Bücher der Reihe Popular Astronomy

How can shadows determine the date and time of a painting by Johannes Vermeer? How did the Moon and tides cause the loss of King John's crown jewels?In his newest book, Professor Olson, author of Celestial Sleuth and Further Adventures of the Celestial Sleuth, explores how astronomical clues can uncover fascinating new details about art, history, and literature. He begins with an accessible introduction to amateur "e;celestial sleuthing,"e; showing how to use your astronomical knowledge, software, archives, vintage maps, historical letters and diaries, military records, and other resources to investigate the past.Follow along as Professor Olson then explores twenty real-world cases where astronomy has helped answer unresolved questions or correct longstanding interpretations about an event. Examples involve artists such as Vermeer, Monet, and O'Keeffe; the historical exploits of Alexander the Great, the desert travels of the Death Valley '49ers, and a meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in Marrakech; and literary works by Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Longfellow.Packed with dozens of full-color illustrations, this book will enrich your knowledge of the past and equip you with all the tools you'll need to become a celestial sleuth yourself."e;Many people have a passion for art, or world history, or great literature, or even astronomy - but seldom in all these things at once. This remarkable book by Donald Olson of Texas State University will put you in touch with such seemingly unrelated endeavors. It will open your eyes and broaden your mind as little else could."e;Roger W. Sinnott, Sky & Telescope

"A brilliant study of constellations and culture." - Neil deGrasse TysonIn this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, paintings and architecture reflected some of the great religious and secular battles taking place over the course of centuries. Enter a world of biblical proportions, where constellations of ancient heroes and pagans were thoroughly recast as Christian saints and the Twelve Apostles. This nontechnical narrative brings vitality and accessibility to some of the most enduring subjects in human history, offering a lively new exploration of the visual connections between celestial phenomena and artistic expression."Ever wonder how religion and art became forces of imagination on our night skies? Or how the night skies became forces of imagination on our religion and art? In this brilliant study of constellations and culture, Michael Mendillo, professor of astronomy at Boston University, reveals that the canopy of starshas been an ideologically contested space from the beginning, ensuring that the next time you look up, the sky will look completely different to you."-Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium,American Museum of Natural History"Saints and Sinners impressionistically reveals the connections of art, astronomy, and religion in Western culture to illuminate the age-old quest for celestial-terrestrial connections." - Roberta J.M. Olson, author of Giotto's Portrait of Halley's Comet and Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe "Professor Mendillo's book does a priceless service, opening the doors of our minds to images that will stir us, because the heavens are part of us, and we all long to know how and why." - Rev. David R. Thom, MIT Chaplain and Convener of the Cambridge Faculty Roundtable on Science, Art & Religion"Over a lifetime devoted to astronomical research and teaching, Michael Mendillo has indulged a parallel passion for artistic representations of the heavenly bodies. In this sumptuous volume, he explores the projection of our changing belief systems onto the constant stars." - Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter and The Glass Universe

For centuries, our ancestors carefully observed the movements of the heavens and wove that astronomical knowledge into their city planning, architecture, mythology, paintings, sculpture, and poetry.

Explore the beauty and awe of the heavens through the rich celestial prints and star atlases offered in this third edition book.

This book is the first regular annual to review each year's major astronomical discoveries. Its aim (and subsequent volumes issued annually) is to provide an annual astronomy review suitable for the popular science level reader.

This book is the first to provide a comprehensive, readily understandable report on the European Space Agency's Gaia mission that will meet the needs of a general audience.

In this book, David Stevenson offers us a look at the evolution of planets as they move from balls of mixed molten rock to vibrant worlds capable of hosting life. Embedded in our everyday architecture and in the literal ground beneath our feet, granite and its kin lie at the heart of many features of the Earth that we take for granted. From volcanism and mountain building to shifting water levels and local weather patterns, these rocks are closely intertwined with the complex processes that continue to shape and reshape our world.This book serves as a wonderful primer for anybody interested in our planet's geological past and that of other planets in our Solar System and beyond. It illustrates not only how our planet's surface evolved, but also how granite played a pivotal role in the creation of complex, intelligent life on Earth. There has long been a missing element in popular astronomy, which Stevenson now aims to fill: how geological and biological evolution work in a complex partnership, and what our planet's own diversity can teach us about other rocky worlds.

Weather archives, vintage maps, tides, historical letters and diaries, military records and the assistance of experts in related fields help with this work.For each historical event influenced by astronomy, there is a different kind of mystery to be solved.

This book explores the mechanics of star formation, the process by which matter pulls together and creates new structures.

Taking inspiration from Siv Cedering's poem in the form of a fictional letter from Caroline Herschel that refers to "my long, lost sisters, forgotten in the books that record our science", this book tells the lives of twenty-five female scientists, with specific attention to astronomers and mathematicians.

This book compiles an array of interesting constellations that fell by the wayside before the IAU established the modern canon of constellations. The 16 constellations found in this volume fall into one or more of three broad categories: asterims, such as the Big Dipper in Ursa Major;

Casual stargazers are familiar with many classical figures and asterisms composed of bright stars (e.g., Orion and the Plough), but this book reveals not just the constellations of today but those of yesteryear. The history of the human identification of constellations among the stars is explored through the stories of some influential celestial cartographers whose works determined whether new inventions survived. The history of how the modern set of 88 constellations was defined by the professional astronomy community is recounted, explaining how the constellations described in the book became permanently “extinct.”  Dr. Barentine addresses why some figures were tried and discarded, and also directs observers to how those figures can still be picked out on a clear night if one knows where to look. These lost constellations are described in great detail using historical references, enabling observers to rediscover them on their own surveys of the sky. Treatment of the obsolete constellations as extant features of the night sky adds a new dimension to stargazing that merges history with the accessibility and immediacy of the night sky.

Other religions could be practiced on distant worlds but nevertheless identify both Earth as a place and humankind as a species of singular spiritual religious importance, while some religions could be practiced equally well anywhere in the universe by any sentient beings.

Specifically traces the impact of Einstein's ideas on astronomy, including the way we interpret observations of stars and galaxies. Presents many applications of relativity that have not been shown in earlier popular-level books and illustrates how deeply physics permeates the way we interpret many astronomical phenomena.

This book explores intriguing cases in which astronomy has been used as a tool to solve mysteries from art, history, and literature. It clearly explains astronomical concepts with non-technical language and defines terms as needed for wide readership.

Follow Monte Ross of the Laser Space Signal Observatory as he explores the challenges in searching for evidence of extraterrestrials, the programs that have failed, and those that continue.

For the experienced amateur astronomer who is wondering if there is something useful, valuable, and permanent that can be done with his or her observational skills, the answer is, "Yes, there is!" This is THE book for the amateur astronomer who is ready to take the next step in his or her astronomical journey.

This volume offers an accessible journey through the Universe in search of water. The author shows how scientists detect water, from the nearest planets to the furthest galaxies. Coverage includes the role played by water in studies of habitable exoplanets.

Chapters 2 gives details of the early stages of different types of galaxy collision - Rings of Fire, Tidal Swings and Retrograde and Sideways Reels - while Chapter 3 describes collisions between galaxies of very different masses: minor merger or dwarf destruction.

Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, the collapsed cores of once massive stars that ended their lives as supernova explosions. In this book, Geoff McNamara explores the history, subsequent discovery and contemporary research into pulsar astronomy.

This is the first book to integrate the cultural history of Sirius with modern astrophysics in a way which provides a realistic view of how science progresses over time.

Contents are divided into major topics where the three "souls" of modern celestial mechanics (dynamical systems, Solar System and stellar systems, spaceflight dynamics) play a major role.