Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology All books
André Lebeau
The Space Legacy
Man has begun to realize one of his most ancient dreams: to overcome gravity, to conquer space, to explore the universe. André Lebeau sheds light on some of the stakes of this quest. By examining the logic of evolution which drives us to explore, and then to occupy, discovered continents, Lebeau traces the perspectives that the possible colonization of outer space opens to humanity. In so doing, he offers a new viewpoint on the dynamics of scientific and technological progress.
Michel Cassé
Nothingness and Creation
This book is foremost a piece of scientific popularization. M. Cassé leads us on an historical stroll through physics. First we meet the ideas of Galileo and Newton. Then Einstein modifies the classical notions of time and space. Finally quantum mechanics revolutionize our sense of matter. On a deeper level, Cassé sees physics as an arena for debate on the nature of reality. This is why scientific discourse often tends toward reverie and poetic meditation, particularly when concerning itself with the void, a central notion for modern physics and the complex protagonist of Cassé's scientific journey.
Stephen Hawking
Black Holes and Baby Universes
Singlehandedly, Stephen Hawking has profoundly transformed the way we look at the universe...
Joseph Silk
The Big Bang
Silk's story begins with the first moments of the big bang and continues though the formation of the galaxies on to the distant future of our universe. Whether you're looking for an accessible history of the universe, answers to questions about matter and antimatter, quasars, black holes, and others oddities, or simply a fascinating story spanning time and space, you will find The Big Bang hard to put down. Joseph Silk, coauthor of The Left Hand of Creation, teaches astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley.
André Brahic
Children of the Sun The History of Our Origins
In less than a century, scientists have acquired enough information to try to explain the origin of life, to realise that there may be other life forms in the universe, and to begin to understand the birth of our planet and its future. André Brahic writes about the planets, the stars and the universe without forgetting the role played by human beings who are themselves made from solar atoms and are thus truly "children of the sun". André Brahic, an astronomer, is known for discovering the rings of Neptune.
Michel Cassé
The Genealogy of Matter
Atoms originate in the stars. There is no real separation between the Earth and the sky, and matter forms one great whole, based on a series of nuclear reactions. Written in a lyrical, poetic style, this is a concise, clearly illustrated account of the birth of matter, aimed at the general reader. Michel Cassé is an astrophysicist and researcher at the CEA and the Institut Astrophysique, in Paris. He is the author of Du Vide et de la Création and La Petite Etoile.
Dava Sobel
Galileos Daughter
This is a most unusual biography about Galileos daughter. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was regarded by Albert Einstein not only as the father of modern physics but as the father of all modern science. His eldest child, Virginia, mirrored Galileos own brilliance, industry and sensibility, and by virtue of these qualities became his confidante. Their correspondence, reproduced throughout the book, reveals their intense relationship, based on tender attachment and intellectual stimulation. The little-known life of Maria Celeste gives a human dimension to one of the major seventeenth-century scientists. His struggle with the Church is a lasting symbol of the conflict between science and religion. Galileos Daughter offers a powerful account of papal Rome and of Florentine intellectual life during the time of the Medicis. Dava Sobel is a writer who lives in New York
Stephen Hawking
The Universe in a Nutshell
This work is illustrated and allows non-mathematicians to better understand the strange world of physicists...
Philippe deBaleine
Conversations on the Sky
What are the origins of the universe? Besides human beings, are there other conscious living creatures in the universe? If there are, do they resemble humans? Could their appearance be entirely different? If Christian teachings are true, could they also apply to such extraterrestrial creatures? What are Good and Evil? What is Gods role? How did nature take on the forms it has? In a relaxed, conversational tone, Philippe de Baleine addresses some of the major metaphysical, theological and cosmological issues that are being asked today. Philippe de Baleine is a journalist, essayist and novelist.
Michel Cassé, Edgar Morin
Children of the Sky Between Nothingness, Light and Matter
What is the universe, which we regard as "ours" not only because we live in it but because it produced us? This book is in the form of a dialogue on cosmology between the astrophysicist Michel Cassé and the philosopher Edgar Morin. It is a profound work which revels in the joy of knowledge and restores us to the universe that is in all of us, as it celebrates the "anthropo-cosmos". Michel Cassé is an astrophysicist at the Atomic Energy Commission. Edgar Morin is an internationally renowned writer and thinker.
Joseph Silk
Une brève histoire de l'univers
Joseph Silk is the author of an authoritative book on the Big Bang. In the present work, he covers the history of the universe from that first great explosion and shows how the most recent discoveries in astrophysics i.e. of the cosmic fluctuations from which the great structures of the universe emerged provide the missing link between the Big Bang, which occurred 15 billion years ago, and the present state of the universe. When did time begin? This is the question, already asked by Stephen Hawking, that A Short History of the Universe sets out to answer. It is the subject of current debate among theologians: Did time begin with the Big Bang, in which case God could not have created the universe, or has time existed for all eternity, which would mean that the Big Bang was just one event among others, that God could have existed before it occurred and that He could thus have created the universe? This highly accessible book will be of interest to a wide readership, since the issues examined here concern all of us. Joseph Silk, an astrophysicist and cosmologist, teaches at Oxford University.
