Astronomy

A series of biographical entries on important astronomers, arranged in alphabetical order.

The 250 years from the second half of the 17th century saw the birth of modern physics and its growth into one of the most successful of the sciences. The reader will find here the lives of 55 of the most remarkable physicists from that era described in brief biographies.

Galileo is one of the most important and controversial figures in the history of science. A hero of modern science and key to its birth, he was also a deeply divided man: a scholar committed to the establishment of scientific truth yet forced to concede the importance of faith, and a brilliant analyst of the elegantly mathematical workings of nature yet bungling and insensitive with his own family.

Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei first used the telescope to gaze at the heavens. In honor of that anniversary, as well as the international year of astronomy, this lavishly illustrated volume celebrates Galileo’s life and work.

Using Copernicanism, Darwinism, and Freudianism as examples of scientific traditions, Copernicus, Darwin and Freud takes a philosophical look at these three revolutions in thought to illustrate the connections between science and philosophy. NOTE: The link above is directly to the section on Copernicus.

In Cosmos, John North offers a sweeping historical survey of the two sciences that help define our place in the universe: astronomy and cosmology.

Marcia Bartusiak teaches in the graduate program in science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The story of the great discoverers who succeeded in explaining part of the mystery is told here with the joy and infectious enthusiasm that only a fellow discoverer can convey. David Levy, codiscoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, with his wife, Wendee Wallach-Levy, evokes that marvelous moment of "Eureka!" as he masterfully relates each story.