Product Description
Today, we accept that we live on a planet circling the sun, that our sun is just one of billions of stars in the galaxy we call the Milky Way, and that our galaxy is but one of billions born out of the big bang. Yet as recently as the early twentieth century, the general public and even astronomers had vague and confused notions about what lay beyond the visible stars. Minding the Heavens: The Story of Our Discovery of the Milky Way is about how scientists discovered that we lived in a galaxy, in fact, a universe full of galaxies. This fascinating story of the discovery of our own and other galaxies is told through the lives of seven astronomers: Thomas Wright, William Herschel, Wilhelm Struve, William Huggins, Jacobus Kapteyn, Harlow Shapley, and Edwin Hubble. Each contributed greatly to our present understanding of where we live in the cosmos. Through the science and lives of these seven people, each shaped by their family, friends, and contemporaries, we follow this amazing story of discovery. From the mid 1700s with Thomas Wright through to the mid 20th century with the more familiar names of Shapley and Hubble, each character bringing us nearer to our present understanding of the Universe.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)

Our place in the galaxy

This is an account of how astronomers gradually came to realize that we inhabit a galaxy, one of many in the universe. It begins in the mid-eighteenth century and ends in the twentieth, tracing the work of seven selected astronomers. Their task was to puzzle out, from inside the structure, our rather undistinguished position in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Belkora presents not only the science but the scientists - for example, how the loss of a young child inhibited one observer's creativity for a time. Long ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I edited writings by Dr. Belkora. I'm pleased to say that she's just as clear and accessible in this longer form. Her book is about how science works and also contributes to the history of ideas. This is an interesting volume that should appeal to professional and lay astronomers alike.
July 25, 2003

Great book for laymen

Minding the Heavens is written in an easy to understand style, a super book for all stargazers. Wonderful biographies of seven astronomy greats plus surprising final words on the structure of the Milky Way.
July 08, 2003

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