"A highly readable survey of the historical prelude to the study of the origins of life, as well as selected areas of current research, including the search for extraterrestrial life."-NatureWhere did we come from? Did life arise on earth or on some other planet? What did the earliest primitive organisms look like? Untangling a century of contentious debate, the authors explore current theories of the source of life-from Martian meteors to hydrothermal vents-and then present their own elegant scenario: Life arose not in the subterranean depths, as many believe, but on Earth's tumultuous surface, where a primitive form of natural selection spawned the first genetic material, perhaps in the form of a proto-virus. Knowing exactly how life began on Earth will not only teach us more about ourselves, it will bring us closer to finding life elsewhere.

Accompanying the BBC television series, this book contains essays ranging across the whole spectrum of astronomy, space exploration and astrophysics, and tracking the story of astronomical discovery in the 1990s. For Earthbound viewers, the appearance of the Hale-Bopp and Halley's comets, followed by solar and lunar eclipses, triggered a huge upsurge in popular interest. In the same decade the Hubble Space Telescope transmitted thousands of images from deep space, shedding new light on the structure and origins of the universe, and the robot lander on the surface of Mars relayed information about surface conditions on the red planet. The essays cover these events and more, and include discussions with leading astronomers.

The New York Times Reports on Astronomy and Cosmology

"A must for every armchair cosmic voyager."—Science News

The scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries of the universe are among the most imaginative and provocative explorers of our time. Like the geographic explorers of earlier centuries, they venture into uncharted spaces, come upon new worlds, expand the knowable, and challenge thinking about the place of humans in all things.

Collected here are the most exciting moments of recent astronomical explorations, presented by the award-winning science reporters of the New York Times. Recent leaps in technology have allowed astronomers to peer deeply into the universe and to bring into focus fascinating and unsuspected phenomena. Cosmic Dispatches conveys in thrilling detail the meaning and significance of what scientists have been learning about our universe. B/W photographs, diagrams.

Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico helped establish the field of archaeoastronomy, and it remains the standard introduction to this subject. Combining basic astronomy with archaeological and ethnological data, it presented a readable and entertaining synthesis of all that was known of ancient astronomy in the western hemisphere as of 1980.

In this revised edition, Anthony Aveni draws on his own and others' discoveries of the past twenty years to bring the Skywatchers story up to the present. He offers new data and interpretations in many areas, including:
-- The study of Mesoamerican time and calendrical systems and their unprecedented continuity in contemporary Mesoamerican culture
-- The connections between Precolumbian religion, astrology, and scientific, quantitative astronomy
-- The relationship between Highland Mexico and the world of the Maya and the state of Pan-American scientific practices
-- The use of personal computer software for computing astronomical data

With this updated information, Skywatchers will serve a new generation of general and scholarly readers and will be useful in courses on archaeoastronomy, astronomy, history of astronomy, history of science, anthropology, archaeology, and world religions.

Winner of several teaching awards, including National Professor of the Year from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Anthony F. Aveni is the Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology at Colgate University in upstate New York.

Donna Shirley's 35-year career as an aerospace engineer reached a jubilant pinnacle in July 1997 when Sojourner--the solar-powered, self-guided, microwave-oven-sized rover--was seen exploring the Martian landscape in Pathfinder's spectacular images from the surface of the red planet. The event marked a milestone in space, but for Donna Shirley, the leader of the mostly male team that designed and built Sojourner--and the first woman ever to manage a NASA program--it marked a triumph of another kind.

Managing Martians is Shirley's captivating memoir of a life and career spent reaching for the stars. From her seemingly outlandish aspiration at age ten to build aircraft, to abandoning high school Home Ec in favor of mechanical drawing, and, at sixteen, becoming a licensed pilot, Shirley defied expectations from the beginning. In a vivid narrative, rich with anecdotes and thrilling turning points, Shirley recounts the intense battles she waged to defend her vision and the ingenuity and resourcefulness of her committed team. Her moment-by-cliffhanging-moment account of Pathfinder's landing and Sojourner's first tentative foray across the sands of Mars brilliantly captures the fulfillment of a lifelong dream as it heralds a brave new era of space exploration.

Have you ever wondered what happened before the Big Bang, or how we would colonize Mars, or what an alien invasion might really be like? Astronomer Bob Berman has, and in Cosmic Adventure, a collection of twenty-six profound to outrageous essays, he takes readers on a mind-bending tour of the universe, including our own planet Earth. From the most extraordinary cosmic phenomena to the basics of the natural world, Berman challenges us to look at the facts, discoveries, concepts, and awesome wonders of our cosmos in a new light. Written in entertaining, jargon-free language that even a novice stargazer will understand, Cosmic Adventure is a fun-filled, thought-provoking exploration of the secrets beyond the night sky.

Cosmic Adventure explains aspects of the physical world that have often piqued our curiosity. Who gets to name the stars? What would an alien invasion really be like? What's the inside story behind space program disasters? Why was the early Hubble goof avoidable? What's the only original idea in recent science? Why does time probably not exist at all?

Former NASA astrophysicist Jeanne Cavelos examines the scientific possibility of the fantastical world of Star Wars. She explains to non-technical readers how the course of science might soon intersect with such fantasies as interstellar travel, robots capable of thought and emotion, habitable alien planets, bizarre intelligent life forms, high-tech weapons and spacecraft, and advanced psychokinetic abilities. She makes complex physics concepts, like quantum mechanics, wormholes, and Einstein's theory of relativity both fascinating and easy to comprehend. The Science of Star Wars does for Star Wars what Lawrence Krauss's bestselling The Physics of Star Trek did for the Star Trek universe.

Cavelos answers questions like:

* How might spaceships like the Millennium Falcon make the exhilarating jump into hyperspace?

* Could a single blast from the Death Star destroy an entire planet?

* How close are we to creating robots that look and act like C-3PO and R2-D2?

* Could light sabers possibly be built, and if so, how would they work?

* Do Star Wars aliens look like "real" aliens might?

* What kind of environment could spawn a Wookie?

* What would living on a desert planet like Tatooine be like?

* Why does Darth Vader require an artificial respirator?

* Can we access a "force" with our minds to move objects and communicate telepathically with each other?

From the world-renowned physicist and bestselling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, a captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose In both time and space, the cosmos is astoundingly vast, and yet is governed by simple, elegant, universal mathematical laws. On this cosmic timeline, our human era is spectacular but fleeting. Someday, we know, we will all die. And, we know, so too will the universe itself. Until the End of Time is Brian Greene's breathtaking new exploration of the cosmos and our quest to understand it. Greene takes us on a journey across time, from our most refined understanding of the universe's beginning, to the closest science can take us to the very end. He explores how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, creative expression, science, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless, or eternal. Through a series of nested stories that explain distinct but interwoven layers of reality-from the quantum mechanics to consciousness to black holes-Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed. Yet all this understanding, which arose with the emergence of life, will dissolve with its conclusion. Which leaves us with one realization: during our brief moment in the sun, we are tasked with the charge of finding our own meaning. Let us embark.

It was all part of man's greatest adventure--landing men on the Moon and sending a rover to Mars, finally seeing the edge of the universe and the birth of stars, and launching planetary explorers across the solar system to Neptune and beyond.
        
The ancient dream of breaking gravity's hold and taking to space became a reality only because of the intense cold-war rivalry between the superpowers, with towering geniuses like Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolyov shelving dreams of space travel and instead developing rockets for ballistic missiles and space spectaculars. Now that Russian archives are open and thousands of formerly top-secret U.S. documents are declassified, an often startling new picture of the space age emerges:

the frantic effort by the Soviet Union to beat the United States to the Moon was doomed from the beginning by gross inefficiency and by infighting so treacherous that Winston Churchill likened it to "dogs fighting under a carpet";

there was more than science behind the United States' suggestion that satellites be launched during the International Geophysical Year, and in one crucial respect, Sputnik was a godsend to Washington;

the hundred-odd German V-2s that provided the vital start to the U.S. missile and space programs legally belonged to the Soviet Union and were spirited to the United States in a derring-do operation worthy of a spy thriller;

despite NASA's claim that it was a civilian agency, it had an intimate relationship with the military at the outset and still does--a distinction the Soviet Union never pretended to make;

constant efforts to portray astronauts and cosmonauts as "Boy Scouts" were often contradicted by reality;

the Apollo missions to the Moon may have been an unexcelled political triumph and feat of exploration, but they also created a headache for the space agency that lingers to this day.

        
This New Ocean is based on 175 interviews with Russian and American scientists and engineers; on archival documents, including formerly top-secret National Intelligence Estimates and spy satellite pictures; and on nearly three decades of reporting. The impressive result is this fascinating story--the first comprehensive account--of the space age. Here are the strategists and war planners; engineers and scientists; politicians and industrialists; astronauts and cosmonauts; science fiction writers and journalists; and plain, ordinary, unabashed dreamers who wanted to transcend gravity's shackles for the ultimate ride. The story is written from the perspective of a witness who was present at the beginning and who has seen the conclusion of the first space age and the start of the second.


From the Hardcover edition.

"Tony Aveni has written a marvelous book about how the celestial rhythms influenced the cultures of the past. . . . It makes fascinating reading for any layperson."—Science Books and Films

"Clearly, if we can know more about these people, their religion, their culture, their hopes and dreams, according to Dr. Aveni, it will make our understanding of their astronomy more meaningful."—Planetarian

"A thoughtful analysis . . . highly recommended."—Library Journal

What was the meaning of Stonehenge? What was the Mayan Code? Why was the elaborate Incan city of Cuzco built? Groundbreaking archaeoastronomer Anthony Aveni offers a host of startling new insights and conclusions in this acclaimed study of three of life's most mesmerizing mysteries.

This work is an account of one of the most thrilling topics in science - the search for life on Mars - and how it may ultimately lead us to the origins of life in the universe. Hidden beneath the sterile surface of Earth's neighbouring planet may be the keys to unlocking the origins of life in the universe. An expert on extreme-life environments, Malcolm Walter argues that the best place to find evidence of life on Mars is in the rocks and subsurface water of the Red Planet - out of reach of telescopes and space probes. In this book, Walter unveils his dramatic plan - already adopted by NASA - for finding these elusive traces of life.

Rain of Iron and Ice shows us the unmistakable evidence--from spaceprobe flybys of the planets to the scars on our own Earth--of cataclysmic comet and asteroid impacts. By comparing what we know about the earth's geology and paleontology with the ages of the other planets and moons in our solar system, Lewis makes the strongest case yet for sudden, dramatic extinctions and assesses the risks to planet Earth.

The Night Sky is a moving novel about the solitary moral courage of a women raising a child alone and the complex resilience of family. Ivy Slovak is a jewelry designer and artist whose days are absorbed by the struggle to make an unreliable paycheck cover the needs of her infant son. Hungry for the freedom of the world outside her window, Ivy is haunted by the memory of her mother, who abandoned her when she was seven years old. She recalls the years spent with her loving but itinerant father, wandering the desert, hoping somehow to find the troubled, beautiful woman who had left them both. With quiet eloquence and deep compassion, The Night Sky establishes Morris as one of contemporary American literature's foremost chroniclers of the secrets and strengths of the human spirit.

How do we know that the earth travels around the sun, the universe is billions of years old, and stars are trillions of miles away? The author tells the story of the people and ideas that have brought us such knowledge of our planet and the universe, giving realistic portraits of astronomers like Tycho, Kepler, Galileo, Herschel and Hubble. Beginning in 1572 with Tycho's discovery that the heavens can change and ending with the Big Bang of the 20th century, this is an account of the quest to discover the universe.

"Let the meek inherit the earth—the rest of us are going to the stars! Here's how it's going to be done." — Robert Zubrin

"These articles are not 'just science fiction.' They are things we can do—and with any luck at all, and vision and determination, we will." — Stanley Schmidt

Take off on a thrilling journey of space exploration and speculation—to the realm where science fiction becomes science fact—as leading writers, researchers, and astronautic engineers describe a not-too-distant future of interstellar travel and colonization. From cable cars that ride "skyhooks" into space to rockets that can refuel out of Martian air, from "terraforming" planets (a process that makes them habitable for human life) to faster-than-light propulsion systems, Islands in the Sky offers an astonishing collection of challenging—and plausible—ideas and proposals from the pages of Analog magazine. Brilliant and provocative, here is fun-filled reading for everyone interested in science, technology, and the future.

From blue moons to Betelgeuse, it's all in this witty, fact-packed, profusely illustrated guide to the heavens by the author of Discover magazine's popular "Night Watchman" column.

With over 150,000 copies sold since its first publication, this is one of the most popular astronomy books of all time. This unique guidebook to the night sky shows you how to observe a host of celestial wonders. Its distinct format of object-by-object spreads illustrates how deep-sky objects and planets actually look through a small telescope, while its large pages and spiral binding allow for use outside. Along with updated star names and astronomical information, this new edition provides links to a dedicated webpage with up-to-date tables and images, and an improved planets chapter. The many Dobsonian-friendly images and small telescope views have been revised to account for changes in modern telescope technology, such as larger field of view eyepieces. With dedicated chapters on Northern and Southern Hemisphere objects, it's never been easier to explore the night sky, wherever you are. Additional resources are available on the accompanying website: www.cambridge.org/turnleft.

Almost a half-century after is completion, the 200-inch Palomar telescope remains an unparalleled combination of vast scale and microscope detail. As huge as the Pantheon of Rome and as heavy as the Statue of Liberty, this magnificent instrument is so precisely built that its seventeen-foot mirror was hand-polished to a tolerance of 2/1,000,000 of an inch. The telescope's construction drove some to the brink of madness, made others fearful that mortals might glimpse heaven, and transfixed an entire nation. Ronald Florence weaves into his account of the creation of "the perfect machine" a stirring chronicle of the birth of Big Science and a poignant rendering of an America mired in the depression yet reaching for the stars.

In this entrancing account, space traveler Michael Collins recalls his early days as an Air Force test pilot, his astronaut training at NASA, and his unparalleled experiences in orbit, including the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned lunar landing. The final chapter to his autobiography, revised and updated for this edition, is an exciting and convincing argument in favor of mankind's continued exploration of our universe. "Several astronauts have written about their experiences, but none so well as Michael Collins...This is just the book to give the child whose parents made Yeager and The Right Stuff best sellers."-The Washington Post Book World

We all gaze at the night sky in wonder--and this guidebook, the ninth in the National Geographic Pocket Guide series, provides a go-to reference for everything filling the dark canvas above us. A basic guide to the solar system, distant galaxies, exoplanets and deep space, satellites and spacecraft, the big bang, meteor showers, and moon phases, this book also features scores of sky and constellation charts for stargazers. Each of the 140 featured topics includes a photograph or explanatory illustration or graphic. Interesting facts and tips throughout offer a quick guide to observing the night sky with the naked eye, from the Big Dipper and the North Star to auroras and eclipses.

Eade has checked the dates of more than 250 inscriptions from Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. He reproduces old calendrists' calculations for each year from AD 638 to 2000. The introduction provides an outline of the calendrical system and an explanation of its technical aspects.

Are we alone in the universe, or are there other life forms 'out there'? This is one of the most scientifically and philosophically important questions that humanity can ask. Now, in the early 2020s, we are tantalizingly close to an answer. As this book shows, the answer will almost certainly be that life forms are to be found across the Milky Way and beyond. They will be thinly spread, to be sure. Yet the number of inhabited planets probably runs into the trillions. Some are close enough for us to detect evidence of life by analysing their atmospheres. This evidence may be found within a couple of decades. Its arrival will be momentous. But even before it arrives we can anticipate what life elsewhere will be like by examining the ecology and evolution of life on Earth. This book considers the current state of play in relation to these titanic issues.

By day, every year over 40,000 visitors pour in. Across the Rio Grande, a hundred miles away, Mexican mountaineers use the white domes as landmarks. By night, perched almost 7,000 feet above the sleeping, earthbound world, astronomers probe the secrets of the night sky. This is the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, one of the world's largest university-operated astronomical installations.

Big and Bright: A History of the McDonald Observatory is the story of a remarkable collaboration between two major universities, one a prestigious private school, the other a growing southwestern state institution. The University of Chicago had astronomers, but its Yerkes Observatory was aging and underfunded; the University of Texas had money for an observatory but no working astronomer to staff it. Out of their mutual need, they formed a thirty-year compact for a joint venture. Unusual in its day, the Yerkes-McDonald connection presaged the future. In this arrangement, one can see some of the beginnings of today's consortium "big science."

Now the McDonald Observatory's early history can be put in proper perspective. Blessed with a gifted and driving founding director, the world's (then) second-largest telescope, and an isolation that permitted it to be virtually the only major astronomical observatory that continued operations throughout World War II, the staff of McDonald Observatory helped lay the foundations of modern astrophysics during the 1940s. For over a decade after the war, a lonely mountaintop in West Texas was the mecca that drew nearly all the most important astronomers from all over the world.

Based on personal reminiscences and archival material, as well as published historical sources, Big and Bright is one of the few histories of a major observatory, unique in its focus on the human side of the story.

An inspiration to amateur and professional astronomers alike, the Yearbook of Astronomy warrants a place on the bookshelf of all sky watchers and stargazers. Maintaining its appealing style and presentation, the Yearbook of Astronomy 2019 contains an authoritative set of sky charts and comprehensive jargon-free monthly sky notes to enable backyard astronomers everywhere to plan their viewing of the year's eclipses, comets, meteor showers and deep sky objects. In addition, a variety of entertaining and informative articles present the reader with information on a wide range of topics including, among others, The Cassini-Huygens Mission to the Saturn System; 100 Years of the International Astronomical Union; The First Micro-Quasar; Getting the Measure of Double Stars; Asaph Hall: Man of Mars; and Science Fiction and the Future of Astronomy. The Yearbook of Astronomy has been around for well over half a century and, as it heads towards its Diamond Jubilee edition in 2022, continues to be essential reading for anyone lured by the magic of astronomy and who wants to extend their knowledge of the Universe and the wonders it plays host to.