The amazing science behind the search for Earth-like planetsEver since Carl Sagan first predicted that extraterrestrial civilizations must number in the millions, the search for life on other planets has gripped our imagination. Is Earth so rare that advanced life forms like us-…
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived and a key figure in the scientific revolution. A defender of Copernicus's sun-centered universe, he famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, and defined the three laws of planetary motio…
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived and a key figure in the scientific revolution. A defender of Copernicuśs sun-centred universe, he famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, and defined the three laws of planetary motion.…
In the spring of 1500, at the apex of the Renaissance, a papal secretary to the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI, wrote that ""All the world is in Rome."" Though no one knew it at the time, this included a young scholar by the name of Nicolaus Copernicus who would one day change the wo…
The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers is a unique and valuable resource for historians and astronomers alike. The two volumes include approximately 1550 biographical sketches on astronomers from antiquity to modern times. It is the collective work of about 400 authors edi…
Recounts the story behind English astronomer Richard Carrington's observations of a mysterious explosion on the surface of the sun and how his understanding that the sun's magnetism directly influences the Earth helped usher in the modern era of astronomy