From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Mon Jan 06 2003 - 16:17:22 PST
----- Original Message -----
From: cunews_at_cornell.edu
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 3:34 PM
To: CUNEWS-PHYSICAL_SCIENCE-L_at_cornell.edu; CUNEWS-SCIENCE-L_at_cornell.edu
Subject: Cornell News: Altschuler writes astronomy book
Arecibo director's new book is a witty, colorful exploration of a
universe of violent change and mysterious life forms
FOR RELEASE: Jan. 6, 2003
Contact: David Brand
Office: 607-255-3651
E-mail: deb27_at_cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Are we alone in the universe? How did we get here?
How has the universe changed since the big bang? A new book by Daniel
R. Altschuler, director of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico,
makes a big bang itself as it creatively attempts to answer some of
these questions while covering topics ranging from astronomy to
physics, and paleontology to geology.
In the book, Children of the Stars: Our Origin, Evolution and Destiny
(Cambridge University Press, 2002), Altschuler contends, "It is not
enough for scientists alone to understand the workings of nature. It
is important that every citizen understands. ... My book is an effort
to remedy this situation."
Altschuler has close associations with Cornell University as the
on-site leader of the world's largest single-dish radio telescope.
Managed by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at Cornell's
Ithaca campus for the National Science Foundation, Arecibo
Observatory is recognized as one of the most important national
centers for astronomical research, including radio astronomy and
planetary radar.
Born to German immigrants in Montevideo, Uruguay, Altschuler obtained
his bachelor's degree at Duke University and his Ph.D. at Brandeis
University. He is professor of physics at the University of Puerto
Rico in Rio Piedras and has been director of the observatory since
1991.
Altschuler writes with such clarity in Children of the Stars that
even younger readers can gain an understanding of the complexities of
the universe from reading it. This accords with Altschuler's long
belief in the importance of educating the public about science.
Among his most notable achievements at the observatory has been the
construction of the Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor and Education
Center, which attracts about 125,000 visitors a year and is the site
of summer science teacher workshops. He begins his book by tracing
the history of astronomy as a discipline, recognizing the work of
such early astronomers and scholars as Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy and
Copernicus. He then discusses the aggregation of interstellar gas,
dust and rocks that led to the formation of Earth and the other
planets in the solar system. He proceeds to investigate the evolution
of life on Earth, potential threats to our planet and, finally, the
question of the possibility of life elsewhere.
While his book thoroughly explores the realm of galaxies, solar
systems and stars, it is Altschuler's writing style that shines
brightest. As Sue Bowler, editor of Astronomy and Geophysics, the
journal published by Britain's Royal Astronomical Society, writes,
"With its combination of straightforward, clear explanations and
excellent and well-produced illustrations, all in colour, this is a
concise exposition of the Earth story [and] its likely endings."
With his witty style, Altschuler keeps the reader's attention
throughout, as when he dispels the notion of human encounters with
aliens with exaggerated human characteristics, like big eyes and
heads: "Looking at the diversity of life on Earth and thinking about
how it has evolved should convince anyone that any aliens will have
as much resemblance to us as a doorknob."
He deepens his explanations with the use of graphic examples, such as
this description of a neutron star, the highly dense, collapsed core
of a star that is thrown out in a stellar explosion called a
supernova: "If you were to squeeze the population of the Earth -- 6
billion people -- into a small can of sardines, it would weigh as
much as if you had filled it with neutron star material."
Accompanying Altschuler's text is a mosaic of photographs so
brilliant that they are a close runner-up to actually staring up at
the night sky on a clear summer night. And the author is able to
convey the more difficult concepts with the inclusion of charts,
graphs and even scientific cartoons by artist Nick Downes.
In his chapter on stars and constellations, Altschuler writes: "The
fate of a star, once its leisurely life of hydrogen fusion ends,
depends on its mass. Some stars end their lives violently and others
fade away quietly."
Altschuler's Children of the Stars is a star whose popularity will
not quickly fade.
The Spanish-language edition of the book, Hijos de las Estrellas,
recently was awarded second prize for best book of the year by the
Institute of Puerto Rican Literature, a rare recognition for a book
about science.
Related World Wide Web sites: The following sites provide
additional information on this news release. Some might not be part
of the Cornell University community, and Cornell has no control over
their content or availability.
Arecibo Observatory: <http://www.naic.edu/>
-30-
The web version of this release may be found at
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Jan03/Altschuler.book.bc.deb.html
Cornell University News Service
Surge 3
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607-255-4206
cunews_at_cornell.edu
http://www.news.cornell.edu
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