Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
52
result(s) for
"Astrophysics History 20th century."
Sort by:
The cosmic century : a history of astrophysics and cosmology
The 20th century saw the growth of astrophysics and cosmology from subjects which scarely existed to two of the most exciting areas of contemporary scientific inquiry. Malcolm Longair reviews the historical developments in key areas of both fields with an emphasis on theoretical concepts.
Book
Einstein's Jury
Einstein's Juryis the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research, Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today.
The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong.
A tale of international competition and intrigue,Einstein's Jurybrims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.
eBook
Zwicky : the outcast genius who unmasked the universe
Fritz Zwicky was one of the most inventive and iconoclastic scientists of the twentieth century. He predicted the existence of neutron stars, and his research pointed the way toward the discovery of pulsars and black holes. He was the first to conceive of the existence of dark matter, the first to make a detailed catalog of thousands of galaxies, and the first to correctly suggest that cosmic rays originate from supernovas. Not content to confine his discoveries to the heavens, Zwicky contributed to the US war against Japan with inventions in jet propulsion that enabled aircraft to launch from carriers in the Pacific. After the war, he was the first Western scientist to interview Wernher von Braun, the Nazi engineer who developed the V-2 rocket. Later he became an outspoken advocate for space exploration, but also tangled with almost every leading scientist of the time, from Edwin Hubble and Richard Feynman to J. Robert Oppenheimer and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. In Zwicky, John Johnson Jr. brings this tempestuous maverick to life. Zwicky not only made groundbreaking contributions to science and engineering; he rose to fame as one of the most imaginative science popularizers of his day. Yet he became a pariah in the scientific community, denouncing his enemies, real and imagined, as \"spherical bastards\" and \"horses' asses.\" Largely forgotten today, Zwicky deserves to be remembered for introducing the world to some of the most destructive forces in the universe, and as a reminder that genius obeys no rules and has no friends.-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Einstein's jury : the race to test relativity
Einstein's Jury is the dramatic story of how astronomers in Germany, England, and America competed to test Einstein's developing theory of relativity. Weaving a rich narrative based on extensive archival research, Jeffrey Crelinsten shows how these early scientific debates shaped cultural attitudes we hold today. The book examines Einstein's theory of general relativity through the eyes of astronomers, many of whom were not convinced of the legitimacy of Einstein's startling breakthrough. These were individuals with international reputations to uphold and benefactors and shareholders to please, yet few of them understood the new theory coming from the pen of Germany's up-and-coming theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein. Some tried to test his theory early in its development but got no results. Others--through toil and hardship, great expense, and perseverance--concluded that it was wrong. A tale of international competition and intrigue, Einstein's Jury brims with detail gleaned from Crelinsten's far-reaching inquiry into the history and development of relativity. Crelinsten concludes that the well-known British eclipse expedition of 1919 that made Einstein famous had less to do with the scientific acceptance of his theory than with his burgeoning public fame. It was not until the 1920s, when the center of gravity of astronomy and physics shifted from Europe to America, that the work of prestigious American observatories legitimized Einstein's work. As Crelinsten so expertly shows, the glow that now surrounds the famous scientist had its beginnings in these early debates among professional scientists working in the glare of the public spotlight.
eBook
Achieving the rare
Robert F Christy was a legendary physicist, one of the key players in some of the most dramatic events of the 20th century. He was a student of Oppenheimer, who called him “one of the best in the world.” He was a crucial member of Fermi's team when they first unleashed the unheard-of energies of nuclear power, creating the world's first nuclear reactor on December 2, 1942. On the Manhattan Project he was the key physicist in the successful test of the world's first atomic bomb, the “Christy Gadget”, at Alamogordo on July 16, 1945. Almost immediately he turned his talents to promoting the peaceful uses of atomic energy. He successfully opposed atmospheric testing of atomic bombs and fought nuclear proliferation, a campaign that eventually led to the SALT talks with the Soviet Union. His favorite subject was astrophysics where he made fundamental contributions to the understanding of Cepheids, variable stars that are crucial distance indicators in the universe.
eBook
The Unsettled Number: Hubble’s Tension
One of main sources of uncertainty in modern cosmology is the present rate of the universe’s expansion, H0, called the Hubble constant. Once again, different observational techniques bring about different results, causing new “Hubble tension”. In the present work, we review the historical roots of the Hubble constant from the beginning of the twentieth century, when modern cosmology originated, to the present. We develop the arguments that gave rise to the importance of measuring the expansion of the Universe and its discovery, and we describe the different pioneering works attempting to measure it. There has been a long dispute on this matter, even in the present epoch, which is marked by high-tech instrumentation and, therefore, in smaller uncertainties in the relevant parameters. It is, again, currently necessary to conduct a careful and critical revision of the different methods before one invokes new physics to solve the so-called Hubble tension.
Journal Article
A Century of Nonlinearity in the Geosciences
This paper provides a thumbnail sketch of the evolution of nonlinear ideas in the mathematics and physics of the geosciences, broadly construed, over the last hundred or so years. It emphasizes the mathematical concepts and methods and outlines simple examples of how they were, are, and maybe will be applied to the solid Earth—that is, the crust, mantle, and core—and its fluid envelopes—that is, the atmosphere and oceans. Plain Language Summary Nonlinearity has become a buzzword, along with chaos, complexity, fractals, networks, tipping points, turbulence, and other concepts associated with modern science. We outline here what it all means and how it has affected the progress of the geosciences over the past century, mostly over the last six decades or so. Key Points Nonlinear concepts and methods have greatly expanded the range of problems we can address There is still only a small but increasing number of nonlinear methodologies Prediction is a great test of our mathematical and physical understanding
Journal Article
Moon landing: space medicine and the legacy of Project Apollo
The past two decades have seen the International Space Station (ISS) used as a laboratory in low Earth orbit for a wide-ranging programme of scientific research, exploring everything from astrophysics and Earth science to genomics and virology. Famously, during the 1968 flight of Apollo 8—the first human space exploration mission to leave Earth and orbit the Moon—commander Frank Borman had nausea and vomiting in what became NASA's first recorded case of space adaptation syndrome. Astronaut Edwin E Aldrin Jr, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil A Armstrong, commander, took this photograph NASA NASA's research has focused mainly on the cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neurological systems because these have the greatest potential to impact mission operations. [...]broader disturbances have since been observed, including alterations in wound healing, immune function, and circadian rhythm. 50 years after the first landing on the Moon, our exploration of the effects of the space environment on the human body continues.
Journal Article
Pulsar discoverer Jocelyn Bell Burnell wins $3-million Breakthrough Prize
Astrophysicist plans to spend prize money — awarded 50 years after the discovery — on increasing diversity in science.
Astrophysicist plans to spend prize money — awarded 50 years after the discovery — on increasing diversity in science.
Journal Article
The Universe in a Mirror
The Hubble Space Telescope has produced the most stunning images of the cosmos humanity has ever seen. It has transformed our understanding of the universe around us, revealing new information about its age and evolution, the life cycle of stars, and the very existence of black holes, among other startling discoveries. But it took an amazing amount of work and perseverance to get the first space telescope up and running.The Universe in a Mirrortells the story of this telescope and the visionaries responsible for its extraordinary accomplishments.
Robert Zimmerman takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever sent into space. After World War II, astronomer Lyman Spitzer and a handful of scientists waged a fifty-year struggle to build the first space telescope capable of seeing beyond Earth's atmospheric veil. Zimmerman shows how many of the telescope's advocates sacrificed careers and family to get it launched, and how others devoted their lives to Hubble only to have their hopes and reputations shattered when its mirror was found to be flawed. This is the story of an idea that would not die--and of the dauntless human spirit. Illustrated with striking color images,The Universe in a Mirrordescribes the heated battles between scientists and bureaucrats, the perseverance of astronauts to repair and maintain the telescope, and much more. Hubble, and the men and women behind it, opened a rare window onto the universe, dazzling humanity with sights never before seen.
This book tells their remarkable story. A new afterword updates the reader on the May 2009 Hubble service mission and looks to the future of astronomy, including the prospect of a new space telescope to replace Hubble.
eBook