Dispatches from Planet 3: Thirty-Two (Brief) Tales on the Solar System, the Milky Way, and Beyond

Marcia Bartusiak

Published by Yale University Press 2018

Dispatches from Planet 3

Thirty-Two (Brief) Tales on the Solar System, the Milky Way, and Beyond

Marcia Bartusiak

https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300240580

Overview
Contents

About this book

An award-winning science writer presents a captivating collection of cosmological essays for the armchair astronomer

The galaxy, the multiverse, and the history of astronomy are explored in this engaging compilation of cosmological “tales” by multiple award†‘winning science writer Marcia Bartusiak. In thirty†‘two concise and engrossing essays, the author provides a deeper understanding of the nature of the universe and those who strive to uncover its mysteries. Bartusiak shares the back stories for many momentous astronomical discoveries, including the contributions of such pioneers as Beatrice Tinsley and her groundbreaking research in galactic evolution, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the scientist who first discovered radio pulsars. An endlessly fascinating collection that you can dip into in any order, these pieces will transport you to ancient Mars, when water flowed freely across its surface; to the collision of two black holes, a cosmological event that released fifty times more energy than was radiating from every star in the universe; and to the beginning of time itself.

Author / Editor information

Bartusiak Marcia :

Marcia Bartusiak is professor of the practice, graduate program in science writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the award-winning author of six previous books, including most recently Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
One. Earth Is but a Speck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Celestial Neighborhood
Two. Bedazzled by a Comet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Three. To Be . . . or Not to Be a Planet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	14
Four. The Watery Allure of Mars Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
Five. Rings, Rings, Rings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Six. The Baffling White Dwarf Star Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Seven. The Star No Bigger Than a City Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Eight. Ye Old Black Hole Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
Nine. As Though No Other Name Ever Existed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
Ten. Like This World of Ours Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
Realm of the Galaxies
Eleven. Our Spiraling Home Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
Twelve. The Woman Who Chased Galaxies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
Thirteen. Stuff of the Heavens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
Fourteen. Recipe for the Stars Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
Fifteen. Find a Way Around It Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
Sixteen. Dark Matters Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Seventeen. Cosmic Funhouse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
Eighteen. Rivers of Galaxies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
Nineteen. The Big Dipper Is Crying Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Twenty. Einstein’s Symphony Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
Twenty- one. Underground Astronomy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
Twenty- two. Eavesdropping on the Universe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
Twenty- three. The Once and Future Quasar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
To the Big Bang and Beyond
Twenty- four. Finding a Cosmic Yardstick Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Twenty- five. The Cosmologist Left Behind Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	178
Twenty- six. The Primeval Atom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
Twenty- seven. Proving the Big Bang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Twenty- eight. It’s Now Einstein’s Universe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
Twenty- nine. The Big Burp Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Thirty. The Great Escape Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	220
Thirty- one. Meet the Multiverse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Thirty- two. When the Universe Began, What Time Was It? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297

Language: English
Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 50 b-w illus.

eBook

Published: September 18, 2018
ISBN: 9780300240580