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Portrays geologist Eugene Shoemaker and explains the scientific reasoning that led him to construct his "impact theory," in which collisions with comets created craters on the moon and several bodies in the solar system.
It was a lucky twist of fate when in the early1980s David Levy, a writer and amateur astronomer, joined up with the famous scientist Eugene Shoemaker and his wife, Carolyn, to search for comets from an observation post on Palomar Mountain in Southern California. Their collaboration would lead to the 1993 discovery of the most remarkable comet ever recorded, Shoemaker-Levy 9, with its several nuclei, five tails, and two sheets of debris spread out in its orbit plane. A year later, Levy would be by the Shoemakers' side again when their comet ended its four-billion-year-long journey through the solar system and collided with Jupiter in the most stunning astronomical display of the century. Not only did this collision revolutionize our understanding of the history of the solar system, but it also offered a spectacular confirmation of one scientist's life work. As a close friend and colleague of Shoemaker (who died in 1997 at the age of 69), Levy offers a uniquely insightful account of his life and the way it has shaped our thinking about the universe. Early in his training as a geologist, Shoemaker suspected that it wasn't volcanic activity but rather collisions with comets and asteroids that created most of the craters on the moon and most other bodies in the solar system. Convincing the scientific community of the plausibility of "impact theory," and revealing its power for penetrating mysteries such as the extinction of the dinosaurs and the timing of the Earth's eventual demise, became Shoemaker's mission. Through conversations with Shoemaker and his family, Levy reconstructs the journey that began with a young geologist's serious desire to go to the moon in the late1940s. Sent by the government to find a way to harvest plutonium, Shoemaker instead found evidence in desert craters for what became his impact theory. While he never became an astronaut, he did become the first geologist hired by NASA and subsequently set the research agenda for the first manned lunar landing. After a series of victories and setbacks for Shoemaker, the collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter provided the most convincing proof to date of the role of impacts in our solar system. Levy's explanation of the scientific reasoning that guided Shoemaker in his career up to this dramatic point--as well as his personal portrait of a man who found white-water rafting to be an easy way to relax--sets these fascinating events in a human scale. This biography shows what Shoemaker's legacy will be for our understanding of the story of the Earth well into the twenty-first century.
Covers in a comprehensive fashion all aspects of cosmic hazards and possible strategies for contending with these threats through a comprehensive planetary defense strategy. This handbook brings together in a single reference work a rich blend of information about the various types of cosmic threats that are posed to human civilization by asteroids, comets, bolides, meteors, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, cosmic radiation and other types of threats that are only recently beginning to be understood and studied, such as investigation of the “cracks” in the protective shield provided by the Van Allen belts and the geomagnetosphere, of matter-antimatter collisions, orbital debris and radiological or biological contamination. Some areas that are addressed involve areas about which there is a good deal of information that has been collected for many decades by multiple space missions run by many different space agencies, observatories and scientific researchers. Other areas involving research and studies that have only recently gotten underway are discussed by some of the world’s foremost experts in each of these areas, who provide up-to-date and scientifically verifiable information. Although much of the work in these various areas have been conducted by space agencies, an expanding range of work is also being carried out by observatories, by universities and other research centers, and even by private foundations and professional organizations. The purpose of this work is thus several-fold: to include the latest information and most systematic research from around the world in a single reference work; to note where there are significant gaps in knowledge where new research, spacecraft, observatories, or other initiatives are needed to fill in critical missing information; and to give the best possible information about preventative actions that might be taken against cosmic threats and identify various alternative strategies that are now under way or planned to cope with these various threats.
David Levy brings these "ghostly apparitions" to life. With fascinating scenarios both real and imagined, he shows how comets have wreaked their special havoc on Earth and other planets. Beginning with ground zero as comets take form, we track the paths their icy, rocky masses take around our universe and investigate the enormous potential that future comets have to directly affect the way we live on this planet and what we might find as we travel to other planets. In this extraordinary volume, David Levy shines his expert light on a subject that has long captivated our imaginations and fears, and demonstrates the need for our continued and rapt attention.
David Shoemaker develops a novel pluralistic theory of responsibility, motivated by our ambivalence to cases of marginal agency--such as those caused by clinical depression or autism, for instance. He identifies three distinct types of responsibility, each with its own set of required capacities: attributability, answerability, and accountability.
Over the centuries the starry night sky has inspired poets and scientists alike, and the fruits of these inspirations enrich each other. Acclaimed science writer Levy has traced writers that celebrate the twin visions of human wonder and curiosity--including Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, Galileo and more--as expressed in poetry and astronomy.
In 1930 astronomer Clyde Tombaugh made the discovery of a lifetime: the planet Pluto. His work remains relevant today as astronomers continue their search for planets in the outskirts of our solar system. This fascinating biography chronicles the life of one of the giants of 20th century astronomy.
Finally, the entire body of our scientific knowledge of the universe is available in one definitive volume. Scientific American, the oldest and most popular science magazine in the world, has prepared the most comprehensive and comprehensible book on the subject ever. Under the direction of renowned astronomer David H. Levy, this spectacular book assembles the best minds in science to give clear and accessible explanations of the nature of the cosmos. Newly commissioned essays by working scientists at the top of their fields and classic writings by such luminaries as Albert Einstein, Francis Crick, and Carl Sagan take us to the frontiers of space and time-from sub-atomic particles to the edge of the universe. Both thoughtful and provocative, this book asks-and answers-the big questions, such as: o How did our solar system evolve? o What forces lie at the center of the atom? o What is the size of the universe? o What is dark matter? o What is the possibility of extraterrestrial life? o What is the importance of superstrings? o How do galaxies form? Dazzling full-color and black-and-white photographs aid in articulating the latest theories about the size, age, nature, and expansion of the universe, and make this book a delight to behold. Essays are grouped by topic, from the largest phenomena, such as the formation of the universe, down to the smallest detail, such as the makeup of an atom. In addition, each section contains an illuminating introduction by David Levy that binds the essays together and creates a whole picture. The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of both professional astronomers and science enthusiasts alike.
A behind-the-scenes narrative of the Hubble mission. Told by the now retired Senior Project Scientist for Hubble, David Leckrone, this fascinating story recounts the history of the mission from 1990 to the present day. It tells the stories of scores of individuals who made major contributions to the Hubble legacy. In understandable, non-professional language, it describes many of the exciting scientific discoveries that the telescope has produced.
Meteors occur when a meteoroid, a speck of dust in space, enters the Earth's atmosphere. The heat generated when this happens causes the surrounding air to glow, resulting in 'shooting stars'. During the most spectacular meteor storms larger particles give rise to fireballs and firework-like displays! Meteors are a delightful observing field - they do not require a telescope, and they can be seen on any clear night of the year, even in bright twilight. It was the sight of a single meteor that inspired David Levy to go into astronomy, and in this book he encourages readers to go outside and witness these wonderful events for themselves. This book is a step-by-step guide to observing meteors and meteor showers. Any necessary science is explained simply and in clearly understandable terms. This is a perfect introduction to observing meteors, and is ideal for both seasoned and budding astronomers.