Rising 6,140 feet into the sky, Palomar Mountain is one of the highest peaks in San Diego County. It is best known as the location for the iconic Palomar Observatory and its giant 200-inch Hale telescope. But since the mid-1800s, this mile-high forested oasis in the Southern California desert has also been a haven to rustlers, ranchers, and recluses, as well as practitioners of high science and promoters of extraterrestrials. Early Luiseño Indians were the mountain's first inhabitants, and ever since then, it has been a special place with a magical attraction to many looking for inspiration and solitude. Today Palomar Mountain is home to a small, thriving community with an eclectic mix of about 300 citizens, some of whom are descendants from the original 19th-century pioneer families.
How pioneering scientists at Palomar Observatory make dazzling discoveries of astronomical phenomena beyond human experience and imagination. Ever since 1936, pioneering scientists at Palomar Observatory in Southern California have pushed against the boundaries of the known universe, making a series of dazzling discoveries that changed our view of the cosmos: quasars, colliding galaxies, supermassive black holes, brown dwarfs, supernovae, dark matter, the never-ending expansion of the universe, and much more. In Cosmic Odyssey, astronomer Linda Schweizer tells the story of the men and women at Palomar and their efforts to decipher the vast energies and mysterious processes that govern our universe.
Historical fiction written by a descendent of the biographical subject. She visited Japan, China, India, Capetown, the Netherlands, England, and France to follow the footsteps of her famous ancestor.
The solar system most of us grew up with included nine planets, with Mercury closest to the sun and Pluto at the outer edge. Then, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of adding one more planet to our solar system, Brown’s find ignited a firestorm of controversy that culminated in the demotion of Pluto from real planet to the newly coined category of “dwarf” planet. Suddenly Brown was receiving hate mail from schoolchildren and being bombarded by TV reporters—all because of the discovery he had spent years searching for and a lifetime dreaming about. A heartfelt and personal journey filled with both humor and drama, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming is the book for anyone, young or old, who has ever imagined exploring the universe—and who among us hasn’t?
Seven years before Richard Preston wrote about horrifying viruses in The Hot Zone, he turned his attention to the cosmos. In First Light, he demonstrates his gift for creating an exciting and absorbing narrative around a complex scientific subject--in this case the efforts by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains of California to peer to the farthest edges of space through the Hale Telescope, attempting to solve the riddle of the creation of the universe. Richard Preston's name became a household word with The Hot Zone, which sold nearly 800,000 copies in hardcover, was on The New York Times's bestseller list for 42 weeks, and was the subject of countless magazine and newspaper articles. Preston has become a sought-after commentator on popular science subjects.
“George Ellery Hale [1868-1938] is the subject of this impressive biography... Wright charts Hale’s steady progress towards leadership in the nascent field of astrophysics from his childhood experiments at home in Chicago, through student days at MIT, to his first observatory at Kenwood, all of which demonstrate his passion for unravelling the secrets of nature through the then new medium of spectroscopy. This enthusiasm led him into contact with most of his peers both in America and beyond (Lockyer, Huggins, Pickering, Rowland, and many more), many of whom remained close associates and correspondents for years after. Probably this sense of community made Hale so active in the organization of science, including the formation of the AAS [American Astronomical Society], the IAU [International Astronomical Union], and ICSU [International Council of Scientific Unions]. It also gave him the contacts to give the Astrophysical Journal such a good start in 1895. Perhaps the greatest debt we owe Hale is for his relentless drive towards the creation of ever bigger and better facilities, starting with the still unsurpassed Yerkes refractor, continuing with the solar telescopes on Mt. Wilson and then the 60- and 100-inch telescopes on the same peak, and concluding with the 200-inch [at Mt. Palomar]... Scientifically, Hale’s lifelong affair with the Sun brought him success in the detection of magnetic fields and early studies of surface activity by means of the spectroheliograph he developed, and for which he was duly fêted, and the frustrations of trying to record the corona. But these were early successes and as astropolitics and finance took an ever increasing share of his time, he was able to contribute less than he would have liked. Part of the problem was the illness, with both physical and mental symptoms, which progressively plagued the life of this hyperactive polymath; it is sad to note his decline which prevented him playing a fuller part in the creation of what was to become his memorial... this [biography] is something of a classic on one of astronomy’s giants.” — David Strickland, The Observatory “This important biography is well written and is highly recommended.” — A. E. Covington, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada “[An] outstanding biography of this most remarkable man... Helen Wright has done a superb job of tracing Hale’s development not only of new and powerful instruments and of his important discoveries of sunspot magnetic fields and the law of reversing polarities, but also of the embryonic state of American science in the early days of this century... an authoritative biography of one of the most influential men of science this country has produced. The hook will bring to contemporary scientists and historians the story of this unique astronomer whose life is of such special interest to the Caltech community.” — Allan Sandage, Caltech Magazine (formerly Engineering and Science) “Helen Wright gives a detailed account of the life and almost frantic activities of this remarkable scientific leader... In summarizing astrophysical events of the years 1880 to 1950... Wright has provided a useful and fascinating account of scientific development that led to the preeminence of the United States.” — Thornton Page, Science “In writing the story of Hale’s origins, career and bequest to posterity Helen Wright has richly served her fellow astronomers. No one else could have done so well. Her account preserves an admirable balance in presenting Hale not only as a doer but also as a dreamer... Miss Wright’s excellent biography covers the highlights of his career... Miss Wright’s book is highly authentic.” — Harlow Shapley, Scientific American Published under license from Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
