14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seeing the past and present in the heavens, April 13, 2006
This review is from: Archives of the Universe: 100 Discoveries That Transformed Our Understanding of the Cosmos (Paperback)
Back during my undergraduate days, one of the most interesting courses that I took was the history of astronomy, and I wish this book had been available. While that course was very good at introducing the different ways in which the universe was perceived and conceived through the different cultures and periods of history, we were often reading second-hand or third-hand accounts. So much of education these days seems to consist of second-hand and third-hand analyses and retellings, working on the assumption that the original texts are too difficult, too arcane, or too 'something' to be useful and understood. Sometimes this might be true; however, making allowances for translation from different languages, I still believe, as obviously the author of this text does, that there is much to be gained by reading the actual words of scientists and philosophers themselves as they first formulated and wrote down their ideas.
This is a text of excerpts from primary documents that have had significant influence in the direction of astronomy and astrophysics in particular, and science and philosophy more generally. These are grouped into eight broad categories: The Ancient Sky, Revolutions, Taking Measure, Touching the Heavens, Einsteinian Cosmos, The Milky Way and Beyond, New Eyes, New Universe, and Accelerating Outward. These each include a half-dozen to a dozen different documents.
Bartusiak introduces each document with a brief essay that sets context both in general history as well as the progress of science, and discusses the importance and influence of the documents for later developments. The groupings are not set in stone, but can be useful: 'The essays introducing each moment of discovery were written to stand alone, inviting the reader to peruse his or her interests in no particular order. Yet it can be profitable to read the sections in sequence to perceive how the questions that observers asked of the heavens evolved over time.'
Some of the readings are heavy going. 'Many of the papers, particularly those from the modern era, are hardly narrative literature. The mathematics can often be unwieldy and the issues fairly complex.' Despite this, astronomy remains one of the more popular and captivating of the sciences, and Bartusiak has made a concession to the more general reader by simplifying some of the papers, omitting detail that might be of interest to professionals, but serve to cloud the view for the more general reader.
This is a great volume for those who are interested in astronomy, the history of science, or cosmological development more generally - particularly the early part, when philosophy and science were not so separate as they are today, general readers may find a great deal of insight and interest.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Amazing, Wonderful Book, April 19, 2007
This review is from: Archives of the Universe: 100 Discoveries That Transformed Our Understanding of the Cosmos (Paperback)
This book is a masterpiece! It presents excerpts from 100 seminal works from the ancient Greeks to Newton, to Einstein, and up to the last decade. Many of the excerpts are only a couple of pages long, and most or all of the math has been removed. Each group of excerpts are preceded by a short, concise piece written by the author that sets the stage for that series. Amazing! This book brings you into the discovery process. You can read pieces of the early papers on quasars, and sense the incredulity at these amazing objects. You can read Einstein work around the mass-energy equivalence, but not quite get to E=MC^^2. You'll read how Fred Hoyle, proponent of the Steady State Universe, inadvertently coined the term for the "other side" of the debate with "Big Bang." This book is full of gems. Because each section is so short, you won't have to wade far down a tunnel of complex notions--instead you'll get instant gratification. It makes for a great read when you only have a few minutes because you can follow one thread to its conclusion. Wow. If you have any interest in astronomy or cosmology this book is simply a must read!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary Resource, April 11, 2011
This review is from: Archives of the Universe: 100 Discoveries That Transformed Our Understanding of the Cosmos (Paperback)
What a great idea: 100 original papers that describe the greatest moments in astronomical history in the words of the people that made the discovery. Ranges from Mayan observations of Venus to the sky opening with telescopes and on into pulsars, gravity waves and neutrino astronomy. Includes original diagrams and illustrations.
What a great execution: Bartusiak has an advanced degree in physics, has written for magazines like National Geographic, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope (and many more), and is currently a MIT professor in their Science Writing program. She has introduced, arranged and edited the papers to perfection. A page or two sets the historical and scientific scene, and then we have a couple of seminal papers that make for magic reading. Who better to describe the cosmological constant than Einstein? Who better to talk about the Solar system than Galileo? How cool to read about Van Allen radiation belts in the original paper by James Van Allen? Fully indexed, includes sourced notes and bibliography. Over 650 pages (the paperback is a steal when you look at the price per page).
This extraordinary achievement is fun to dip into, and invaluable for reference.
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