Sizing Up the Universe The Cosmos in Perspective

by Vanderbei, Robert; Gott, J.

• ISBN13: 9781426206511
• ISBN10: 1426206518
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-02
• Publisher: National Geographic

Summary

The almost unimaginably large size of many objects in the universe accounts in part for astronomy's tremendous appeal. Yet the problem of depicting a vast range of scales is perhaps astronomy's greatest challenge. Sizing Up the Universe addresses, in highly readable and richly illustrated style, the intriguing concept of size in the universe. The authors--both professors at Princeton University--put forward clear, concise, and understandable answers to the hard-to-answer questions: How big is the sun? Our solar system? Our galaxy? The visible universe? What is the largest structure in the cosmos? And how do we know? With size comparisons as a unifying theme, this gorgeous book goes beyond the facts and figures to work as a superb visual guide to the heavens. It captures a fresh vision of the universe, chronicling a host of exciting recent discoveries: new Kuiper belt objects in the solar system, new planets orbiting nearby stars, great walls of galaxies, even the fingerprints of creation in the cosmic microwave background radiation. As a special bonus, Sizing Up the Universe includes, for the first time in an astronomy book (despite repeated requests to reproduce it in previous titles), a beautiful new full-color version of author Richard Gott's incomparable Map of the Universe. This stunning chart includes everything from Earth satellites to planets, stars, and distant galaxies. The map has been featured in New Scientist and Planetarian Magazine cover stories, as well as extensive articles in the New York Times and other publications. It has been honoured by The Adler Planetarium through inclusion in a special exhibition and catalogue. In Sizing Up the Universe, the Map of the Universe is beautifully reproduced in full color on a large gatefold section to maximize impact and usefulness. With its original and beautiful way of comparing objects in the heavens...its coverage of remarkable recent discoveries...and its breathtaking gatefold map, Sizing Up the Universe has very wide appeal. It's a great choice for armchair astronomers, students of all ages, science-minded families, and even the most advanced amateur stargazers, who will find intriguing surprises here.

Author Biography

Richard Gott is Professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University. A Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate in Physics from Harvard in 1969, he received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Princeton in 1973. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology and at Cambridge University in England before returning to join the Princeton faculty. He is the author of the popular book Time Travel in Einstein's Universe (Houghton Mifflin, 2001; approx. 50,000 copies in American hard cover and paperback editions sold to date, with 11 other editions around the world).
Robert Vanderbei is Professor and Chair of the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University. A summa cum laude graduate in Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976, he received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University in 1981. As an amateur astronomer, Vanderbei has taken, from his own back yard, astonishing and very high-quality photographs of astronomical objects, rivaling the best of those shot from some of our greatest observatories.