The University of Arizona Press
An Awesome Universe
From the First Stargazers to Modern Cosmology
This groundbreaking exploration of humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos spans the earliest observations of the night sky to the latest revelations from advanced space telescopes. It is about humans as much as stars, galaxies, black holes, dark matter, and dark energy. It is a book about the awe we experience in the presence of the awesome universe.
Written by an award-winning historian of astronomy and a professional astronomer specializing in galaxy formation in the early universe, this book provides a comprehensive narrative of cosmic discovery. It examines the evolution of our understanding of the universe—from the first glimpses of the stars to the recognition of the Milky Way as a spiral galaxy and the realization that our universe is filled with countless other galaxies. The book also explores the revolutionary advancements in astrophysics that have shaped our knowledge, including quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, and the study of the still mysterious dark matter and dark energy.
Richly illustrated with remarkable images that show the scale of the universe—from the ancient sky to the ten trillion galaxies now known to exist—An Awesome Universe also addresses some of the most profound questions in science: the nature of life beyond Earth, the fate of the universe, and whether we will ever fully understand the mysteries of space-time, the Big Bang, and the possibility of a multiverse.
This authoritative and visually captivating work offers readers a glimpse into the “Big Picture” of the cosmos, framed by the contributions of pioneering astronomers and driven by our ongoing quest for knowledge about our place in the universe.
“The history of astronomical discovery spans human time from our earliest days looking up at the glowing stars to [our] understanding the sweeping immensity and complexity of the universe as it is. This new work by Bill Sheehan and Chris Conselice synthesizes a huge amount of science into a narrative that shows how we have progressed over time to know the cosmos as they really exist.”—David J. Eicher, editor emeritus of Astronomy Magazine
“A beautiful appreciation of astronomy and the people who have made important discoveries.”—George H. Rieke, author of The Last of the Great Observatories: Spitzer and the Era of Faster, Better, Cheaper at NASA
