The Individual and the Universe

Fülszöveg

The 1958 Reith Lectures were concerned with the universe as it is revealed by contemporary astronomical techniques and the relation of these discoveries to man, individually and collectively. The great optical and radio telescopes of our age may well penetrate to the ultimate depths of space and time. Ultimate in the sense that we have nearly reached the limits of the observable universe, and in the sense that we already study processes which take us back in time thousands of millions of years to the epoch when the universe was probably near its creation. These vast issues on a cosmical scale challenge the individual in a disturbing fashion. Cosmology may be reaching the state of decisive knowledge where philosophy and theology must reconsider the principles at stake.
In common with many other sciences the pursuit of astronomical research requires appreciable capital investments. Apart from the intellectual stimulus of the ultimate problems the modern state can justify its... Tovább

Fülszöveg

The 1958 Reith Lectures were concerned with the universe as it is revealed by contemporary astronomical techniques and the relation of these discoveries to man, individually and collectively. The great optical and radio telescopes of our age may well penetrate to the ultimate depths of space and time. Ultimate in the sense that we have nearly reached the limits of the observable universe, and in the sense that we already study processes which take us back in time thousands of millions of years to the epoch when the universe was probably near its creation. These vast issues on a cosmical scale challenge the individual in a disturbing fashion. Cosmology may be reaching the state of decisive knowledge where philosophy and theology must reconsider the principles at stake.
In common with many other sciences the pursuit of astronomical research requires appreciable capital investments. Apart from the intellectual stimulus of the ultimate problems the modern state can justify its participation in this work because of the practical issues at stake in the evolution of the techniques and particularly because of man's thirst for information about the immediate environment of the earth. The ballistic rockets which already take the astronomers' instruments above the disturbing regions of the earth's atmosphere could under other circumstances carry hydrogen bombs as weapons of war. The history of astronomy is full of the conflicts of mind and the cooperation in practice between the individual as a citizen and the astronomer as a scientist. In our age the interplay is now being worked out on a major scale. The obvious dangers to the life of man on earth exist within a technological and scientific framework
continued on back flap
which presents us with unparalleled opportunities for a definitive assessment of the individual's place in the universe.
The lectures as here printed contain a number of passages omitted, for reasons of timing, in the broadcast versions; and Professor Lovell contributes a Foreword.
The cover photograph, by courtesy of the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories, is of the peculiar galaxy N. G. G. 5128, associated with the intense radio source Gentaurus A. This is believed to be a collision between two galaxies.
From the reviews:
'Dr Lovell's first lecture, called "Astronomy Breaks Free", is a masterpiece of exposition about comparative magnitudes. If anyone, young or old, spent their half-guinea for this alone, they would have their money's worth and their mind's fill Humility is not always the hallmark of scientists. But it is of Dr Lovell, and his lectures bequeath much of it to his readers.' The Economist
'All astronomers will salute the appearance of Professor Lovell's Lectures and hope that they will serve to augment the stock of legitimate public interest in astronomy. Let us have more Reith Lectures and fewer Gomic Strips.' Dr Richard Woolley, The Astronomer Royal, in The Sunday Times
ipSi
^ ¦ 'i.'5 'li • Ml i
Vissza