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Return to E-mail Discussion page Hi everyone, For your information ............ Thanks, -----Original Message----- A new generation of observatories, now being completed worldwide, will give astronomers not just a new window on the cosmos but a whole new sense with which to explore and experience the heavens above us. Instead of collecting light waves or radio waves, these novel instruments will allow astronomers to at last place their hands upon the fabric of space-time and feel the very rhythms of the universe. These vibrations in space-time--or gravity waves--are the last prediction of Einstein's general theory of relativity yet to be observed directly. They are his unfinished symphony, waiting nearly a century to be heard. When they finally reveal themselves to astronomers, we will for the first time be able to hear the cymbal crashes from exploding stars, tune in to the periodic drumbeats from swiftly rotating pulsars, listen to the extended chirps from the merger of two black holes, and eavesdrop on the remnant echoes from the mighty jolt of the Big Bang itself. (The talk will include some simulations of those sounds.) In "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony," Bartusiak captures the excitement as two gravity-wave observatories in Louisiana and Washington State, as well as others in Italy, Germany, Japan, and Australia, approach operation and physicists gear up to begin their work to register the long-predicted quakes in space-time. In the Washington Post, science writer John Gribbin wrote that "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony is her best [book] yet....a gripping story about real people and real events that makes science come alive; if you want to know what happens at the cutting edge of research today, this is certainly a good place to find out...."Einstein's Unfinished Symphony" gives you a ringside seat at what is likely to be the next great revolution in astronomy." In the New York Times, David Goodstein said that "when a gravity wave is first detected, the reader of this book will feel like a participant in the great event." Publishers Weekly called it a "thorough, engrossing and valuable chronicle," and US News & World Report named it a "Top Pick." About the author: With a background in both journalism and physics, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of physics and astronomy for more than two decades. She was the first woman to receive the prestigious Science Writing Award from the American Institute of Physics and was also a finalist in NASA's Journalist-in-Space competition. A former MIT Knight Fellow, she has also taught science journalism at Boston University. For many years a contributing editor to Discover magazine, Bartusiak is now on the editorial advisory board of Astronomy magazine. Before "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony," she authored "Thursday's Universe" and "Through a Universe Darkly." She lives in the Boston metropolitan area. Her web site is www.marciabartusiak |
