Interstellar Matters: Essays on Curiosity and Astronomical Discovery

by Gerrit L. Verschuur

Book Overview

In this provocative book, radio astronomer and author Gerrit L. Verschuur describes the phenomena of scientific curiosity and discovery by following the exciting story of interstellar matter. The discovery of "stuff between the stars" was the result of decades of work by hundreds of astronomers, and the evolving recognition of its existence has profoundly changed the way we view the Universe. Verschuur begins with E.E. Barnard, who puzzled for...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B01CMYA2DG
• ISBN13: 9780387406060
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

difficult observations

The subject is a very difficult one to get direct data on. By not being a star, it does not usually radiate. So evidence of it tended to be indirect. The book shows how it took decades for the idea to be accepted, in no small part because of the observational difficulties. You can also get from the book a feeling of how progress is made in modern astronomy. A combination of inspiration and pushing the instruments to their limit.