This book presents the basic fundamentals of descriptive archaeoastronomy and its application to the astronomical descriptions found in ancient Indian scriptures. Archaeoastronomy is a branch of positional astronomy that helps to determine the epochs of ancient astronomical alignments and special astronomical events. In this book, only the descriptions of special stellar alignments and events found in ancient texts can identify the antiquity of the descriptions. India possesses a large volume of ancient scriptures like Vedas and Puranas which contain many astronomical descriptions as in ancient India positional astronomy was well developed. The antiquities of these texts are determined through archaeoastronomical techniques. Major events like Mahabharata War are dated and using these dates a chronology of ancient India is determined. The astronomically determined chronology is compared with the results from various archaeological, palaeoclimatological, geological and genealogical investigations of ancient India. This introductory book interests readers interested in unveiling the mystery involved with the protohistory of this ancient civilization.

Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy documents numerous successful collaborations among computer scientists, statisticians, and astronomers who illustrate the application of state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining techniques in astronomy. Due to the massive amount and complexity of data in most scientific disciplines, the material discussed in this text transcends traditional boundaries between various areas in the sciences and computer science. The book's introductory part provides context to issues in the astronomical sciences that are also important to health, social, and physical sciences, particularly probabilistic and statistical aspects of classification and cluster analysis. The next part describes a number of astrophysics case studies that leverage a range of machine learning and data mining technologies. In the last part, developers of algorithms and practitioners of machine learning and data mining show how these tools and techniques are used in astronomical applications. With contributions from leading astronomers and computer scientists, this book is a practical guide to many of the most important developments in machine learning, data mining, and statistics. It explores how these advances can solve current and future problems in astronomy and looks at how they could lead to the creation of entirely new algorithms within the data mining community.

The chief argument of this book, first published in 1990, is that Ibn al-Haytham's On the Configuration of the World is a non-technical expose of basic astronomical teachings: it was written in particular for those whose main interests were in the areas of philosophy and natural science and who, accordingly, had an interest in relating the mathematical devices employed by professional astronomers to the heavenly bodies mentioned in the philosophical literature. However, the primary reason for this publication is not the advancement of this thesis, but rather the presentation of the medieval texts themselves, normally so inaccessible to scholars and students alike.

Bringing together a wealth of information from many sources, including some material never before published, this atlas is a comprehensive reference on lunar exploration. It tells the story of every spacecraft mission to the Moon since the dawn of the space age, illustrating each account with a unique combination of maps and annotated photographs. Many of the illustrations were created especially for this atlas, including panoramic photographs from every lunar mission. The missions are listed in chronological order, providing readers with an easy to follow history of lunar missions. Special attention has been given to describing the processes involved in choosing landing sites for Apollo and its precursors. The atlas also includes missions that were planned but never flown, before looking ahead to future missions as the world's space agencies prepare for a new phase of lunar exploration.

With their best-selling astronomy textbook, HORIZONS, International Edition authors Mike Seeds and Dana Backman help you understand your place in the universe--not just your location in space but your role in the unfolding history of the physical universe. To achieve this goal, they focuses on two central questions: "What Are We?" which highlights your place as a planet dweller in an evolving universe, guiding you to better understand where we came from and how we formed; and "How Do We Know?" which provides insights into how the process of science can teach us more about what we are.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, The Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. Our home galaxy has even fallen in love. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for. Its fascinating autobiography recounts the history and future of the universe in accessible but scientific detail, presenting a summary of human astronomical knowledge thus far that is unquestionably out of this world.

The twentieth century has been a remarkable epoch in the affairs of men, and this is no less true of astronomy, at once the oldest and most modern of the sciences. Sky watchers at the beginning of the century measured positions and predicted celestial motions in faithful but uninspired homage to the Muse Urania; nowadays, their descendents call on all the resources of modern science to probe the nature and evolution of a bewildering range of celestial objects. Man has even set out to call personally on his nearest neighbours in space. Professor Zdenek Kopal has lived and practised astronomy throughout this efflorescence of his subject. Born in Czechoslovakia just before the outbreak of the Great War, and educated in the classical European tradition, he knows well the days when scholars commanded such respect that astronomical congresses would be visited by Heads of State. Yet within his own lifetime, he has himself been recruited to play an important role in scientific preparations for a manned Moon landing. He has known and worked with some of the most highly respected practitioners of Modern Astromomy: Russell, Shapley, Urey in the United States, Eddington in Britain. His fine eye for detail, coupled with his strong sense of history, enable him to unfold through his personal recollections the development of his subject across the social changes of two world wars. Inspired by his grandfather, who would think nothing of walking sixty miles to theatrical performance, the young Kopal acquired a Wanderlust that has taken him in his career more than a dozen times rond the world. He has visited the most ancient observatories, observed solar eclipses in Japan and Java, helped to establish new institutions in Iraq and India, and commuted for many years between the Old and New Worlds. He has toiled in every corner of his chosen vinyard: as observer, outstanding theoretician, populariser, editor and teacher. During his thirty years as Professor of Astronomy at Manchester, he helped to educate over a hundered PhD students, many from the developing world, who have taken the torch of astronomy back to their home lands. In retirement, he continues to direct his efforts towards a better understanding of the Universe, and shows no sign of abandoning his life-long affair with the heavens. Professor Kopal has entitled his book Of Stars and Men, for he has delighted in the company of both throughout his life. The reader is invited to share with him the story of his birth, his education, his work and his travels; and to join with him in contemplating the history and possible future of his subject, and of civilisation itself.

This book details the lives of two married geniuses, Aden and Marjorie Meinel, who helped to pioneer modern optics and solar energy in the U.S. Aden B. Meinel and Marjorie P. Meinel stood at the confluence of several overarching technological developments during their lifetimes, including postwar aerial surveillance by spy planes and satellites, solar energy, the evolution of telescope design, interdisciplinary optics, and photonics. Yet, their incredible stories and their long list of scientific contributions have never been adequately recognized in one place. In this book, James Breckinridge and Alec M. Pridgeon correct this oversight by sharing the story of this powerful duo. The book follows their lives and covers large scientific developments between World War II to the Cold War. James B. Breckinridge, a previous advisee and later colleague to the Meinels, and historian and scientist Alec M. Pridgeon collected more than 200 hours of oral interviews with those who worked closely with the Meinels and some who built their careers around the findings made possible by their work. The book shares and analyzes the work done by the Meinels, and it also includes incredible insights from an unpublished Meinel autobiography.

For the last four hundred years, women have played a part far in excess of their numerical representation in the history of astronomical research and discovery. It was a woman who gave us our first tool for measuring the distances between stars, and another who told us for the first time what those stars were made of. It was women who first noticed the rhythmic noise of a pulsar, the temperature discrepancy that announced the existence of white dwarf stars, and the irregularities in galactic motion that informed us that the universe we see might be only a small part of the universe that exists. And yet, in spite of the magnitude of their achievements, for centuries women were treated as essentially second class citizens within the astronomical community, contained in back rooms, forbidden from communicating with their male colleagues, provided with repetitive and menial tasks, and paid starvation wages. This book tells the tale of how, in spite of all those impediments, women managed, by sheer determination and genius, to unlock the secrets of the night sky. It is the story of some of science's most hallowed names - Maria Mitchell, Caroline Herschel, Vera Rubin, Nancy Grace Roman, and Jocelyn Bell-Burnell - and also the story of scientists whose accomplishments were great, but whose names have faded through lack of use - Queen Seondeok of Korea, who built an observatory in the 7th century that still stands today, Wang Zhenyi, who brought heliocentrism to China, Margaret Huggins, who perfected the techniques that allowed us to photograph stellar spectra and thereby completely changed the direction of modern astronomy, and Hisako Koyama, whose multi-decade study of the sun's surface is as impressive a feat of steadfast scientific dedication as it is a rigorous and valuable treasure trove of solar data. A History of Women in Astronomy and Space Exploration is not only a book, however, of those who study space, but of those who have ventured into it, from the fabled Mercury 13, whose attempt to join the American space program was ultimately foiled by betrayal from within, to mythical figures like Kathryn Sullivan and Sally Ride, who were not only pioneering space explorers, but scientific researchers and engineers in their own rights, aided in their work by scientists like Mamta Patel Nagaraja, who studied the effects of space upon the human body, and computer programmers like Marianne Dyson, whose simulations prepared astronauts for every possible catastrophe that can occur in space. Told through over 130 stories spanning four thousand years of humanity's attempt to understand its place in the cosmos, A History of Women in Astronomy and Space Exploration brings us at last the full tale of women's evolution from instrument makers and calculators to the theorists, administrators, and explorers who have, while receiving astonishingly little in return, given us, quite literally, the universe.

A game reserve is not only ideal for viewing animals but it's also an excellent location from which to study the stars. Stargazing from Game Reserves in Southern Africa is a lively introduction to the night skies, offering visitors to game reserves and nature parks (in fact, any out-of-town location) the opportunity to turn their binoculars skyward after dark, and to make sense of the myriad stars and recognise some of the patterns they form. The author takes readers on a celestial 'game drive', directing them towards the 'Big Five' constellations of the night sky. He provides clear steps for novice star-watchers to navigate the skies, track the planets, and even spot the moons of Jupiter and possibly the crescent of Venus. No prior knowledge of astronomy is needed to enjoy these introductory excursions into the night skies. Expertly illustrated with colour photographs, wildlife artwork, line drawings and 12 star maps, this book is a welcome addition to the collection of any outdoor enthusiast.

It is well established and appreciated by now that more than 99% of the baryonic matter in the universe is in the plasma state. Most astrophysical systems could be approximated as conducting fluids in a gravitational field. It is the combined effect of these two that gives rise to the mind boggling variety of configurations in the form of filaments, loops, jets and arches. The plasma structures that cannot last for more than a second or less in a laboratory remain intact for astronomical time and spatial scales in an astrophysical setting. The case in point is the well known extragalactic jets whose collimation and stability has remained an enigma inspite of the efforts of many for many long years. The high energy radiation sources such as the active galactic nuclei again summon the coherent plasma radiation processes for their exceptionally large output from regions of relatively small physical sizes. The generation of magnetic field, anomalous transport of angular momentum with decisive bearing on star formation processes, the ubiquitous MHD turbulence under conditions irreproducible in terrestrial laboratories are some of the generic issues still awaiting a concerted effort for their understanding. Quantum Plasmas, pair plasmas and pair-ion plasmas exist under extreme conditions in planetary interiors and exotic stars. In this workshop plasma physicists, astrophysicists and plasma astrophysicists are brought together to discuss these issues.

Ring lasers are commonly used as gyroscopes for aircraft navigation and attitude control. The largest ring lasers are sensitive enough that they can be used for high resolution inertial rotation sensing of the Earth in order to detect tiny perturbations to the Earth's rotation caused by earthquakes or global mass transport. This book describes the latest advances in the development of large ring lasers for applications in geodesy and geophysics using the most sensitive and stable devices available. Chapters cover our current knowledge of the physics of the laser gyroscope, how to acquire and analyse data from ring lasers, and what the potential applications are in the geosciences. It is a valuable reference for those working with ring lasers or using the data for applications in geodesy and geophysics; as well as researchers in laser physics, photonics and navigation.

A new paradigm for scientific discovery through computational tools now permeates every aspect of astronomical research. Computational astrophysics combines modern computational methods, novel hardware designs, advanced algorithms, original software implementations, and associated technologies to discover new phenomena and to make predictions in astronomy. The proceedings of IAU Symposium 362 summarizes ongoing developments in computational astrophysics through astronomers in diverse fields sharing their knowledge and approaches. It focuses on computational methods applied to speed up and broaden the scope of scientific studies, such as finding trends in observational data, high performance computing, automated search algorithms, and model predictability. Experts discuss a palette of challenging informational and technical developments, with the goal of coordinating their efforts and the improvement of techniques in pursuit of a wide range of astronomical studies, including fluid dynamics in star and galaxy evolution, exoplanets, gravitational waves, numerical relativity, data mining, and much more.

A very attractive feature of the theory of general relativity is that it is a perfectexampleofa"falsi?able"theory:notunableparameterispresentinthe theory and therefore even a single experiment incompatible with a prediction of the theory would immediately lead to its inevitable rejection, at least in the physical regime of application of the aforementioned experiment. This fact provides additional scienti?c value to one of the boldest and most fascinating achievements of the human intellect ever, and motivates a wealth of e?orts in designing and implementing tests aimed at the falsi?cation of the theory. The ?rst historical test on the theory has been the de?ection of light gr- ing the solar surface (Eddington 1919): the compatibility of the theory with this ?rst experiment together with its ability to explain the magnitude of the perihelion advance of Mercury contributed strongly to boost acceptance and worldwideknowledge.However,technologicallimitations preventedphysicists from setting up more constraining tests for several decades after the formu- tion of the theory. In fact, a relevant problem with experimental general r- ativity is that the predicted deviations from the Newtonian theory of gravity areverysmallwhentheexperimentsarecarriedoutinterrestriallaboratories.

William Huggins (1824-1910) was celebrated in his lifetime as the father of astrophysics. The letters and observatory notebooks contained in this edition allow Huggins' important role in the development of astrophysics to fully emerge. Material comes from archives around the world and is previously unpublished.

Research shows that students learn best by doing. This workbook, written by two master teachers, contains 36 field-tested activities, including nine new to the Second Edition, that span the introductory astronomy course and can be used in any size of classroom. Each activity is now self-contained with an introduction that provides necessary background material for students. Activities are built around a concept that leads students from basic knowledge to a deeper understanding through guided interactions. The Second Edition is supported by Smartwork5, so instructors can easily assess student understanding.

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER One of TIME's Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade 'Captivating, fascinating, profoundly beautiful. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist' John Banville 'We are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come' Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe. With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery. Enlightening and consoling, The Order of Time shows that to understand ourselves we need to reflect on time -- and to understand time we need to reflect on ourselves. Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre

One of today's leading astronomers takes readers inside the decades-long search for the first galaxies and the origin of starlight Astronomers are like time travelers, scanning the night sky for the outermost galaxies that first came into being when our universe was a mere fraction of its present age. When Galaxies Were Born is Richard Ellis's firsthand account of how a pioneering generation of scientists harnessed the world's largest telescopes to decipher the history of the universe and witness cosmic dawn, the time when starlight first bathed the cosmos and galaxies emerged from darkness. In a remarkable career spanning more than forty years, Ellis has made some of the most spectacular discoveries in modern cosmology. He has traveled the world to conduct observations in locales as beautiful and remote as the Australian outback, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, and the Chilean desert. In this book, he brings to life a golden age of astronomy, describing the triumphs and the technical setbacks, the rivalries with competing teams, and the perennial challenge of cloudy nights. Ellis reveals the astonishing progress we have made in building ever larger and more powerful telescopes, and provides a tantalizing glimpse of cosmic dawn. Stunningly illustrated with a wealth of dramatic photos, When Galaxies Were Born is a bold scientific adventure enlivened by personal insights and anecdotes that enable readers to share in the thrill of discovery at the frontiers of astronomy.

700 years after Dante Alighieri's death, this book intertwines the voice of the great poet with that of an exceptional contemporary, Marco Polo, who was equally curious about the geography of both earthly and celestial worlds. If Polo was the “ordinary genius� of the XIII century, the designation of “sorcerer genius� must go to Alighieri, the man with encyclopedic wisdom, at ease with his era’s philosophy, theology, and science. The sorcerer genius—well versed in this world—must create their own, which he did with The Divine Comedy. On the other hand, The Travels of Marco Polo, the greatest classic in travel literature, offers wonder and provides delight. This book combines the unforgettable characters of both books, the darkness of the infernal landscapes with the immensity of the Asian deserts, the richness of the Mongol empire with the glamor of medieval philosophy, the aspirations and dreams of two great explorers with knowledge of the science of their time, as well as the ever-eternal cosmology. This is an accessible and entertaining book for high school students, scholars of scientific history and the history of ideas, and curious readers who want to know more about Dante and Marco Polo and their unquenchable thirst for knowledge. This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.

The Sixth Trieste Conference on Chemical Evolution for the first time has also been a Euroconference. This year we focused on "First Steps in the Origin of Life in the Universe." (Both this Centre and the ICGEB have been sponsors since we first started planning the series with Professors Abdus Salam and Cyril Ponnamperuma. ) The conference had the following 11 sponsors: The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, The European Commission, The SETI Institute, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy, The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, The European Space Agency (ESA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Universite Paris 12, The ICTP Public Information Office, La Fondazione Internazionale Trieste per il Progresso e la Liberta della Scienza, and II Laboratorio dell'Immaginario Scientifico. of our Over 90 participants allowed us to make a truly comprehensive review subject. In 82 presentations we had contributions from experts in questions related to the origin, evolution, distribution and destiny of life in the universe, topics that are known together as the science ofastrobiology. The publication ofthese proceedings was largely due to a generous grant form the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome, Italy. The general topic of the conference concerned the origin, evolution, distribution and destiny of life in the Universe, a subject referred to as astrobiology and also as exobiology. In this report we prefer the synonym Astrobiology.

This volume of 12 studies, mainly published during the past 15 years, begins with an overview of the Islamic astronomy covering not only sophisticated mathematical astronomy and instrumentation but also simple folk astronomy, and the ways in which astronomy was used in the service of religion. It continues with discussions of the importance of Islamic instruments and scientific manuscript illustrations. Three studies deal with the regional schools that developed in Islamic astronomy, in this case, Egypt and the Maghrib. Another focuses on a curious astrological table for calculating the length of life of any individual. The notion of the world centred on the sacred Kaaba in Mecca inspired both astronomers and proponents of folk astronomy to propose methods for finding the qibla, or sacred direction towards the Kaaba; their activities are surveyed here. The interaction between the mathematical and folk traditions in astronomy is then illustrated by an 11th-century text on the qibla in Transoxania. The last three studies deal with an account of the geodetic measurements sponsored by the Caliph al-Ma'mA"n in the 9th century; a world-map in the tradition of the 11th-century polymath al-BA (R)rA"nA (R), alas corrupted by careless copying; and a table of geographical coordinates from 15th-century Egypt.

The history of the development of Euclidean, non-Euclidean, and relativistic ideas of the shape of the universe, is presented in this lively account by Jeremy Gray. The parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry occupies a unique position in the history of mathematics. In this book, Jeremy Gray reviews the failure of classical attempts to prove the postulate and then proceeds to show how the work of Gauss, Lobachevskii, and Bolyai, laid the foundations of modern differential geometry, by constructing geometries in which the parallel postulate fails. These investigations in turn enabled the formulation of Einstein's theories of special and general relativity, which today form the basis of our conception of the universe. The author has made every attempt to keep the pre-requisites to a bare minimum. This immensely readable account, contains historical and mathematical material which make it suitable for undergraduate students in the history of science and mathematics. For the second edition, the author has taken the opportunity to update much of the material, and to add a chapter on the emerging story of the Arabic contribution to this fascinating aspect of the history of mathematics.

Jill Tarter is a pioneer, an innovator, an adventurer, and a controversial force. At a time when women weren't encouraged to do much outside the home, Tarter ventured as far out as she could-into the three-Kelvin cold of deep space. And she hasn't stopped investigating a subject that takes and takes without giving much back. Today, her computer's screensaver is just the text "SO...ARE WE ALONE?" This question keeps her up at night. In some ways, this is the question that keep us all up at night. We have all spent dark hours wondering about our place in it all, pondering our "aloneness," both terrestrial and cosmic. Tarter's life and her work are not just a quest to understand life in the universe: they are a quest to understand our lives within the universe. No one has told that story, her story, until now. It all began with gazing into the night sky. All those stars were just distant suns-were any of them someone else's sun? Diving into the science, philosophy, and politics of SETI-searching for extraterrestrial intelligence-Sarah Scoles reveals the fascinating figure at the center of the final frontier of scientific investigation. This is the perfect book for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered if we are alone in the universe.

Advances in Machine Learning and Data Mining for Astronomy documents numerous successful collaborations among computer scientists, statisticians, and astronomers who illustrate the application of state-of-the-art machine learning and data mining techniques in astronomy. Due to the massive amount and complexity of data in most scientific disciplines, the material discussed in this text transcends traditional boundaries between various areas in the sciences and computer science. The book's introductory part provides context to issues in the astronomical sciences that are also important to health, social, and physical sciences, particularly probabilistic and statistical aspects of classification and cluster analysis. The next part describes a number of astrophysics case studies that leverage a range of machine learning and data mining technologies. In the last part, developers of algorithms and practitioners of machine learning and data mining show how these tools and techniques are used in astronomical applications. With contributions from leading astronomers and computer scientists, this book is a practical guide to many of the most important developments in machine learning, data mining, and statistics. It explores how these advances can solve current and future problems in astronomy and looks at how they could lead to the creation of entirely new algorithms within the data mining community.