Book description
Journey through time and space with the greatest astronomers in
history. Astronomy is one of the oldest of all the sciences. And yet,
its history is also so much more than the history of a science,
reflecting our entire culture and providing insight into the evolution
of humankind's ideas and ideals over the centuries. This fascinating
book tells the amazing story of the development of astronomy, through
the key characters in its history from Copernicus to Hubble and Halley,
the excitement of new discoveries and the ways in which the history of
the skies has affected our lives and how we look at the planet on which
we live. The Story of Astronomy celebrates changing perspectives (from
the Ancient Greeks to the latest scientific advances) as different
cultures, philosophers and scientists sought to come to terms with
their, and earth's, place in the Cosmos. Exhaustively researched and
containing interviews with many of the world's leading astronomers,
including Stephen Hawking, this is the ultimate history of how the
universe has revealed itself to us over the millennia. After studying
Astrophysics at Oxford University, Heather Couper ran the Greenwich
Planetarium, and later became President of the British Astronomical
Association and Gresham Professor of Astronomy. She wrote and presented
BBC Radio 4's epic 30-part series Cosmic Quest, a groundbreaking
overview of the history of astronomy. Nigel Henbest researched radio
astronomy at Cambridge, where he studied supernovae, radio galaxies and
quasars. Together, Heather and Nigel set up Pioneer Productions, now one
of the leading factual TV companies in the UK.
