Features
ISBN Number: 9780691132976
Subtitle: The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It
Author: Zimmerman, Robert
Author: Zimmerman, Robert
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Subject: Astrophysics & Space Science
Subject: History
Subject: Astronomy and Cosmology
Subject: Astronomy, General
Subject: Scientific Instruments
Copyright: 2008
Publication Date: June 2008
Cover Type: Hardcover
Written in: English
Illustrations: Y
Number of Pages: 287
Book Size: 9.44x6.60x.96 in. 1.36 lbs.
Spectacular images of the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope have become so routine that it's easy to forget the astronomical community's despair in 1990, when NASA discovered that the main mirror was improperly shaped. In The Universe in a Mirror: The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It, Robert Zimmerman brings the visionaries behind this most remarkable of instruments vividly to life, taking us artfully through the decades; long minefield of lobbying, funding, design, construction, delay after the Challenger explosion and launch, and then through the Hubble's near-death experience as astronomers realized to their horror that its mirror was ground to the wrong shape. His meticulously researched but engaging prose makes it clear how remarkable an achievement the telescope actually was, and how easily it might not have happened at all. Review:
For everyone who knows something of the story of the space telescope and its travails, this book provides a fascinating look behind the scenes. An excellent contribution to the history of technology.
Review:
Quite a story. I really liked this book.
Review:
Zimmerman demonstrates the importance of vision, perseverance, politics, and good luck in getting this national telescope constructed, fixed, and operated. He also illustrates, somewhat poignantly at times, the human costs and disappointments that came up along the way.
