The Sky at Einstein's Feet

The impact of Einstein's relativity is perhaps most dramatic in astronomy, radically altering our interpretation of the observations of the stars and galaxies. Astronomers now encounter challenging phenomena that Einstein never lived to see, in which the bizarre effects of relativity played out on a cosmic scale. This accessible overview explains to general readers the many applications of relativity that have not been shown in earlier popular-level books. Using no mathematics beyond e=mc2, it explains how deeply relativistic ways of viewing the Universe have informed our interpretations of it, and how many of the amazing discoveries of these decades have made sense only as part of Einstein's universe. Some principal observers provide fresh commentary on their discoveries, accompanied by illustrations, newly produced from data in the archives of such observatories as Hubble and Chandra.

Author: William C. Keel
Publisher: Springer
Published: 11/28/2005
Pages: 246
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.52h x 6.74w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780387261300

About the Author

Bill Keel, the author of The Road to Galaxy Formation (Springer-Praxis 2002), has been involved in many areas of extragalactic astronomy, and for the last 18 years has worked at the University of Alabama. Of particular relevance to this book is his study of gravitational lensing since 1980, early calculations on microlensing of quasars, and an ongoing Hubble survey for gravitational lensing effects in silhouetted galaxies as a constraint on massive dark-matter candidates. His experience in serving on 16 NASA review committees for various space-astrophysics missions and higher-level programmatic issues has broadened his view of relativity in astronomy triggering the idea for this book.