clusters and nebulae illuminate the heavens. For millennia, humans struggled to make sense of what's out there in the Universe, from all we can see to that which lies beyond the limits of even our most powerful telescopes. Beyond the Galaxy traces our journey from an ancient, Earth-centered Universe all the way to our modern, 21st century understanding of the cosmos. Touching on not only what we know but also how we know it, Ethan Siegel takes us to the very frontiers of modern astrophysics and cosmology, from the birth of our Universe to its ultimate fate, and everything in between."--