The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos
The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos

Author: Michael Lemonick

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2009-12-14

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0393072088

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“A bright, shiny gift to popular-science collections.”—Booklist Trained as a musician, amateur scientist William Herschel found international fame after discovering the planet Uranus in 1781. Though he is still best known for this finding, his partnership with his sister Caroline yielded other groundbreaking work that affects how we see the world today. The Herschels made comprehensive surveys of the night sky, carefully categorizing every visible object in the void. Caroline wrote an influential catalogue of nebulae, and William discovered infrared radiation. Veteran science writer Michael D. Lemonick guides readers through the depths of the solar system and into his subjects’ private lives: William developed bizarre theories about inhabitants of the sun; he procured an unheard-of salary for Caroline from King George III even as he hassled over the funding for an enormous, forty-foot telescope; and the siblings feuded over William’s marriage but eventually reconciled.

Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy
Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy

Author: Patrick Moore

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-01-16

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1139495224

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Packed with up-to-date astronomical data about the Solar System, our Galaxy and the wider Universe, this is a one-stop reference for astronomers of all levels. It gives the names, positions, sizes and other key facts of all the planets and their satellites; discusses the Sun in depth, from sunspots to solar eclipses; lists the dates for cometary returns, close-approach asteroids, and significant meteor showers; and includes 88 star charts, with the names, positions, magnitudes and spectra of the stars, along with key data on nebulae and clusters. Full of facts and figures, this is the only book you need to look up data about astronomy. It is destined to become the standard reference for everyone interested in astronomy.

It Came From Outer Space Wearing an RAF Blazer!
It Came From Outer Space Wearing an RAF Blazer!

Author: Martin Mobberley

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-07-23

Total Pages: 658

ISBN-13: 3319006096

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To British television viewers, the name ‘Patrick Moore’ has been synonymous with Astronomy and Space Travel since he first appeared on The Sky at Night in 1957. To amateur astronomers he has been a source of inspiration, joy, humour and even an eccentric role model since that time. Most people know that his 55 years of presenting The Sky at Night is a world record, but what was he really like in person? What did he do away from the TV cameras, in his observatory, and within the British Astronomical Association, the organisation that inspired him as a youngster? Also, precisely what did he do during the War Years, a subject that has always been shrouded in mystery? Martin Mobberley, a friend of Patrick Moore’s for 30 years, and a former President of the British Astronomical Association, has spent ten years exhaustively researching Patrick’s real life away from the TV cameras. His childhood, RAF service, tireless voluntary work for astronomy and charity and his endless book writing are all examined in detail. His astronomical observations are also examined in unprecedented detail, along with the battles he fought along the way and his hatred of bureaucracy and political correctness. No fan of Sir Patrick Moore can possibly live without this work on their bookshelf!

NASA EP.
NASA EP.

Author: United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Publisher:

Published: 1968

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13:

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From Dust to Life
From Dust to Life

Author: John Chambers

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-05-02

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1400885566

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The remarkable story of how our solar system came to be The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

Astronomy: the Human Quest for Understanding
Astronomy: the Human Quest for Understanding

Author: Dale A. Ostlie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-08-11

Total Pages: 913

ISBN-13: 019882582X

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Since humans first looked up at the stars, astronomy has had a particular ability to stir the imagination and challenge the thinking of scientists and non-scientists alike. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding is an introductory astronomy textbook specifically designed to relate to non-science majors across a wide variety of disciplines, nurture their curiosity, and develop vital science-based critical-thinking skills. This textbook provides an introduction to how science operates in practice and what makes it so successful in uncovering nature's secrets. Given that the study of astronomy dates back thousands of years, it is the ideal subject for tracing the development of the physical sciences and how our evolving understanding of nature has influenced, and been influenced by, mathematics, philosophy, religion, geography, politics, and more. This historical approach also illustrates how wrong turns have been taken, and how the inherent self-correcting nature of science through constant verification and the falsifiability of truly scientific theories ultimately leads us back to a more productive path in our quest for understanding. This approach also points out why, as a broadly educated citizenry, students of all disciplines must understand how scientists arrive at conclusions, and how science and technology have become central features of modern society. In discussing this fascinating and beautiful universe of which we are a part, it is necessary to illustrate the fundamental role that mathematics plays in decoding nature's mysteries. Unlike other similar textbooks, some basic mathematics is integrated naturally into the text, together with interpretive language, and supplemented with numerous examples; additional tutorials are provided on the book's companion website. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding leads the reader down the path to our present-day understanding of our Solar System, stars, galaxies, and the beginning and evolution of our universe, along with profound questions still to be answered in this ancient, yet rapidly changing field.