Customer Reviews

Revealing the Universe: The Making of the Chandra X-ray Observatory

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It might be hard to believe that writing about the making of a telescope could make for a good book. This husband & wife team pulled it off wonderfully. "Revealing the Universe..." takes you easily (even for the novice) through some basic physics and the history of X-Ray astronomy. Then the authors get into the Chandra project proper and the going gets good. They take the reader through the often dramatic process of getting such a complicated and costly project through the cogs of bureaucracy and politics and the infinite patience and perseverence of those scientists and administrators who made the project happen. Among the most interesting parts of the book are the descriptions of the technological miracles the scientists had to perform to make Chandra a reality; the impossibly precise requiements for the mirrors, for example, stretch the imagination and make for great "mind trips". Reading through sections describing crucial "make-or-break" tests of the different components is intense, like watching Robert DeNiro in a great car chase scene. And then, first light...the thing works...just like it was designed...or better! Awesome!
"Revealing the Universe..." is excellent for those interested in astronomy as well as for those interested in expanding your mind with a good read.

The book was written by Karen (a writer) and Wallace (an astrophysicist) Tucker, to document the development and production of the Chandra x-ray observatory which was launched in 1999. The authors have done an excellent job of that, based on interviews with persons at the various companies and organizations that participated in the program.

The book is made especially complete by the fact that the first portion of it is a fascinating history of x-ray astronomy, leading up to Chandra.

NASA is to be commended for commissioning the historical documentation of a program as significant as Chandra.