Revolutionaries of the Cosmos: The Astro-Physicists

ISBN-13: 9780199550258 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 336 str.

Ian Glass

Opis

Galileo, Newton, Herschel, Huggins, Hale, Eddington, Shapley and Hubble: these astronomers applied ideas drawn from physics to astronomy and made dramatic changes to the world-pictures that they inherited. They showed that celestial objects are composed of the same materials as the earth and that they behave in the same way. They displaced successively the earth, the sun and finally the milky way galaxy from being the centre of the universe.
This book contains their biographies and outlines their greatest discoveries. Hard work, physical insight, desire for fame and a strong belief in the rightness of their own ideas were characteristics of all eight. Their often quirky personalities led them into bitter controversies with their contemporaries. But their successes arose from the outstanding clarity of their thoughts, their practical ability and their strong sense of direction in science.

Recenzje

This book is a fascinating blend of technical astronomy, biography, and history. It is a difficult combination to pull off, and I take my hat off to Dr Glass ... This is a well-written, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable book.

O autorze

Dr Ian Glass, South African Astronomical Observatory B.A. Trinity College Dublin 1961 PhD MIT 1968