Seeing And Believing [Hardcover]

Journalist Richard Panek begins his historical essay on the telescope with the Hubble Deep Field. This extended exposure by space telescope is a picture that looks out of our galaxy--farther, immeasurably farther, than the human eye has seen before. It exemplifies the purpose of all telescopes: "To address our place in the universe, literally. To size up all of space and figure out where we are in it." How and why did this particular technology have such profound effects?

Panek first considers Galileo, who "raised his new instrument toward the night sky and understood at once that there was more to see--and more to seeing--than meets the eye.... Unlike spectacles or magnifying lenses, the optic tube offered not just a distortion of what was already there, but more. It revealed evidence that was different from what the naked eye could see, evidence that wasn't otherwise there." Panek goes on to look at the, ahem, luminaries of observational astronomy--William Herschel, George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble--showing how faith in the telescope grew and our mental image of the universe expanded until "all the assumptions safely based on observation are gone." Panek's prose is vivid and beautiful, sustaining this (curiously) unillustrated book as it traces the astronomer's quest for light and dark, sight and belief. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Panek's concise, popularly written history of the telescope is an exciting interstellar voyage that shows how a humble novelty item and maritime tool evolved into a powerful exploratory instrument that has changed our conception of the cosmos. Although Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons with a spyglass in 1610 helped demolish the medieval worldview that placed a stationary earth at the center of creation, faulty lenses and frustrating optics hobbled astronomical research for decades. Amateur astronomer William Herschel's discovery of Uranus in 1781 led to his pre-Einsteinian insight that stargazers were not only looking tens of trillions of miles into space, but also penetrating into time past. Yet, incredibly, as recently as the turn of this century most astronomers clung to the belief that the universe consisted of just one galaxyAoursAwith the sun in a central position. In 1996, the Hubble Space Telescope pierced the heavens, resulting in the current estimate of a total of 50 billion galaxies. Panek (Waterloo Diamonds), contributing writer at Elle and Mirabella, puts these and other conceptual breakthroughs into clear perspective as he deftly explains how astronomy's interface with photography, spectroscopy, radio and space exploration led to the discovery of quasars, pulsars, black holes, galaxy superclusters and the search for "dark matter." His narrative sometimes bogs down in technical detail, but, nonetheless, it is a delightful intellectual adventure, fleshed out with vivid cameos of innovators like Tycho Brahe, Edwin Hubble and visionary astrophysicist George Ellery Hale, who in 1948 supervised the construction of what was then the world's largest telescope at Mount Palomar, but whose mental illness made him report that he was suffering periodic visits from an elf. Agent, Henry Dunow.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

To cover 400 years of astronomy and its impact on society in six chapters is an impossible task. Nevertheless, Panek covers the watershed events (starting with Galileo constructing the first telescope in 1609) with a charming and engaging style. His experience writing for the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and New York magazine is evident. Panek's central theme is that as astronomy advances it continues to shape the way we see ourselves and our society. The emphasis here is on the people who developed and used the telescope rather than on the technology, and while obviously not every astronomer receives equal treatment, more could have been written about Edwin Hubble and his contributions. Also disappointing is the lack of any illustrations. Still, this work, although not intended to be comprehensive, succeeds by motivating the reader to learn more. An excellent bibliography is included. Recommended for popular science collections.?James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Waterloo Diamonds (1995), Panek examined a town through the lens provided by its baseball team. Now he explores the interaction of an evolving technology, that of the telescope, and the changing cosmological ideas it enabled and was enabled by. What fascinates Panek about the telescope is that, even more than other inventions that inaugurated the modern era, such as movable type, clocks, and microscopes, the telescope's purpose is quintessentially modern: "To size up all of space and figure out where we are in it." From Galileo's observations of the moon and planets to several generations of astronomers' improvements to the 1996 discovery, thanks to the Hubble space telescope, that the universe contains 40 billion more galaxies than we had thought, Panek describes how the technology of telescopes has changed and how our ideas of nature and science and of the universe and our place in it have slowly adjusted to that improving technology. A gracefully written and useful blending of science, biography, and analysis of philosophical consequences. Mary Carroll

"..a surprisingly good little book" that "charts the history of the use of the telescope in terms anyone can understand and will enjoy. The context is more cultural than technical." From Copernicus to Galileo to Harlow Shapley and Edwin Hubble, Panek "provides a conceptual and philosophical appreciation of the role of technology in discovery that will help any motivated reader better understand why, even though astronomers always want to build bigger and more powerful telescopes, it takes more than bigger telescopes to build new universes." -- David DeVorkin, Air & Space Magazine, April/May 1999

In 1609, Galileo fit two lenses inside a cylindrical tube, aimed it at the sky, and forever changed the world. With pith and charm, Seeing and Believing tells the story--era by era, visionary by visionary, technology by technology, and discovery by discovery--of how the telescope has changed the way we look at ourselves. In the tradition of Dava Sobel's bestselling Longitude, it focuses on the often larger-than-life figures behind our cosmological odyssey--from Galileo and William Herschel (the musician-turned-astronomer who discovered Uranus) to the crazy brilliance of George Ellery Hale and the minds behind the mighty Hubble space telescope. Seamlessly fusing elements of philosophy, politics, literature, and religion, this fascinating narrative chronicles the humbling journey into a universe infinitely more vast than we ever imagined. Star- gazers, space enthusiasts, and curious minds of every sort will love this holiday and year-round gift.

Richard Panek has written about astronomy and science for the New York Times, Natural History, Esquire, and Outside. He is also a PEN Award-winning fiction writer whose short stories have appeared in Ploughshares and on National Public Radio. He lives in New York City. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.