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The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers by Emily Levesque
samofthepnw's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting for anyone who wants to know what being an astronomer would be like - some parts were super funny. Some were a little repetitive.
beemini's review against another edition
5.0
"The journey of the photons you’re studying and the immense mysteries of the universe they can illuminate make for an exhilarating and sweeping story. It’s a romantic notion to keep in the back of your mind as you settle in for an observing night. Romance also gets you to about 3:00 a.m. By then, beauty of the universe be damned, most observers can’t help but wonder whether the light of the heavens is really quite as beautiful as a pillow."
This is a wonderful and varied account of what it's like to be an astronomer and the mechanical, technological, and sociological pitfalls of telescopes and the people who operate them, all around the world from Antarctica to space. I came across it while doing preliminary research for a possible novel I had an idea for, having to do with telescopes, and fortunately or unfortunately found that someone had already written a far better book about astronomy than I, a non-astronomer and non-scientist, could ever hope to. In that sense it was an incredibly useful find, and in another it sort of squashed my hopes of writing a book on this subject flat. Oh well. That's the process of discovery for you.
And this book is full of tales of discovery, from all kinds of astronomy to figuring out how scientific organizations make decisions. People and the infinite possibilities of human error make a very entertaining story. I particularly loved the one about how the French astronomers got a lot of things wrong because they fucked up their equipment with too much smoking.
It has real science in it, but explained well for a lay person like me. It has tarantulas and scorpions and volcanoes and planes and protestors and sexists. If you're at all interested in the topic, you'll enjoy the time spent reading this.
This is a wonderful and varied account of what it's like to be an astronomer and the mechanical, technological, and sociological pitfalls of telescopes and the people who operate them, all around the world from Antarctica to space. I came across it while doing preliminary research for a possible novel I had an idea for, having to do with telescopes, and fortunately or unfortunately found that someone had already written a far better book about astronomy than I, a non-astronomer and non-scientist, could ever hope to. In that sense it was an incredibly useful find, and in another it sort of squashed my hopes of writing a book on this subject flat. Oh well. That's the process of discovery for you.
And this book is full of tales of discovery, from all kinds of astronomy to figuring out how scientific organizations make decisions. People and the infinite possibilities of human error make a very entertaining story. I particularly loved the one about how the French astronomers got a lot of things wrong because they fucked up their equipment with too much smoking.
It has real science in it, but explained well for a lay person like me. It has tarantulas and scorpions and volcanoes and planes and protestors and sexists. If you're at all interested in the topic, you'll enjoy the time spent reading this.
captaincocanutty's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book on modern astronomy a great deal. I've always enjoyed reading science magazines and keeping up on what is the latest in different scientific fields, and it was just as interesting learning about how things work behind the scenes.
anita_bath's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very enjoyable read for me. The author does a fantastic job of making some pretty complex science accessible to the reader. One of my favorite parts was the accounts of viscachas watching sunsets with observers in the Chilean mountains. The idea that the simplicity and beauty of a sunset being able to captivate audiences across species is really fun for me.
There are quite a few mind boggling facts scattered throughout this book too. A few of my favorites being the size of a specific red giant that is roughly the same as Jupiter's orbit. Also, in a much more local sense, the amount of sheer data that the Rubin Observatory will generate. 30 TB/night is insane. And then being able to handle that with transfer speeds of 600Gigabits/s is just as insane. It will be fun to revisit this book in 10 years or so to compare state of the art technologies.
There are quite a few mind boggling facts scattered throughout this book too. A few of my favorites being the size of a specific red giant that is roughly the same as Jupiter's orbit. Also, in a much more local sense, the amount of sheer data that the Rubin Observatory will generate. 30 TB/night is insane. And then being able to handle that with transfer speeds of 600Gigabits/s is just as insane. It will be fun to revisit this book in 10 years or so to compare state of the art technologies.
enbyglitch's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting glimpse into a scientific field which seems to go unnoticed in day-to-day life. I enjoyed Levesque's anecdotes, passion, and coverage of the modern history of the field (including the progress made towards greater diversity as well as roboticization of some elements).
There are a few places where descriptions got eye-glazingly technical, and others where comparisons were made between different units or orbits - confusing what might be impressive statements unless the reader wants to do/google the math themselves.
Also I desperately want space exploration and human understanding to progress, but despite the author's passion I'm left a little deflated by how much money goes into such small advancements. Obviously there's a false dichotomy there: defund the damn military before scientists! But still, I go forth informed but a little less hopeful.
There are a few places where descriptions got eye-glazingly technical, and others where comparisons were made between different units or orbits - confusing what might be impressive statements unless the reader wants to do/google the math themselves.
Also I desperately want space exploration and human understanding to progress, but despite the author's passion I'm left a little deflated by how much money goes into such small advancements. Obviously there's a false dichotomy there: defund the damn military before scientists! But still, I go forth informed but a little less hopeful.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
5.0
This book was fantastic. I read 99% of it in a day/night because I couldn't put it down and then I was so sad that I only had ten pages left I stretched it out over three days. This was a funny and poignant look at what it's like to be an astronomer—specifically one who works with the world's largest telescopes in the world's most remote locations. Mountain tops, near volcanoes, in Antarctica, and as my favorite chapter described, on an airplane. There are stories in here about a telescope being shot (the one in Texas, of course), wild bears, and condors. Plus, you'll learn some hard science too and I finally have a grasp on what dark matter is and why it matters (pun intended). I can't recommend this novel enough - these scientists are true heroes and the people we should be putting on pedestals instead of reality TV stars!