The Astronomy Revolution: 400 Years of Exploring the Cosmos

ISBN-13: 9780367382094 / Angielski / Miękka / 2019 / 452 str.

Donald G. York; Owen Gingerich; Shuang-Nan Zhang

Opis

Some 400 years after the first known patent application for a telescope, this full-color book surveys its impact on society and our perceptions of the Universe. Renowned contributors discuss the historical background of the field, past and current research, the science behind astronomy, and open questions raised by modern astronomical and cosmological research. The book also looks beyond questions of science to the role of moral responsibility in human civilizations, offering perspectives from both Eastern and Western cultures. Celebrating the historical significance of the telescope, this unique book seeks to inspire all those involved or interested in the enterprise of astronomy.

Spis treści

Introduction: The New Vision 400 Project. Creativity and Technology in Astronomical Discovery. Impact of Telescopes on Our Knowledge of the Universe. Some Near-Term Challenges in Astronomy. Technologies for Future Questions. Intellectual Impact of the Telescope on Society. "Big Questions" Raised by New Knowledge. Appendix: The New Vision 400 Conference. Index.

O autorze

To see video presentations from the New Vision 400 conference celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope, see the New Vision 400 web site.

Donald G. York, Chief Editor, is Horace B. Horton Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at The University of Chicago. He was the founding director of the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, and of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the most ambitious collaborative projects ever undertaken by astronomers. He is also the founder and co-director of the Chicago Public Schools/University of Chicago Internet Project, a neighborhood schools technology initiative.

Owen Gingerich, Co-Editor, is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). He is co-author of two successive standard models for the solar atmosphere and is a leading authority on the 17th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler and the 16th-century cosmologist Nicolaus Copernicus. A world traveler, he has successfully observed 14 total solar eclipses.

Shuang-Nan Zhang, Co-Editor, is Professor and Director of Key Laboratory of and Center for Particle Astrophysics in the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Research Professor of Physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He is also the chief scientist of the Space Science Division of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and heads the X-ray Imaging Laboratory, which is leading several space x-ray astronomy missions in China, as well as the space astronomy program onboard China's Spacelab and Space Station.