A Grand and Bold Thing – An Extraordinary New Map of the Universe Ushering in a New Era of Discovery by Ann Finkbeiner; Free Press; New York, New York; $27.00 (hard cover); 2010.
We’re all getting 3D this, 3D that. But now, turn your attention to the heavens. This book is about the first digital 3D map of the sky – the story of the building of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).
Finkbeiner has written an appealing account of the quest to develop a grand and bold survey of the sky – basically, a new map of the universe. Not only is the birth of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey detailed in this volume, the reader will also enjoy the human, behind-the-scenes drama and turmoil that led to an ability to think about the surrounding universe as never before.
This is an easy-to-read account of discoveries spurred by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Add in this fact: Thanks to the power of the Internet, public accessibility to the SDSS data is opening up the skies to all – one more capability in the toolkit of the “citizen scientist” and any visitor to the “Galaxy Zoo” web site.
“About half the science the Sloan does is science it had promised in its first proposals; the other half is science no one had thought of,” writes Finkbeiner. She adds that the SDSS “gives you the impression that for the first time, the universe looks like one interlocking, interrelated, cause-and-effect system.”
This highly informative book will upstage your thoughts about eye-piece staring astronomers and how astronomical discoveries are being made. The universe – and all the stars and galaxies in it – have become easy on the eyes thanks to the SDSS – “accessible at all hours to all comers for all time.”
For more information, go to:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Grand-and-Bold-Thing/Ann-K-Finkbeiner/9781416552161
By Leonard David