An introduction to some of the lesser well-known but far more interesting stars in our galaxy.

"An account of the century of experimentation that confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity, bringing to life the science and scientists at the origins of relativity, the development of radio telescopes, the discovery of black holes and quasars, and the still unresolved place of gravity in quantum theory."--

In exhilarating and behind-the-scenes detail, Panek takes his readers on a tour of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have fuelled the search, redefined science, and reinvented the universe. Science journalist Panek (The Invisible Century) offers an insider's view of the quest for what could be the ultimate revelation: the true substance of the unseen dark matter and energy that makes up some...

"Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe. To understand what happens to a dying star, we are asked to...

The Universe May Be a Mystery,But It's No SecretMichael Schneider leads us on a spectacular, lavishly illustrated journey along the numbers one through ten to explore the mathematical principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and the human body, expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion, art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at school but a comprehensive...

The first section the book, "Deconstructing Physics" surveys modern concepts in physics and astronomy. This section helps make quarks, baryons, and bosons understandable, and in doing so makes modern science accessible to non-physicists. The second section of the book, "The Nature of Space" introduces a group of cosmological concepts. The author uses a series of analogies to help explain interesting, but often opaque, subjects, such as dark matter,...

Although it was only designed for a ninety-day surface mission, the Viking 1 lander ultimately transmitted science messages to Earth for seven years. This authoritative history chronicles the remarkable achievements of the Viking program during its first three decades. Commissioned by NASA, it recounts the events surrounding the first planetary landing on Earth's closest neighbor and the first on-site search for evidence of extraterrestrial life....

An adventure in scientific discovery Pluto, the farthermost planet in the solar system, some 3,673-million mites from the Sun, was, discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in 1930. The fiftieth anniversary of Pluto's discovery will be celebrated in 1980 and OUT OF THE DARKNESS: THE PLANET PLUTO tells the exciting scientific story of the twenty-five year search for a planet X beyond Neptune, and its discovery-the only planet found in...

How would a black hole determine that there is a proximate object nearby? Read this book if you want to learn the science behind how heavenly objects cimmunicate with each other and if you want to travel through a black hole.