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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon
On August 21st, over one hundred million people will gather across the USA to witness the most-watched total solar eclipse in history. Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon, by popular science author Frank Close, describes the spellbinding allure of this beautiful natural phenomenon. The book explains why eclipses happen, reveals their role in history, literature and myth, and introduces us to eclipse chasers, who travel with ecstatic fervor to some of the most inaccessible places on the globe. The book also includes the author's quest to solve a 3000-year-old mystery: how did the moon move backward during a total solar eclipse, as claimed in the Book of Joshua?
Eclipse is also the story of how a teacher inspired the author, aged eight, to pursue a career in science and a love affair with eclipses that has taken him to a war zone in the Western Sahara, the South Pacific, and the African bush. The tale comes full circle with another eight-year old boy - the author's grandson - at the 2017 great American eclipse. Readers of all ages will be drawn to this inspirational chronicle of the mesmerizing experience of total solar eclipse.
Book Details
- Publisher: Oxford University Press
- Publish Date: May 1st, 2017
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 7.80in - 5.20in - 1.10in - 0.75lb
- EAN: 9780198795490
- Categories: • Space Science - Astronomy• Space Science - Cosmology• History
About the Author
Frank Close is an eminent research theoretical physicist in nuclear and particle physics. Currently Professor of Physics at Oxford University and a Fellow of Exeter College, he was formerly the Head of the Theoretical Physics Division at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He served as Chair of the UK Space Exploration Working Group 2007 which culminated with Tim Peake's launch to the ISS. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Lucifer's Legacy (OUP, 2000), and was the winner of the Kelvin Medal of the Institute of Physics for his "outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics." His other books include The Cosmic Onion (1983), The Particle Explosion (1987), End (1988), Too Hot to Handle (1991), and The Particle Odyssey (OUP, 2002). In 2013 Professor Close was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for communicating science.
Praise for this book
"Entertaining, inspiring, and highly informative." -- John Riutta, Astronomy, Featured Book Reviews"Science and wonder mix seamlessly in this tale." -- The Weekly Standard"A down-to-earth, lyrical account of solar eclipses, centering on his [Frank's] trips to Africa, the South Pacific and other locales where he pursues, with a mix of intrepid zest and mathematical precision, total solar eclipses. Eclipse beautifully blends these travel narratives with the history of eclipses." -- Shelf Awareness"The author artfully weaves together his own experiences and an explanation of the phenomenon." -- Kirkus Reviews"Close's simple, winding, and occasionally evocative language is tinged with nostalgia, and his readers will see both the humanist and scientific elements involved in the "exquisite alignment of sun, moon, and earth." Close provides eyewitness account from regular people and personal reflections on seeing totality, convincingly demonstrating that there is nothing better than standing in lunar darkness and feeling 'humbled by the ability of science to predict'." -- Publishers Weekly"Close's book, combining the rigour of a scientist with the excitement of a layman, is [a] perfect primer." -- The Daily Telegraph
"Illuminating preparatory reading for the August eclipse." -- Kirkus"Engaging memoir." -- Booklist"A down-to-earth, lyrical account of solar eclipses, centering on his [Frank's] trips to Africa, the South Pacific and other locales where he pursues, with a mix of intrepid zest and mathematical precision, total solar eclipses. Eclipse beautifully blends these travel narratives with the history of eclipses." -- Shelf Awareness
"Illuminating preparatory reading for the August eclipse." -- Kirkus"Engaging memoir." -- Booklist"A down-to-earth, lyrical account of solar eclipses, centering on his [Frank's] trips to Africa, the South Pacific and other locales where he pursues, with a mix of intrepid zest and mathematical precision, total solar eclipses. Eclipse beautifully blends these travel narratives with the history of eclipses." -- Shelf Awareness
"Science and wonder mix seamlessly in this tale." -- The Weekly Standard
"More than just a primer on the science of solar eclipses, this memoir chronicles a physicist's lifetime fascination with the celestial phenomenon and introduces readers to the quirky world of eclipse chasers." -- ScienceNews