検索キーワード： 天文学・宇宙科学

Imagine a region in space where the force of gravity is so strong that nothing - not even light - can escape. This phenomenon is a black hole: one of the most exotic, mind-boggling, and profound subjects in astrophysics. Nearly everyone has heard of black holes, but few people outside of complex scientific fields understand their true nature and their implications for our universe. No movie, novel, or other fictional treatment of black holes matches Professor Filippenko’s absorbing presentation of the actual science behind these amazing objects.

In 2023, Puerto Rico is still reeling from its economic woes, but it is in a sweet spot for launching satellites into orbit. Will the growing demand for rocket launches open a new door to prosperity for the territory as it begins to create a spaceport? Using curiosity and a dash of whimsy, this book explores the concept of Puerto Rico as a hub for the space applications market and its implications for the economy and the residents of the island.

Shares the results of the author’s rigorous, repeatable, and predictable experiments with subtle energy Shows how the mind interacts with matter by means of subtle energy--the key to the placebo effect, the healing power of affirmations and prayers, and energy medicine Demonstrates...

In Fit for a Purpose, biochemist Fazale Rana fearlessly pushes the boundaries of the anthropic principle beyond cosmology. In the process, Rana invites the listener to discover the world of chemical and biochemical fine-tuning, as well as to contemplate this question: If the universe is fit for life, and biochemical systems are fit for their role in life, is it possible that everything is “fit for a purpose”?

In Neil deGrasse Tyson’s delightful journey through the cosmos, his fictional character Merlin responds to popular questions asked by adults and children alike. Merlin, a timeless visitor from Planet Omniscia in the Andromeda Galaxy, has observed firsthand many of the major scientific events of Earth’s history.

Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson, bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time–war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, race, and tribalism–in a way that stimulates a...

Have you ever wondered how your favorite author started on his or her writing career? Did they launch themselves wholeheartedly into literature? Did they slave away every evening after a hard day at the office? Did they devote their golden years to reflect on a life well-spent? Some faced rejection while others found almost instant success. In this volume, we learn from the authors themselves what launched their literary careers... Bret Harte, Arthur Conan Doyle, R.M. Ballantyne, H. Rider Haggard and many other favorites contributed their stories. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist,he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay "Civil Disobedience" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau was known for being a prolific writer, keeping journals from the age of 20 until shortly before his death.He wrote of his observations in nature, gleaned largely from his daily walks. He also was a man of strong ...

Annie Oakley was without a doubt the greatest markswomen who ever lived. She was christened Phoebe Ann Mosey but was called Annie from childhood. Oakley was the stage name that she assumed when she first started to perform with Frank Butler. From obscure and impoverished beginnings, she made herself into the best known woman of her time, propelled by an indomitable spirit and an uncanny shooting ability. We learn of her enduring marriage to Frank Butler and their first meeting — a shooting match in which the seemingly delicate young girl defeated the professional marksman; her association ...

Few subjects could be mentioned more remote from the common interests and pursuits of life than what has been usually called the “plurality of worlds,” an expression now so long restricted to one well-ascertained meaning as to have lost any ambiguity that might have been charged upon it. The question is one of mere curiosity, and leads to no direct result; but it has always carried with it an attraction irrespective of its unpractical nature, and has exercised the ingenuity of so many minds that its literature is of no inconsiderable extent. To this the book now in our hands is the most ...

The progress of astronomy from age to age has been far from uniform—rather by leaps and bounds: from the earliest epoch when man's planet earth was the center about which the stupendous cosmos wheeled, for whom it was created, and for whose edification it was maintained—down to the modern age whose discoveries have ascertained that even our stellar universe, the vast region of the solar domain, is but one of the thousands of island universes that tenant the inconceivable immensities of space. So rapid, indeed, has been the progress of astronomy in very recent years that the present is ...

In this book, Walter W. Bryant traces the history of astronomy through the ages. We start at the very beginning, where astronomy was an occupation of priests, move with the help of the Arabs through the middle ages to the (re-) discovery of the heliocentric system by Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo. A discussion of Newton and his laws follows as well as a description of the biographies and works of successors like Halley, Herschel, and Bessel. The second half of the book deals with (at the time) recent discoveries with respect to our solar system and the comets, meteors, and stars ...

This book was published as a companion text to 'Climatic Changes' by the same author. The affect of the solar neighbourhood on the atmosphere of Earth is analysed. Sunspots, the magnetic field between the sun and the planets, and how they interact with each other is presented with tables and charts. - Summary by leon.harvey

Multi-volume work on science edited by Francis Rolt-Wheeler. The first volume is on Astronomy written by Waldemar Kaempffert. This book briefly discusses the evolution of astronomical beliefs and the development of instruments and progress of methods in the science. It explains, further, the different astronomical laws, theories, phenomena and objects, as well as the history of these discoveries. (summary by Sienna)

The biography of one of the greatest players that the game of baseball of his era, in his own words. "Cap" Anson, quite probably baseball's first superstar. - Summary by cavaet

The Letters of Euler to a German Princess have acquired over all Europe a celebrity to which the reputation of the Author, the choice and importance of the several subjects, and the clearness of elucidation justly entitle them. They have deservedly been considered as a treasury of science, adapted to the purposes of every common seminary of learning. They may be studied to advantage without much previous elementary knowledge; they convey accurate ideas respecting a variety of objects, highly interesting in themselves, or calculated to excite a laudable curiosity; they inspire a proper taste ...

One of the earliest of the popular science book genre, it is a philosophical summary of the new physics of the era by a leading British physicist. Keeping technical references to a bare minimum, Jeans argues that physics has entered a new age in which mathematical representation has supplanted mechanical models. This recording was originally published on Legamus.eu and was later released on LibriVox when US copyright permitted. - Summary by Peter Tucker

The Scientific American may be the oldest continuously published periodical in the United States, having launched its first publication in 1845. It has been a mainstay of popular science with in depth articles across a broad spectrum of scientific fields. In this supplement are short articles ranging through such topics as Camellias, Experiments in Memory, The Chemical Action of Light, and longer articles on the Gas Engine, and Optical Telegraphy. - Summary by Larry Wilson

Treatise on Light was published in 1690 and is probably the largest scientific volume on light published before Newton's Opticks. The book explains how light travels (i.e., that it has a certain velocity), and what happens when it hits a surface (refraction and reflection). A large portion of the book is devoted to the double refraction occurring in Iceland chrystal, and all drawn conclusions are proved geometrically. Christiaan Huygens (1629 - 1695) was a prominent physicist and astronomer. His main discoveries are the centrifugal force, collision laws for bodies and the argument that light ...

This is a satirical novel written by Edwin A. Abbott, first published in 1884. Abbott uses a two-dimensional world, with himself as the protagonist, known simply as "A Square", to deride the Victorian aristocracy and its hierarchies. But the book has retained its value throughout the years for its unique portrayal of a two-dimensional world, and how a Sphere introduces the Square to the incomprehensible possibility of a third dimension. Once the square fully understands the third dimension, he suggests to the Sphere that even a fourth, fifth, or sixth dimension could exist. But the Sphere ...