A New York Times-bestselling author explains how the physical world shaped the history of our species When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the south-east United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea. Everywhere is the deep imprint of the planetary on the human. From the cultivation of the first crops to the founding of modern states, Origins reveals the breathtaking impact of the earth beneath our feet on the shape of our human civilizations.
Caroline, known as “Lina” to her family, has always lived in the shadow of her older brother William Herschel’s accomplishments. And yet when William invites Lina to join him in England to assist in his musical and astronomical pursuits—not to mention to run his bachelor household—she accepts, finding a new sense of purpose. William may be an obsessive genius, but Lina adores him, and aids him with the same fervency as a beloved wife. When William decides to marry, however, Lina’s world collapses. As she attempts to rebuild a future, we witness the dawning of an early feminist consciousness—a woman struggling to find her own place among the stars.
This dictionary contains over 4,300 entries covering all aspects of astronomy from astrophysics and cosmology to galaxies and time. Major entries include Big Bang theory, relativity and variable stars. Biographical entries on eminent astronomers are also included.
The Hubble Deep Field (HDF) is the deepest optical image of the Universe ever obtained. It is the result of a 150-orbit observing programme with the Hubble Space Telescope. It provides a unique resource for researchers studying the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. This timely volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the HDF and its scientific impact on our understanding in cosmology. It presents articles by a host of world experts who gathered together at an international conference at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The contributions combine observations of the HDF at a variety of wavelengths with the latest theoretical progress in our understanding of the cosmic history of star and galaxy formation. The HDF is set to revolutionize our understanding in cosmology. This book therefore provides an indispensable reference for all graduate students and researchers in observational or theoretical cosmology.
Some time ago, the renowned astronomer Patrick Moore - best known for his BBC TV programme The Sky at Night which has screened continuously for 42 years - devised a catalogue of 109 deep space (galaxies, nebulae, clusters) objects to which he has lent his middle name Caldwell. Thus Caldwell objects, numbered C1 to C109.Why Caldwell and not Moore? The most famous of all catalogues of astronomical objects was created by Charles Messier in 1774, and these are designated by M1 to M109, so Patrick Moore could not use his own surname, but instead elected to use his middle name Caldwell. And Patrick Moore chose 109 object to match Messier, though it is important to understand that not one of Patrick Moore's objects overlaps with Charles Messier's.Messier was in fact a comet hunter - in the eighteenth century comets were not understood at all and had huge significance when they appeared blazing across the clear skies, as yet free from the light pollution we experience. He catalogued galaxies, nebulae and clusters not because he was particularly interested in those objects, but because he did not want these objects to be confused with ne