The Last Stargazers
The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2021
FINALIST FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD
AN AMAZON BEST BOOK OF 2020
To be an astronomer is to journey to some of the most inaccessible parts of the globe, braving mountain passes, sub-zero temperatures, and hostile flora and fauna.
Not to mention the stress of handling equipment worth millions. It is a life of unique delights and absurdities … and one that may be drawing to a close. Since Galileo first pointed his telescope at the heavens, astronomy has stood as a fount of human creativity and discovery, but soon it will be the robots gazing at the sky while we are left to sift through the data.
In The Last Stargazers, Emily Levesque reveals the hidden world of the professional astronomer. She celebrates an era of ingenuity and curiosity, and asks us to think twice before we cast aside our sense of wonder at the universe.
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Levesque, a University of Washington astronomy professor, leads readers on a pilgrimage to observatories throughout the world in her wonderful debut. Having "been enraptured by space for as long as I remember," Levesque became set on astronomy as a career while studying at MIT among like-minded students and professors who similarly appreciated "the simple beauty of the sky." She blends these memories with profiles of huge telescopes, including the "beast of a machine" at Arizona's Kitt Peak National Observatory, Chile's cutting-edge Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and the mighty 630-ton Subaru Telescope atop Hawaii's highest mountain. Levesque describes her research on red supergiant stars, which led to a breakthrough about "how the insides of stars could work," and recalls how, before the widespread adoption of digital photography, astronomers like herself relied on glass photographic plates, working through the night to make adjustments by hand. Adding an Indiana Jones vibe, she recalls how, for her and others, astronomy has led to close calls with lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions, tarantulas ("actually fairly, shy, skittish, and fragile"), and scorpions (which "do pose a danger to astronomers"). This will particularly appeal to young women interested in science, but any stargazer would enjoy this joyous adventure through modern astronomy.
