Now, Alan Lightman, the author of the brilliantly original bestselling novel Einstein's Dreams, presents the real-life drama of astronomy, a journey far into the stars that outpaces any fiction for adventure and excitement. Unsurpassed in its authoritativeness, TIME FOR THE STARS is based on the report of the National Academy of Science's Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee, for whose science panel Alan Lightman served as chair. Here is a book that will introduce you to cosmic puzzles about people and planets stars and galaxies, and the beginnings and the ends of the universe. How do...

The papers reprinted in this book depict a research field that is poised to answer some of the fundamental questions of twentieth-century physics and astronomy: How does the sun shine? What is the dark matter? Is there new physics beyond the standard model ?This book is of interest to students as well as active researchers in the scientific areas spanned by the reprinted papers, which include physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, and engineering. Historians of science, some of whom have already used the solar neutrino problem as a case study, will also find this collection a rich source of...

Neutrinos play a key role in many areas of particle physics, nuclear physics and astrophysics. The recent discovery of neutrino oscillation has given the first hint of new physics beyond the standard model. Clearly, it is extremely important to study further the oscillation and other fundamental properties of neutrinos. It is also important to improve our knowledge of neutrino-nucleus reactions, which are crucial for understanding a large class of astrophysical phenomena. These and many other interesting questions can be investigated at stopped pion neutrino facilities like the one planned...