Books in the Astronomers' Universe series

This book explains in clear, non-mathematical language the measurements and the interpretation of the resulting data that have led to the current understanding of the origin, evolution and properties of our expanding Big Bang universe.

The Hipparcos project was hugely important in mapping our Galaxy. Here is a fascinating account of an important episode in astronomy, written by the scientist who played a pivotal role that brought it to fruition, and eventually to a triumphant conclusion.

This accessible book explores key discoveries in recent years of space exploration and addresses major questions such as: How prolific is life in the universe? How far back to the Big Bang can we probe? And what hidden treasures still lurk in our Solar System?

This fascinating book proposes a sound and realistic exploration on the topic of terraforming. The book presents what is physically possible today and hints what might conceivably be put into practice in the next several hundred years.

What about the future of the universe? And how long might the universe as we recognize it survive? This title takes the reader on a journey through space and time, beginning with a long look at the Earth and solar system, voyaging to the outermost galaxies, and finishing with speculations about the life and fate of the entire universe.

The book focuses on how the exploration of the cosmic background radiation has shaped our picture of the Universe. Using a simple language and captivating metaphors, this book will help the reader to understand the mechanisms behind our Universe.

In response to the new information gained about the Solar System from recent space probes and space telescopes, the experienced science author Dr. John Wilkinson presents the state-of-the art knowledge on the Sun, solar system planets and small solar system objects like comets and asteroids.

This book gives a detailed introduction to the thousands and thousands of smaller bodies in the solar system. Readers will learn that small solar system worlds have a dramatically different nature and appearance than the planets.

This is the unique story of  observing a total solar eclipse for no less than 74 consecutive minutes. On the summer morning of June 30, 1973, the Sun rises on the Canary Islands. But it is strangely indented by the Moon. The eclipse of the century has just begun. From the west, the lunar shadow rushes to the African coast at a velocity of over 2000 kilometers per hour. Astronomers on the ground will enjoy seven short minutes of total eclipse to study the solar corona - too short for Pierre Lena and seven scientists who board the Concorde 001 prototype, an extraordinary plane to become the first commercial supersonic aircraft. With André Turcat as chief pilot and a crew of five, at 17000 m altitude, the aircraft remains in the lunar shadow for 74 minutes, a record time of scientific observations not yet beaten and allowing for exceptional measurements. Science, technology, aviation and history combine in the story of a unique human adventure aboard a legendary aircraft, illustrated with a rich and original iconography. It reflects the wonderful domains that science and technology can open, and the passion in the professions they offer. A must read for every eclipse chaser and fan of true scientific adventures.On the summer morning of June 30, 1973, the Sun rises on the Canary Islands. But it is strangely indented by the Moon. The eclipse of the century has just begun. From the west, the lunar shadow rushes to the African coast at a velocity of over 2000 kilometers per hour. Astronomers on the ground will enjoy seven short minutes of total eclipse to study the solar corona - too short for Pierre Lena and seven scientists who board the Concorde 001 prototype, an extraordinary plane to become the first commercial supersonic aircraft. With André Turcat as chief pilot and a crew of five, at 17000 m altitude, the aircraft remains in the lunar shadow for 74 minutes, a record time of scientific observations not yet beaten and allowing for exceptionalmeasurements. Science, technology, aviation and history combine in the story of a unique human adventure aboard a legendary aircraft, illustrated with a rich and original iconography. It reflects the wonderful domains that science and technology can open, and the passion in the professions they offer. A must read for every eclipse chaser and fan of true scientific adventures.

This book is about the history and future of life and the universe, written at a level that any educated lay-person can understand and enjoy.

This is a book on planets: Solar system planets and dwarf planets. And planets outside our solar system - exoplanets. What are the conditions for life and on which planets may they be met? But in particular also on the link between planets and stars - brown dwarfs.

The bubbles were swirling all around me, massaging my body. As I luxuriated in this fantastic bath, I gasped realizing that those bubbles carried with them miniature galaxies bringing the entire Cosmos into my bathtub...Alfie is back. And so are George and other characters from the author¿s previous book Einstein¿s Enigma or Black Holes in My Bubble Bath. While the present book, Universe Unveiled - The Cosmos in My Bubble Bath, is completely independent, its storyline can be considered a sequel to the previous one. The scientific content spanning ancient world models to the most recent mysteries of cosmology is presented in an entirely nontechnical and descriptive style through the discussions between Alfie, the enlightened learner, and George, professor of astrophysics. Fantasies, based on these discussions that cover the scientific facts, are created by the magical bubble baths taken by Alfie.Universe Unveiled blends accurate science withphilosophy, drama, humour, and fantasy to create an exciting cosmic journey that reads like a novel and educates as it entertains.¿Spurred by a series of mind-bending discoveries, Man¿s millennial love affair with the stars has now reached fever pitch. No one writing today is better positioned to evoke the romance and beauty of these cosmic discoveries than Vishveshwara. A leading expert in Einstein¿s relativity theory, he brings a lyrical voice and a poetic sensibility to this joyful task. Universe Unveiled, a unique literary creation, transports readers into believing they can actually hear the music of the spheres.¿Professor Robert Fuller, Former President, Oberlin College (USA)Author of Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank

This book examines and explains cataclysmic and unusual events at the very frontier of our knowledge of stellar astrophysics, and presents them in a way that non-professionals can understand and enjoy.

'Incoming Asteroid!' is based on a project within ASTRA (the Association in Scotland to Research into Astronautics) to provide scientific answers to the question - what would we do if we knew there was going to be an asteroid impact in ten years' time or less?

Other sources would have you believe that helium was jointly discovered by Janssen and Norman Lockyer, a British scientist, and that their discovery letters reached Paris the same day, one sent from India, and the other from England.

In accessible, informative language, this book describes stunning discoveries in astronomy and solar system science showing that complex organic compounds, formed in and ejected from old stars, could have played a central role in the origin of life on Earth.

The world as it is viewed from modern physics and cosmology has many strange and unexpected features. - Where are we going?The author, an experienced scientist and teacher, presents the knowledge that we have about our world for non-experts. He takes us on a journey through cosmology and the quantum world of elementary particles.

Within our own Solar System, odd facts such as the apparent reversal of the Sun in the skies of Mercury, CO2-driven fountains of dust on Mars, possible liquid water (and perhaps primitive life!) deep within the dwarf planet Ceres, and a variety of odd facts about the planetary moons are all discussed.

Grappling with Gravity explores the physiological changes that will occur in humans and the plants and animals that accompany humans as we move to new worlds, be it to colony in the emptiness of space or settlements on the Moon, Mars, or other moons or planets. As a person adapts in space he or she will become less fit to live on Earth.

The book describes from a historical point of view how cosmic rays were discovered. The main focus is on how the knowledge was gained, describing the main experiments and the conclusions drawn. Cosmic rays have an official date of discovery which is linked to the famous balloon flights of the Austrian physicist Hess in 1912.