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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > General
French astronomer Camille Flammarion (1842 1925) firmly believed
that science should not be the preserve of elites. His passion for
the discoveries of his time is palpable throughout this classic
introduction to astronomy, which stands as a landmark in the
history of popular science writing. It features 360 illustrations,
including highly detailed maps of the Moon and Mars, the latter
being of special interest for Flammarion as he compared and
contrasted it with the Earth. Originally published in 1880, the
work won the approval of the Academie Francaise and the Minister of
Public Instruction. This reissue is of the version that appeared in
1881 after 50,000 copies had already reached an enthusiastic
readership. Its translation into English as Popular Astronomy
(1894) and another accessible work by Flammarion, Le Monde avant la
creation de l'homme (1886), are also reissued in this series."
The wildly entertaining and eye-opening biography of J. Allen
Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "Close
Encounters" with alien life, inspired Steven Spielberg's
blockbuster classic science fiction epic film, and made a nation
want to believe in UFOs. In June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold
looked out his cockpit window and saw a group of nine silvery
crescents weaving between the peaks of the Cascade Mountains at an
estimated 1,200 miles an hour. The media, the military, and the
scientific community-led by J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer hired by
the Air Force-debunked this and many other Unidentified Flying
Object sightings reported across the country. But after years of
denials, Hynek made a shocking pronouncement: UFOs are real. Thirty
years after his death, Hynek's agonizing transformation from
skepticism to true believer remains one of the great misunderstood
stories of science. In this definitive biography, Mark O'Connell
reveals for the first time how Hynek's work both as a celebrated
astronomer and as the U. S. Air Force's go-to UFO expert for nearly
twenty years stretched the boundaries of modern science, laid the
groundwork for acceptance of the possibility of UFOs, and was the
basis of the hit film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With
unprecedented access to Hynek's personal and professional files,
O'Connell smashes conventional wisdom to reveal the intriguing man
and scientist beneath the legend. Tracing Hynek's career, O'Connell
examines Hynek's often-ignored work as a professional astronomer to
create a complete portrait of a groundbreaking enthusiast who
became an American cult icon and transformed the way we see our
world and our universe.
Originally published in 1930, this series of charts by acclaimed
astronomer Eugene Delporte fixes the boundaries of the
constellations in the Northern and Southern hemispheres according
to the lines of ascension and declination at the astronomical epoch
B1875.0. The limits of each constellation are determined so as to
maintain the boundaries at the time of their definition, with all
post-1925.0 variables indexed to take new limits into account. This
book will be of value to anyone with an interest in astronomy.
This second volume of Frontiers articles contains a broad array of
fascinating topics. The first four
papers focus on the Sun, the origin of the solar system and the
early history of the Earth. The fifth, on komatiites, is also
relevant to the early Earth but also forms a nice transition to
three articles that focus on subduction and mantle processes. The
final three articles focus on changes in our surface environment
including biogeochemical cycles, the evolution of hominids and,
finally, the future threat posed by near Earth asteroids.
The existence of neutron stars was not only a brilliant theoretical
prediction, but also one of the most unexpected and astonishing
discoveries of all heavenly bodies. Twenty-five years after the
remarkable event of their discovery, neutron stars, which are the
densest, the most strongly magnetized, and the most rapid ly
rotating bodies in the Galaxy, remain objects of intense interest.
This book is a revised and enlarged version of the original Russian
edition. The last five years were marked by the discovery of a
supernova in the closest galaxy and dozens of X-ray sources and
millisecond pulsars, which apparently confirm the validity of the
basic ideas underlying these discoveries. The author has
concentrated on the astrophysical manifestations of neutron stars,
which are believed mainly to be associated with the nature of their
interaction with their surroundings. Naturally, this approach does
not leave much room for a detailed description of the internal
structure of these stars. Fortunately, there exists an excellent
monograph by S. L. Shapiro and S. A. Teukolsky (Black Holes, White
Dwarfs, and Neutron Stars, Wiley, New York 1985) which deals mainly
with the purely physical problems. Moreover, the publication of
such a book in the West partly makes amends for the lack of
information about the work being done by Soviet scientists in this
field."
This highly acclaimed study approaches the space race as a
problem in comparative public policy. Drawing on published
literature, archival sources in both the United States and Europe,
interviews with many of the key participants, and important
declassified material, such as the National Security Council's
first policy paper on space, McDougall examines U.S., European, and
Soviet space programs and their politics. Opening with a short
account of Nikolai Kibalchich, a late nineteenth-century Russian
rocketry theoretician, McDougall argues that the Soviet Union made
its way into space first because it was the world's first
"technocracy"--which he defines as "the institutionalization of
technological change for state purpose." He also explores the
growth of a political economy of technology in both the Soviet
Union and the United States.
"Dreams of Other Worlds" describes the unmanned space missions
that have opened new windows on distant worlds. Spanning four
decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science,
this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and
how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural
perspectives on the universe and our place in it.
The journey begins with the Viking and Mars Exploration Rover
missions to Mars, which paint a startling picture of a planet at
the cusp of habitability. It then moves into the realm of the gas
giants with the Voyager probes and Cassini's ongoing exploration of
the moons of Saturn. The Stardust probe's dramatic round-trip
encounter with a comet is brought vividly to life, as are the SOHO
and Hipparcos missions to study the Sun and Milky Way. This
stunningly illustrated book also explores how our view of the
universe has been brought into sharp focus by NASA's great
observatories--Spitzer, Chandra, and Hubble--and how the WMAP
mission has provided rare glimpses of the dawn of creation.
"Dreams of Other Worlds" reveals how these unmanned exploratory
missions have redefined what it means to be the temporary tenants
of a small planet in a vast cosmos.
This book examines the interplay between astronomy and dynastic
power in the course of ancient Egyptian history, focusing on the
fundamental role of astronomy in the creation of the pyramids and
the monumental temple and burial complexes. Bringing to bear the
analytical tools of archaeoastronomy, a set of techniques and
methods that enable modern scholars to better understand the
thought, religion, and science of early civilizations, Giulio Magli
provides in-depth analyses of the pyramid complexes at Giza,
Abusir, Saqqara, and Dahshur, as well as of the Early Dynastic
necropolis at Abydos and the magnificent new Kingdom Theban
temples. Using a variety of data retrieved from study of the sky
and measurements of the buildings, he reconstructs the visual,
symbolic, and spiritual world of the ancient Egyptians and thereby
establishes an intimate relationship among celestial cycles,
topography, and architecture. He also shows how they were deployed
in the ideology of the pharaoh's power in the course of Egyptian
history.
Ireland is home to some of the world's oldest
astronomically-aligned structures, giant stone monuments erected
over 5,000 years ago. Despite their apparent simplicity, these
megalithic edifices were crafted by a scientifically knowledgeable
community of farmers who endeavoured to enshrine their beliefs in a
stellar afterlife within the very fabric of their cleverly-designed
stone temples. Finally back in print, this reissued edition
presents evidence suggesting the builders of monuments such as
Newgrange and its Boyne Valley counterparts were adept astronomers,
cunning engineers and capable surveyors. Their huge monuments are
memorials in stone and earth, commemorating their creators'
perceived unity with the cosmos and enshrining a belief system
which resulted from a crossover between science and spirituality.
As investigation of this awe-inspiring civilisation of people
continues on many levels, evidence is emerging that significant
archaeological sites dating from deep in prehistory are linked -
not just through mythology, archaeology and cosmology - but through
an arrangement of complex, and in some cases astonishing,
alignments. Some of these alignments of ancient sites stretch from
one side of Ireland to another. While the accounts of the lives of
some prominent Irish saints appear to be steeped in folklore and
mystery, it seems from new interpretations of the literature that
the cosmic world view which existed in Neolithic Ireland
experienced a continuity right into the Early Christian period.
Join us on this fascinating exploration of stones, stars and
stories. "The sheer amount of information contained within the book
is mind-boggling. It is well thought out and structured... The more
you read the evidence the more convinced you become." -
Astronomy& Space magazine "Refreshing and fascinating . . . a
wonderful magical book, sumptuously illustrated and a must for
anyone who loves to delve deep into our past." - Kenny's Irish
Bookshop "A fascinating insight into Ireland's ancient burial
sites" - Irish Independent "A monument" - Drogheda Independent "It
is a beautiful book and very well written. The information that you
collected is outstanding." - Barbara Carter, co-author, The Myth of
the Year and The Goddess and the Bull "The authors... reach
interesting and challenging conclusions about the significance of
ancient astronomical knowledge. The book is jammed with colour
illustrations, maps and photographs. A thoroughly interesting
read!" - Archaeology Ireland "An essential book that demonstrates
just how much the beliefs and practices of our ancestors were
influenced by the movement of the stars, in particular those of the
constellation Cygnus - the celestial swan and Northern Cross - once
seen as a source of life and the destination of the soul in death.
A must have tome for all those passionate about what remains of our
fast disappearing ritual monuments of the prehistoric age." -
Andrew Collins, author of The Cygnus Mystery
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