The Hubble Space Telescope. No other telescope combines instant name recognition with the production of consistently spectacular images. Yet few people outside the astronomy community realize that Hubble is now at the apex of its imaging capabilities. A collection of stunningly detailed pictures, made possible by the new Wide Field Camera 3, has yet to be incorporated into a popular-level book. Until now. Hubble's Universe will be the premier venue for the Hubble Telescope's most recent visual splendors. Bestselling astronomy writer Terence Dickinson showcases extraordinary late-breaking pictures, many of which have yet to receive wide distribution as news stories or in publications outside scienti!c papers, and presents a breathtaking portfolio drawn from an archive of over 500,000 existing Hubble images. The accompanying text balances accuracy with accessibility, Dickinson's hallmark. And thanks to the author's familiarity with Hubble's history and discoveries and his access to top Hubble scientists for insight and accuracy, the text includes facts and tidbits not found in any other book.
Combined with hundreds of brilliant images, the clear, succinct and illuminating narrative brings to life the fascinating forces at work in the universe.
I thought this book would make me feel small and insignificant, but . . . it never did. Not once. Surprisingly, this book made me feel content where I am and with my place in this world. Not because it "made me feel a part of something greater", or something cliche like that. Rather . . . it made me me feel like no matter what awful things go down in this world, no matter what crappy decisions I make in this life--no matter what disgusting things happen on Earth, the universe keeps on doing its thing. Yeah, I (and the Earth--and everything that happens on it) am small and insignificant, but that's probably a good thing, considering what we're doing to each other and the planet itself. And despite that, the universe keeps expanding, keeps growing, keeps creating new stars, etc. The scope of the universe is huge, and seeing/realizing this scale is so calming.
The pictures in this massive book are jaw-dropping and gorgeous. I think I stared at each of them for fifteen minutes. There's just so much to see.
Most of the actual science descriptions went over my head, though. I have no background in astronomy, and I picked this up out of sheer curiosity. So as someone not familiar with all these science-y terms, stuff like dark matter and dark energy went through my eyes and out my ears. I read over passages three times and couldn't absorb any of it. I can't complain too much though, because those pictures . . . damn, those pictures.
I wish the book had a sort of conclusion, because after some pictures with captions the book just . . . stopped. And the index began. There wasn't even so much as a concluding paragraph, and it kind of left me feeling disappointed.
But again, those pictures. This book is so worth picking up for those pictures.
