Il pianeta Terra, in un futuro non troppo lontano, potrebbe non essere più il migliore dei mondi possibili. Le ragioni sono tristemente note: l'emergenza climatica, le minacce biologiche e l'esaurimento delle risorse primarie. Tuttavia, nello stesso tempo, l'ingegno umano ha spinto lo sguardo su mondi abitabili ben oltre i sogni più sfrenati di avamposti su Marte. Mondi senza fine è una visita guidata a questa emozionante frontiera dell'astronomia: la ricerca di pianeti fuori dal nostro Sistema Solare e in grado di ospitare la vita. Con lo stile divulgativo che lo ha reso uno dei principali interpreti dell'astronomia e della scienza spaziale, Chris Impey ci accompagna attraverso un campo affascinante, ripercorrendo i vertiginosi progressi che stanno portando sempre più vicini alla scoperta della vita oltre la Terra e alla prospettiva che l'uomo possa vivere su un altro pianeta. Con una visione che abbraccia astronomia, scienza planetaria, geologia, chimica e biologia, questo libro risponde all'interrogativo, fornendo un resoconto all'avanguardia di ciò che sta alla base del progresso accelerato in atto, di quello che ci aspetta e di ciò che potrebbe significare per il futuro e la salvezza dell'umanità.

I buchi neri sono i più famosi eppure meno conosciuti oggetti dell'universo, così estremi e potenti da sfidare l'intelligenza umana, superare i confini della ricerca scientifica e nutrire l'immaginario della cultura popolare, della letteratura, del cinema e della musica. Lo stesso Albert Einstein, la cui teoria della relatività ne postulava l'esistenza, li guardava con grande sospetto. Chris lmpey accompagna il lettore in un viaggio sorprendente alla scoperta di questi enigmatici 'predatori cosmici': ne svela la complessa matematica, racconta la storia degli scienziati che li hanno scoperti e studiati e illustra i bizzarri fenomeni fisici che si accompagnano alla loro presenza. Le vicende di Einstein, Stephen Hawking e John Wheeler si intrecciano così alla descrizione di ammassi di stelle che sciamano come api attorno ai centri galattici, dello scontro di due buchi neri che genera onde nello spazio-tempo e delle lenti gravitazionali. 'I mostri di Einstein' affronta uno degli argomenti più stupefacenti dell'astrofisica, in grado di spingere le nostre teorie scientifiche fino al loro limite.

Dreams of Other Worlds describes the unmanned space missions that have opened new windows on distant worlds. Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this stunningly illustrated book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it. From the Viking and Mars Exploration Rover journeys to the WMAP mission that has provided rare glimpses of the dawn of creation, Dreams of Other Worlds reveals how unmanned exploration has redefined what it means to be the temporary tenants of a small planet in a vast cosmos.

La storia dell'uomo potrebbe essere letta come un continuo 'andar via di casa': dai primi homo sapiens che lasciarono l'africa 200.000 anni fa alle frontiere più avanzate della ricerca spaziale, che Chris Impey ci racconta in questo libro. Oggi l'istinto irrinunciabile della scoperta si traduce in uno scenario da fantascienza, a cui enti governativi ma anche aziende private lavorano da anni: ascensori spaziali che sostituiscono i razzi a un decimo del costo, esperimenti di sospensione e rianimazione della vita per viaggi nel cosmo lunghi decenni, vele solari che permettono letteralmente di navigare nello spazio. 'Il futuro nello spazio' ci mostra come i viaggi stellari non saranno più una prerogativa esclusiva dei militari o della NASA, ma il logico destino delle generazioni a venire. Perché continuare l'esplorazione significherà garantirci la sopravvivenza.

Provides an account of the author's experience teaching science to Tibetan Buddhist monks in North India, detailing his teaching methods, cultural challenges encountered, and the monks' perspective on the program.

Human exploration has been an unceasing engine of technological progress, from the first homo sapiens to leave our African cradle to a future in which mankind promises to settle another world. Beyond tells the epic story of humanity leaving home—and how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the earth.A dazzling and propulsive voyage through space and time, Beyond reveals how centuries of space explorers—from the earliest stargazers to today’s cutting-edge researchers—all draw inspiration from an innate human emotion: wanderlust. This urge to explore led us to multiply around the globe, and it can be traced in our DNA.Today, the urge to discover manifests itself in jaw-dropping ways: plans for space elevators poised to replace rockets at a fraction of the cost; experiments in suspending and reanimating life for ultra-long-distance travel; prototypes for solar sails that coast through space on the momentum of microwaves released from the Earth. With these ventures, private companies and entrepreneurs have the potential to outpace NASA as the leaders in a new space race.Combining expert knowledge of astronomy and avant-garde technology, Chris Impey guides us through the heady possibilities for the next century of exploration. In twenty years, a vibrant commercial space industry will be operating. In thirty years, there will be small but viable colonies on the Moon and Mars. In fifty years, mining technology will have advanced enough to harvest resources from asteroids. In a hundred years, a cohort of humans born off-Earth will come of age without ever visiting humanity’s home planet. This is not the stuff of science fiction but rather the logical extension of already available technologies.Beyond shows that space exploration is not just the domain of technocrats, but the birthright of everyone and the destiny of generations to come. To continue exploration is to ensure our survival. Outer space, a limitless unknown, awaits us.

Dreams of Other Worlds describes the unmanned space missions that have opened new windows on distant worlds. Spanning four decades of dramatic advances in astronomy and planetary science, this book tells the story of eleven iconic exploratory missions and how they have fundamentally transformed our scientific and cultural perspectives on the universe and our place in it.

The journey begins with the Viking and Mars Exploration Rover missions to Mars, which paint a startling picture of a planet at the cusp of habitability. It then moves into the realm of the gas giants with the Voyager probes and Cassini's ongoing exploration of the moons of Saturn. The Stardust probe's dramatic round-trip encounter with a comet is brought vividly to life, as are the SOHO and Hipparcos missions to study the Sun and Milky Way. This stunningly illustrated book also explores how our view of the universe has been brought into sharp focus by NASA's great observatories--Spitzer, Chandra, and Hubble--and how the WMAP mission has provided rare glimpses of the dawn of creation.

Dreams of Other Worlds reveals how these unmanned exploratory missions have redefined what it means to be the temporary tenants of a small planet in a vast cosmos.

In this vibrant, eye-opening tour of milestones in the history of our universe, Chris Impey guides us through space and time, leading us from the familiar sights of the night sky to the dazzlingly strange aftermath of the Big Bang.

What if we could look into space and see not only our place in the universe but also how we came to be here? As it happens, we can. Because it takes time for light to travel, we see more and more distant regions of the universe as they were in the successively greater past. Impey uses this concept—"look-back time"—to take us on an intergalactic tour that is simultaneously out in space and back in time. Performing a type of cosmic archaeology, Impey brilliantly describes the astronomical clues that scientists have used to solve fascinating mysteries about the origins and development of our universe.

The milestones on this journey range from the nearby to the remote: we travel from the Moon, Jupiter, and the black hole at the heart of our galaxy all the way to the first star, the first ray of light, and even the strange, roiling conditions of the infant universe, an intense and volatile environment in which matter was created from pure energy. Impey gives us breathtaking visual descriptions and also explains what each landmark can reveal about the universe and its history. His lucid, wonderfully engaging scientific discussions bring us to the brink of modern cosmology and physics, illuminating such mind-bending concepts as invisible dimensions, timelessness, and multiple universes.

A dynamic and unforgettable portrait of the cosmos, How It Began will reward its readers with a deeper understanding of the universe we inhabit as well as a renewed sense of wonder at its beauty and mystery.

In this vibrant, eye-opening tour of milestones in the history of our universe, Chris Impey guides us through space and time, leading us from the familiar sights of the night sky to the dazzlingly strange aftermath of the Big Bang.

What if we could look into space and see not only our place in the universe but also how we came to be here? As it happens, we can. Because it takes time for light to travel, we see more and more distant regions of the universe as they were in the successively greater past. Impey uses this concept—"look-back time"—to take us on an intergalactic tour that is simultaneously out in space and back in time. Performing a type of cosmic archaeology, Impey brilliantly describes the astronomical clues that scientists have used to solve fascinating mysteries about the origins and development of our universe.

The milestones on this journey range from the nearby to the remote: we travel from the Moon, Jupiter, and the black hole at the heart of our galaxy all the way to the first star, the first ray of light, and even the strange, roiling conditions of the infant universe, an intense and volatile environment in which matter was created from pure energy. Impey gives us breathtaking visual descriptions and also explains what each landmark can reveal about the universe and its history. His lucid, wonderfully engaging scientific discussions bring us to the brink of modern cosmology and physics, illuminating such mind-bending concepts as invisible dimensions, timelessness, and multiple universes.

A dynamic and unforgettable portrait of the cosmos, How It Began will reward its readers with a deeper understanding of the universe we inhabit as well as a renewed sense of wonder at its beauty and mystery.

A fascinating insight into our place in the Universe, ideal for anyone wanting to know more about astrobiology.

Most of us are aware of our own mortality, but few among us know what science, with insights yielded from groundbreaking new research, has to say about endings on a larger scale. Enter astronomer Chris Impey, who chronicles the death of the whole shebang: individual, species, bio- sphere, Earth, Sun, Milky Way, and, finally, the entire universe.

With a healthy dose of humor, How It Ends illuminates everything from the technologies of human life extension and the evolutionary arms race between microbes and men to the inescapable dimming of the Sun and the ultimate “big rip,” giving us a rare glimpse into a universe without us.

Although we may try to keep it tucked at the back of our minds, most of us are aware of our own mortality. But few among us know what science, with the help of insights yielded from groundbreaking new research, has to say about death on a larger scale. Enter astronomer Chris Impey, who chronicles the death of the whole shebang: individual, species, biosphere, earth, sun, Milky Way, and, finally, the entire universe.

With a healthy dose of humor, How It Ends illuminates everything from the technologies of human life extension and the evolutionary arms race between microbes and men to the inescapable dimming of the sun and the ultimate “big rip,” giving us a rare glimpse into a universe without us.

Japanese lacquer was widely recognised as the best available and seems never to have gone out of fashion in Europe. This important feature in the history of European furniture is discussed at length and illustrated by many examples. Over 650 illustrations provide a unique survey of lacquer in private and public collections worldwide, including the important documented collections in Italy, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and the USA.