The X-Ray Universe

Wallace Tucker; Riccardo Giacconi

Published by Harvard University Press 1985

The X-Ray Universe

Wallace Tucker and Riccardo Giacconi

Volume 11 in the series Harvard Books on Astronomy

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674594449

Overview
Contents

About this book

Beyond the range of optical perception--and of ordinary imaginings--a new and violent universe lay undetected until the advent of space exploration. Supernovae, black holes, quasars and pulsars--these were the secrets of the highenergy world revealed when, for the first time, astronomers attached their instruments to rockets and lofted them beyond the earth's x-ray-absorbing atmosphere.

The X-Ray Universe is the story of these explorations and the fantastic new science they brought into being. It is a first-hand account: Riccardo Giacconi is one of the principal pioneers of the field, and Wallace Tucker is a theorist who worked closely with him at many critical periods.

The book carries the reader from the early days of the Naval Research Laboratory through the era of V-2 rocketry, Sputnik, and the birth of NASA, to the launching of the Einstein X-Ray Observatory. But this is by no means just a history. Behind the suspenseful, sometimes humorous details of human personality grappling with high technology lies a sophisticated exposition of current cosmology and astrophysics, from the rise and fall of the steady-state theory to the search for the missing mass of the universe.

Author information

TuckerWallace:

Wallace Tucker is science spokesman for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center. He is coauthor with his wife of numerous books on astronomy.GiacconiRiccardo:

Riccardo Giacconi is Director, Space Telescope Science Institute and Professor of Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

It combines an enthralling account of the birth of x-ray astronomy with a lucid description of the latest breakthroughs in this rapidly developing field.

The vital story of x-ray astronomy and the transformations it has wrought in our universe is here recounted with unusual sensitivity and clarity by two scientists who know the field from the inside Out.

X-ray astronomy gets to the heart of the most energetic processes in the universe. Its history is told here with personal insights from leaders in its development.

A high energy hook on a high energy realm of astronomy! Tucker and Giacconi present us with the contemporary view of the x-ray universe and provide an insightful mixture of personalities and politics. The story told here is a heady one of breakthroughs and breakdowns, fascination and frustration. Basic physical insights, clearly and plainly told, lace the observational discoveries together--from black holes to quasars. The X-Ray Universe offers the best synthesis of a revolution in modern astronomy for the interested public.

Topics

General Interest

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	ix
1. The X-Ray Universe Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	1
2. The Sensible World Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	5
3. Precursors Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	11
4. Pioneers Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	19
5. The Discovery of an X–Ray Star Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	31
6. The Riddle of the X-Ray Stars Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	46
7. Uhuru: Neutron Stars and Black Holes Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	63
8. The X–Ray Sky Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	91
9. A Telescope for X-Rays Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	103
10. Einstein into Orbit Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	132
11. First Light Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	136
12. Stellar Coronas and Supernovas Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	142
13. Active Galaxies and Quasars Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	155
14. Clusters of Galaxies and the Missing Mass Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	169
15. The Cosmic X-Ray Background Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	179
Coda Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	184
Bibliographical Notes Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	187
Index Requires Authentication Licensed Download PDF	194

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 201
Illustrations
- Other: illustrations
Keywords: X-ray astronomy.; SCIENCE / Physics / Astrophysics

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674594449

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1985
ISBN: 9780674594432