The real hero in this book is his wife Diane Binney Brown, who puts up, at different times, with Mike's obliviousness, painful sense of humor, ridiculous work hours, long trips away from home, and other sins of a nerdy, obsessive, and productive scientist.
Good on you, Mike, for giving her some of the recognition that she so clearly deserves. A photo essay on a years-long journey to see the natural wonders of dark skies over America's most beautiful landscapes; a primer on geology, astronomy, and planetary science; tales of past explorers; and visions of future exploration of the planets -- Stars Above, Earth Below is all of these.
Those of you who visit the Planetary Society's website will recognize this book as resulting from a sabbatical adventure taken by Tyler Nordgren, who reported on his travels here. The book is like those updates, of course, but much better.
In addition to Nordgren's lyrical narrative and breathtaking photos of the Milky Way arching over dramatic mountains, deserts, and shorelines, there are detailed explanations of the current thinking about how landscapes -- both Earthly and alien -- are crafted by the physical processes that operate in and above the surface.
The geologic story of America's landscapes is seamlessly interwoven with the stories of landscapes found across the solar system, from Mercury and the Moon and from Io to Enceladus. Nordgren's text is accompanied by a truly exorbitant number of photos and diagrams, all printed in full color.
The figures don't just illustrate the text; they expand on it. For example, in the chapter about the lunar eclipse he witnessed and photographed in Grand Teton National Park, there are photos of the eclipse, maps showing its extent, maps showing the locations of future lunar and solar eclipses, and, for good measure, time-series photographs taken by the Mars Exploration Rovers Opportunity and Spirit of eclipses of the Sun by Phobos and of Phobos by Mars.
The book is intended to be read in order, but the chapters stand well enough on their own that you can use it in 'field guide' fashion. If you are planning a visit to any of the dozen or so national parks specifically discussed int he text, you can discover some of the same amazing sights that he did, either by day or at night.
The book will delight space fans, but I think that it will do a greater public service by exposing those people who already love the wonders of America's national parks to the amazing discoveries made and new places seen throughout the Space Age.
And I think it will leave them with the appreciation that the modern exploration of the solar system, and beyond, continues the tradition of the explorers, scientists, and artists who returned the first reports of Americans exploring the thrilling beauty of our gorgeous land.
How did a company best known for making the glass jars used for preserving jelly and pickles come to be the engineering firm that sent not just Deep Impact but also numerous other craft, including a long line of Orbiting Solar Observatories, to space?
Login Join User. By anonymous. Then, in , astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto.
Only 5 left in stock more on the way. Ships from and sold by Amazon. Then, in , astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. Suddenly Brown was receiving hate mail from schoolchildren and being bombarded by TV reporters—all because of the discovery he had spent years searching for and a lifetime dreaming about.
As it guides readers through important scientific concepts and inspires us to think more deeply about our place in the cosmos, it is also an entertaining and enlightening personal story: While Brown sought to expand our understanding of the vast nature of space, his own life was changed in the most immediate, human ways by love, birth, and death.
Brown resists the glibness to which science popularizations sometimes fall prey. As it guides readers through important scientific concepts and inspires us to think more deeply about our place in the cosmos, it is also an entertaining and enlightening personal story: While Brown sought to expand our understanding of the vast nature of space, his own life was changed in the most immediate, human ways by love, birth, and death.
Bookmark This Page. Login: Password Register Remember Password.
0コメント