Through a Universe Darkly/a Cosmic Tale of Ancient Ethers, Dark Matter, and the Fate of the Universe [Paperback]

Marcia Bartusiak (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0380724200 | ISBN-13: 978-0380724208 | Publication Date: June 1995

An intoxicating saga of humanity's quest for knowledge of the universe's composition, from ancient Greece through Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein, and up to today's cutting edge scientists, this book is both a compelling history and an engrossing adventure. "Excellent."--Astronomy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1988 in a playful article in the journal Nature , astrophysicists Joseph Silk and James Peebles "made book" on the then-current theories that might explain the Big Bang's missing mass. Given the huge gaps in theoretical astronomy that remain, theirs was not an unreasonable approach . In her much longer exegesis, science writer Bartusiak ( Thursday's Universe ) finds no odds-on winner, either. She offers a lively review of astronomers' struggle to find the stuff of the universe since Hubble. Sidelights on the quirks in the personal lives of 19th-century astronomers (the author is more discreet in her profiles of the living) interrupt the time line of the science. With the number of portraits and interviews here, the book would have been as appropriately subtitled Lives of the Astronomers. Illustrated.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (P) (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380724200
• ISBN-13: 978-0380724208
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Combining her training as a journalist with a master's degree in physics, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for three decades. She is currently a professor of the practice in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has published in a variety of publications, including Science, Smithsonian, Discover, Technology Review, National Geographic, and Astronomy. She is the author of "Thursday's Universe," a guide to the frontiers of astrophysics; "Through a Universe Darkly," a history of astronomers' quest to discover the universe's composition; and "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony," a chronicle of the international attempt to detect cosmic gravity waves. All three were named notable books by the New York Times. She went on to write "Archives of the Universe," an anthology and commentary on the historic discovery papers in astronomy, and most recently "The Day We Found the Universe," on the birth of modern cosmology, which won the Davis Prize from the History of Science Society. Bartusiak is also a two-time winner of the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award and in 2006 garnered the AIP's prestigious Gemant Award for her "significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics." In 2008 Bartusiak was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for "exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large." Bartusiak lives with her husband, mathematician Steve Lowe, and their dog Hubble, a bearded collie, in a suburb of Boston.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy It, Read It, Keep It, October 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Through a Universe Darkly: A Cosmic Tale of Ancient Ethers, Dark Matter, and the Fate of the Universe (Hardcover)

If you're drawn to physics, astronomy, cosmology, or anything related then buy this book and hold it close. It's truly the HUMAN story of the heavens. It reads like a novel but teaches like a text. Thoroughly enjoyable, wonderfully informative. I read my copy at least once a year just to enjoy it again.