But where is everyone? The Fermi Paradox (reported from a casual conversation between Enrico Fermi and colleagues about extra-terrestrial life, in 1950 Jump in… Introduction Inspiration Discrimination Elsewhere… Alien Worlds: Planet Hunting in the Cosmos by Lisa Kaltenegger Published by Allen Lane / Penguin Random House books (2024), 275 pages Introduction Please don’t be put… Continue reading But where is everyone?
Tag: Astronomy
A Year in the Dark
Review of Phillip’s Stargazing 2024 & Night Sky Almanac 2024 There are several publications that offer a guide to the night sky for the year ahead, and here are two of them. Of course if you are interested in astronomy, you may already have reference books, star charts and on-line aids to navigating the night… Continue reading A Year in the Dark
Galactic Archaeology
A review of “The Ins and Outs of the Milky Way” The Vectis Astronomical Society public talk for May 2023 by Professor Sean Ryan Seeing the Milky Way Do we ever look up at the night sky and think how the view is never-changing, except for the wandering planets against a timeless backdrop of the… Continue reading Galactic Archaeology
Our Past is in the Stars
Beneath the Night: How the stars have shaped the history of humankind By Stuart Clark (2020, Guardian Faber), 290 pp. Starry night Why do we look at the stars? We are interested in the nature of the Universe, a drive to understand and interpret what we see. Equally valid is an appreciation of the beauty… Continue reading Our Past is in the Stars
Darken our Lightness
Under The Stars: A Journey into Light By Matt Gaw (2020, Elliott & Thompson) Walking in the Dark Matt Gaw is a writer and naturalist whose fascination with darkness leads him to seek out experiences of being outside at night. In Under The Stars he is inspired to write by taking walks in the moonlight,… Continue reading Darken our Lightness
Reaching for the sky
The Comet Sweeper: Caroline Hershel’s Astronomical Ambition by Claire Brock (Icon Books, 2007) Caroline Hershel’s reputation has long been in the shadow of her brother William, who was the discoverer of Uranus and first president of The Astronomical Society of London (which later became the Royal Astronomical Society). She is rightly portrayed as the utterly… Continue reading Reaching for the sky
Fred amongst the Stars
The Nature of the Universe: A Series of Broadcast Lectures by Fred Hoyle (Basil Blackwell, 1950) I think that within 100 years it may indeed be possible to leave the Earth, or at any rate for rockets containing radio-operated cameras to do so. Fred Hoyle (1950) 1950. Seventy-two years ago. That is just within living… Continue reading Fred amongst the Stars
Morsels of the Night Sky
Book Review: A History of the Universe in 100 Stars by Florian Freistetter (Quercus 2021 – English translation from the 2019 original German edition) This title is surely a winner, and indeed this book is acclaimed an International Bestseller. What could be better than a comprehensible history of the universe, told in bite-sized chapters each… Continue reading Morsels of the Night Sky
Star of wonder, star of light
This is a short book – you could read it in an evening – and doesn’t need any hard science to understand. There are no equations or even pictures, but he explains some tremendous concepts in astrophysics, cosmology, plate tectonics and particle physics with infectious enthusiasm.
New Horizons – Old Harmonies
[Originally written for New Zenith, newsletter of the Vectis Astronomical Society, 3 January 2019] Early on New Year’s Day [2019], the New Horizons spacecraft successfully achieved its long anticipated flyby of Ultima Thule. At about 43 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, this was the furthest encounter yet with an object in… Continue reading New Horizons – Old Harmonies