Modern astronomy: expanding the universe

Lisa Yount9780816057467, 0-8160-5746-X

Meet 12 men and women whose research and work in new technologies brought about a revolution in the understanding of time and space during the 20th century. From Edwin Hubble to George Gamow to Geoffrey Marcy, “Modern Astronomy” illuminates the lives and achievements of these innovative scientists. Readers will gain a clear understanding of the common threads that intertwine the astronomers’ lives; the political, economic, and social events of their times; people with whom they worked; and the developments that preceded their research. In-text sidebars highlight each subject’s work. Chapter chronologies offer suggestions for further reading. The general bibliography includes listings of organizations and Web resources.

---

Table of contents :
PREFACE……Page 10
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……Page 14
INTRODUCTION……Page 16
Changing Views of the Universe……Page 17
A Three-Way Dance……Page 18
GEORGE ELLERY HALE AND LARGE OPTICALTELESCOPES……Page 22
New Tools for Astronomy……Page 23
Teen Astronomer……Page 24
Pioneer Astrophysicist……Page 25
Thrilling Pieces of Glass……Page 26
Building an Observatory……Page 27
From Refractors to Reflectors……Page 28
Mount Wilson Develops……Page 31
Sunspotting……Page 33
The Biggest Telescope of All……Page 35
Humble Beginnings……Page 40
Mystery Clouds……Page 41
From Battlefield to Mountaintop……Page 42
An Island Universe……Page 43
Classifying Galaxies……Page 45
Shifting Spectra……Page 47
Runaway Universe……Page 50
Astronomy Star……Page 51
Chronology……Page 52
GROTE REBER AND RADIO ASTRONOMY……Page 56
Invisible Light……Page 57
Jansky’s Merry-Go-Round……Page 58
The First Radio Telescope……Page 60
Maps of the Radio Sky……Page 61
A Farsighted Prediction……Page 62
A Long-Lived Pioneer……Page 63
Radio Telescopes Today……Page 67
Chronology……Page 68
GEORGE GAMOW AND THE BIG BANG……Page 73
Quantum Genius……Page 74
From Atoms to Stars……Page 75
Birth of the Elements……Page 76
A Testable Prediction……Page 79
Echoes of the Big Bang……Page 81
A Wide-Ranging Intellect……Page 82
Chronology……Page 84
FRANK DRAKE AND THE SEARCH FOREXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE……Page 88
Dreaming of Intelligent Life……Page 89
Searching for Radio Signals……Page 90
The Drake Equation……Page 91
Establishing a Career……Page 92
The Pioneer Plaque……Page 94
More Messages to the Stars……Page 95
From Golden Fleece to National Goal……Page 97
Rising from the Ashes……Page 98
The Father of SETI……Page 101
Chronology……Page 103
RICCARDO GIACCONI AND X-RAY ASTRONOMY……Page 108
A New Kind of Telescope……Page 109
X-Ray Star……Page 111
Unequal Partners……Page 113
The First Black Holes……Page 115
Einstein……Page 117
Hard-Driving Manager……Page 118
Chandra……Page 119
Chronology……Page 122
LYMAN SPITZER, JR., AND THEHUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE……Page 127
From Sonar to Stars……Page 128
Pioneering Research……Page 129
Impossible Dream?……Page 130
Progress in Space……Page 132
A Disastrous Mistake……Page 134
Amazing Hubble……Page 137
Space Telescope Legacy……Page 139
Chronology……Page 140
Window on the Stars……Page 145
Circling Galaxies……Page 147
A Lumpy Cosmos……Page 148
A Surprise in Andromeda……Page 150
The Rubin-Ford Effect……Page 152
Enormous Fun……Page 155
Chronology……Page 156
GEOFFREY MARCY, PAUL BUTLER, ANDEXTRASOLAR PLANETS……Page 159
Planet-Hunting Dreams……Page 160
An Inspiring Class……Page 161
Watching for a Wobble……Page 162
The First Exoplanets……Page 163
A String of Spectacular Finds……Page 164
Strange Worlds……Page 166
Future Planet Hunts……Page 167
Looking for a New Home……Page 171
Chronology……Page 172
SAUL PERLMUTTER, BRIAN SCHMIDT, ANDDARK ENERGY……Page 176
Exploding “Candles”……Page 177
The Supernova Cosmology Project……Page 179
The High-Z Supernova Search Team……Page 181
Big Questions……Page 184
Astounding Conclusions……Page 185
New Picture of the Universe……Page 187
Future Research……Page 188
No Final Answers……Page 190
Chronology……Page 191
CHRONOLOGY……Page 198
GLOSSARY……Page 202
FURTHER RESOURCES……Page 212
INDEX……Page 218