Het astronomieboek. Van het begin tot het einde der tijden, 250 mijlpalen in de geschiedenis van de astronomie en ruimtevaart

by Jim Bell

Dit prachtig geïllustreerde boek in de succesvolle serie van Het wiskundeboek, Het natuurkundeboek en Het medische boek bevat 250 van de meest intrigerende mijlpalen uit de geschiedenis van de astronomie. We leven in een gouden eeuw van sterrenkunde en ruimteonderzoek, wat ons wellicht in staat stelt een van de grootste mysteries aller tijden te ontrafelen: Hoe is het heelal ontstaan? Zijn er andere planeten zoals de aarde? Zijn wij alleen? Astronoom en planetair wetenschapper Jim Bell presenteert 250 van de meest baanbrekende astronomische gebeurtenissen, van de vorming van sterrenstelsels tot de recente ontdekking van ijs op Mars. Prachtige foto’s en illustraties begeleiden elk item.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Space, History, Physics, Popular Science

528 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

James (Jim) F. Bell III (born July 23, 1965) is a Professor of Astronomy at Arizona State University, specializing in the study of planetary geology, geochemistry and mineralogy using data obtained from telescopes and from various spacecraft missions.
Dr. Bell's active research has involved the NASA Mars Pathfinder, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR), 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory missions. His book Postcards from Mars includes many images taken by the Mars rovers. Dr. Bell is currently an editor of the space science journal Icarus and president of The Planetary Society.
He has served as the lead scientist in charge of the Panoramic camera (Pancam) color imaging system on Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

Reviews

[Scottsdale Public Library]

This is a coffee table book of sorts, but also a great introduction to the history of space and astronomy. The book begins with the ultimate beginning (that we know of), the big bang, and continues through the milestones of celestial discoveries, hypotheses and theories, and other important historical events in the world of astronomy. Each page is devoted to these events, and there are plenty of gorgeous photographs and illustrations to compliment the text.

While the book does not go into extensive detail, it is ideal for the casual reader and armchair astronomers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing is crisp and the photos are truly majestic.
-Tal S.

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with space exploration as a kid, when men were walking on the moon. That love of space was tarnished in college when I took an intro to astronomy class. The professor insisting on replacing the wonder of exploration with endless equations, but everything was redeemed when I looked through a telescope for the first time and saw the moon. All of this is to say: this is the book I wish I'd had as a college textbook.

The Space Book is laid out chronologically from the Big Bang to the End of the Universe. Every other page is an essay on some element of space exploration, whether laying out theories of how the universe is organized to explaining how we know what we know to detailing the discoveries of the hundreds of objects in our own solar system. Each facing page is either a glorious photograph or an artist's rendering of the matter under discussion. It's really a beautiful book.

Some of the theoretical essays were pretty dense and I had to read them several times, but in the end, I learned so much more than my semester of astronomy was able to impart. My sense of wonder has been rekindled, too. What an amazing universe we live in.

[Paul Kinzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a book you'll read in one, or even a few sittings, it probably falls in the "coffee table" category. For space / astrophysics geeks, it's fun to pick up and read a few pages, then put down for a few days. Going at this pace, it took me nearly a year to read. Its written in chronological (though not linear) order, from the beginning to the end of time, with each pair of pages (one text, one illustration) devoted to a very specific space related subject. Subjects range from early discoveries, to current technologies, to theories about the future of the universe. Interesting stuff, indeed.

[John L and Benji · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book on space teaches from the big bang, to the end of the universe with all major events, missions, and discoveries in between. It has high quality photos in some parts. It covers lots of astronomy theories and my favorite was Focault’s Pendulum to describe how the solar system worked. Everything is in chronological order. . I will provably revisit this book to review so that I can talk to friends about the universe

[J]

(NR)

Not rated due to this being non-fiction and I do not rate those. But this was a great way to learn more about Astronomy and scientific developments in the field of astrophysics, biology etc. Really worked to sate my hyper-fixation I got after reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Also yes it took me 2.5 months to read this, cause its one of those books you just read a few pages of at a time

[adi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Très intéressant et même s'il est impossible pour les lecteurs de tout retenir, on apprend énormément de chose sur l'univers. Les textes et les explications sont courts et concis et les photographies et les illustrations sur les pages de droite rendent la lecture agréable.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This book is a series of bite sized histories and discoveries in the field of Astronomy. Very interesting, but left out how the discoverers of Cosmic Microwave Background thought the buzz they heard was pigeons pooping in the antennae

[Almas G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into black holes and the incredible space!

[Mizumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly an introduction to various topics in astronomy, but a nice read (and very gorgeous photos and illustrations). It runs from the big bang until the possible end of the universe, noting years of milestones in between. It also attempts to bring in astronomy through the ages from other parts of the world and talk more about women's influence in astronomy. It's very marginal in both cases, unfortunately, but at least an attempt was made.
Astronomy books date pretty fast, but this book was published in 2013, and is therefore up to date with the major milestones. Until 2015, I guess, when New Horizons is scheduled to fly past Pluto and finally show us what the dwarf planet looks like.

There's a lot of resources in the end, and I have to add a bonus star for the author citing 'The restaurant at the end of the universe' as the resource for the final page.

[Luis Enrico Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Space Book takes you on a cosmic journey through 250 milestones in the history of astronomy and space exploration. From the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, the invention of the telescope, the Moon landing, Voyager’s journey.

What i like about this book is that you don’t need a background in astrophysics to appreciate this—just curiosity.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a novel concept that actually worked out quite well. 250 most important moments in astronomy, from the beginning of time to the end of the universe. Each event was condensed to one page, with a lovely photo on the accompanying page. A nice book for an armchair astronomer like me!

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome coffee table book!!!

[Ilib4kids]

523.1 BEL

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

***** if you like science.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for the beginning/casual astronomy fan!

[Mills College Library]

523.1 B4338 2013

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Space Book is massive in scope, covering the beginning of time to the supposed end of the universe. With beautiful illustrations and instructive diagrams, the 250 Milestones in Astronomy and Cosmology is wonderfully informative and interesting.

Although I suppose if you have read one of the books in this series, you will find more of the same here, only on a different subject. The format is pretty much the same, and a lot of bias enters into the mix since they have a limit of what can be covered. For instance, separate entries are given for each planetary discovery and for discoveries of other moons. This book also contains an entry on Einstein's "Miracle Year" of 1905. At first, I didn't understand why that was included, but I suppose the photoelectric effect and other discoveries would allow scientists to use other methods of detection.