The Amazing Universe

Fülszöveg

Pioneer in rocket astronomy, author Herbert Friedman displays X-ray-detecting equipment developed for use in the High Energy Astronomy Observatory satellite in i ^77. Since joining the staff of the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory in 1940, he has designed instruments that made the first measurements of X rays from sol^r flares and of the
far ultraviolet light of young stars. In preparing the text for this book, Dr. Friedman, chief scientist of the laboratory's E. 0. Hulburt Center for Space Research, has drawn on his experience as physicist and professor, lecturer and science writer. Dr. Friedman and his wife, Gertrude, have two sons and live in Arlington, Virginia.


Ihe beauty of the night sky has been a source of fascination and pleasure for all mankind," writes Herbert Friedman at the outset of The Amazing Universe. Pushing aside barriers of time and space, the author, a distinguished X-ray astronomer, shares revelations of the new astronomy and explains varied theories... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Pioneer in rocket astronomy, author Herbert Friedman displays X-ray-detecting equipment developed for use in the High Energy Astronomy Observatory satellite in i ^77. Since joining the staff of the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory in 1940, he has designed instruments that made the first measurements of X rays from sol^r flares and of the
far ultraviolet light of young stars. In preparing the text for this book, Dr. Friedman, chief scientist of the laboratory's E. 0. Hulburt Center for Space Research, has drawn on his experience as physicist and professor, lecturer and science writer. Dr. Friedman and his wife, Gertrude, have two sons and live in Arlington, Virginia.


Ihe beauty of the night sky has been a source of fascination and pleasure for all mankind," writes Herbert Friedman at the outset of The Amazing Universe. Pushing aside barriers of time and space, the author, a distinguished X-ray astronomer, shares revelations of the new astronomy and explains varied theories about our turbulent skies.
Recent discoveries show that the seemingly peaceful universe is violently active. Galaxies created by the explosion of a primordial fireball rush outward in every direction. Stars pass through differing life cycles, from birth to cataclysmic collapse. Tiny pulsars wink on and off as many as 30 times a second. Mysterious quasars, though resembling stars, appear to be pouring out more energy than a hundred galaxies. Some astronomers believe that strange black holes are devouring everything around them, that not even light can escape their awesome gravitational traps.
The enormous strides taken by astronomers in the last half century have been made possible by the development of tools that probe ever deeper into the universe. Precise and powerful instruments now "see" objects so far away that they represent events that occurred near the beginning of time.
Today, astronomers look for evidence of life beyond earth; they soon expect to conduct experiments from space observatories, seeking answers to the riddles that have puzzled humankind throughout the ages.
This intriguing book contains more than 200 illustrations — remarkable pictures made with the world's greatest telescopes, and paintings and detailed drawings that help bring the amazing universe down to earth.
Domed telescope gleams beneath stars tracing paths around Polaris, the North Star, as the earth rotates during a time-exposure photograph. Here at Kitt Peak in Arizona, astronomers use Space Age tools in man's ancient quest to understand the nature of the universe. Vissza