The Story of Light by Ben Bova

Author:Ben Bova
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: photography, light, astronomy, lasers, film, vision, eyes
Publisher: ReAnimus Press

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Telescopes dramatically changed the field of astronomy, of course. As astronomers and optics technicians learned to make mirrors larger and more precise with surfaces polished down to within a few microns’ smoothness, telescopic observers were able to peer deeper and deeper into the sky and to make new discoveries.

William Herschel was a musician who fled his native Hanover, Germany, and eventually became court astronomer to Britain’s George III (himself a Hanoverian). Herschel built the largest telescopes of his day, capped by a forty-eight-inch reflector. In 1781, he discovered the planet Uranus, the first planet not known to the naked-eye astronomers. This led to searches for other members of the solar system and eventually to the discoveries of Neptune (1846) and Pluto (1930). The search goes on; some astronomers are convinced that there are other planets to be found in our solar system, orbiting the Sun even farther off than distant Pluto.

The Herschels were a remarkable family. William’s sister Caroline not only worked as his assistant, but she discovered eight comets. His son, John, made important contributions to astronomy, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.

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