The Astronomers by
Published in conjunction with the PBS television series of the same name, this book explores some of the major areas of contemporary astronomy. Although there are numerous, brief biographical sketches of individual scientists, the emphasis is chiefly and properly on their works. Topics include cosmology, stellar evolution, dark matter, quasars, the search for planets beyond the solar system, and the Voyager missions to the outer planets.
Benjamin Banneker:Surveyor, Astronomer, Publisher, Patriot by
The first biography of a major figure in early US and African American history A household name and unparalleled hero revered in every African American household, Benjamin Banneker was a completely self-taught mathematical genius who achieved professional status in astronomy, navigation, and engineering. His acknowledged expertise and superior surveying skills led to his role as coworker with the Founding Fathers in planning our nation's capitol, Washington, DC. His annual Banneker's Almanac was the first written by a black and outsold the major competition. In addition, he was a vocal force in the fight for the abolition of slavery. Yet, despite his accomplishments, there has been no biography of this important man--until now. Written by an author with strong ties across the Washington-Maryland-Virginia area where abolitionist societies revered Banneker, this long overdue biography at last gives the hard-earned attention this prominent hero and his accomplishments deserve.
Edwin Hubble: Mariner of the Nebulae by
An exploration of Hubble's contributions, his personal successes, & the activities & views that sometimes annoyed others inside & outside the scientific community.
Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery by
NATIONAL BEST SELLER A stunning, personal memoir from the astronaut and modern-day hero who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station--a message of hope for the future that will inspire for generations to come. The veteran of four spaceflights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he takes us inside a sphere utterly hostile to human life. He describes navigating the extreme challenge of long-term spaceflight, both life-threatening and mundane: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the catastrophic risks of colliding with space junk; and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home--an agonizing situation Kelly faced when, on a previous mission, his twin brother's wife, American Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while he still had two months in space. Kelly's humanity, compassion, humor, and determination resonate throughout, as he recalls his rough-and-tumble New Jersey childhood and the youthful inspiration that sparked his astounding career, and as he makes clear his belief that Mars will be the next, ultimately challenging, step in spaceflight.
Endurance, we see the triumph of the human imagination, the strength of the human will, and the infinite wonder of the galaxy.
Fred Hoyle's Universe by
Fred Hoyle was one of the most widely acclaimed and colorful scientists of the twentieth century, a down-to-earth Yorkshireman who combined a brilliant scientific mind with a relish for communication and controversy. Best known for his steady-state theory of cosmology, he described a universe with both an infinite past and an infinite future. He coined the phrase 'big bang' to describe the main competing theory, and sustained a long-running, sometimes ill-tempered, and typically public debate with his scientific rivals. He showed how the elements are formed by nuclear reactions inside stars, and explained how we are therefore all formed from stardust. He also claimed that diseases fall from the sky, attacked Darwinism, and branded the famous fossil of the feathered Archaeopteryx a fake. Throughout his career, Hoyle played a major role in the popularization of science. Through his radio broadcasts and his highly successful science fiction novels he became a household name, though his outspokenness and support for increasingly outlandish causes later in life at times antagonized the scientific community. Jane Gregory builds up a vivid picture of Hoyle's role in the ideas, the organization, and the popularization of astronomy in post-war Britain, and provides a fascinating examination of the relationship between a maverick scientist, the scientific establishment, and the public. Through the life of Hoyle, this book chronicles the triumphs, jealousies, rewards, and feuds of a rapidly developing scientific field, in a narrative animated by a cast of colorful astronomers, keeping secrets, losing their tempers, and building their careers here on Earth while contemplating the nature of the stars.
Galileo by
Four hundred years ago, in 1610, Galileo published the Siderius nuncius, or Starry Messenger, a 'hurried little masterpiece' in John Heilbron's words. Presenting to the world his remarkable observations using the recently invented telescope - of the craters of the moon, and the satellites of Jupiter, observations that forced changes to perceptions of the perfection of the heavens and the centrality of the Earth - the appearance of the little book is regarded as one of the greatest moments in the history of science. It was also a point of change in the life of Galileo himself, propelling him from professor to prophet. But this is not the biography of a mathematician. Certainly he spent the first half of his career as a professor of mathematics and has been called 'the divine mathematician'. Yet he was no more (or less) a mathematician than he was a musician, artist, writer, philosopher, or gadgeteer. This fresh lively new biography of the 'father of science', planned to coincide with the 400th anniversary of publication of the Starry Messenger, paints a rounded picture of Galileo, and places him firmly within the rich texture of late Renaissance Florence, Pisa, and Padua, amid debates on the merits of Ariosto and Tasso, and the geometry of Dante's Inferno - debates in which the young Galileo played an active role. Galileo's character and career followed complex paths, moving from the creative but cautious humanist professor to a 'knight errant, quixotic and fearless', with increasing enemies, and leading ultimately and inevitably to a clash with a pope who was a former friend.
