Para mi la astonomia no tenia sentido, hasta que conoci al Osterbrock. El, cambio mi vida. Desde ese momento no me desprendo de las NP.

To the publisher I would appreciate it if the publisher could produce an audio adaptation of this book. I would love to listen to this while I drive to work and to let my 16 month old son listen to it as a bedtime story. Arnold D Veness

Very complete and interesting, this book is aimed to the graduate student or the researcher that wants to delve into this subject. It is the perfect starting point for people interested in beginning research in the physics of gaseous nebulae and active galactic nuclei. Obviously, since some effort is required to the reader, due to the complexity of the matters treated, some background in mathematics and physics is required to get the best out of it

There could hardly be a greater contrast between two men than that of George Ritchey and George Hale. Hale was a scientist, fund raiser, organizer, motivator, and extraordinarily successful at all he attempted. Ritchey was a gifted instrument maker, but a failure at human relations, organizational matters, and managed to squander most of his opportunities, particularly after he left Mt. Wilson. Osterbrock's book is the story of the great era of American astronomy dominated by the telescopes of George Ellery Hale, and Hale is necessarily prominent in its pages. However, Osterbrock tells the story, for the most part, from the perspective of the gifted mirror grinder and optician, Ritchey, who mostly received short-shrift in other documentaries of this era. Osterbrock attempts to correct some oversights of other histories which have tended to downplay Ritchey's contributions. Ritchey, for instance, was the project manager for most of the 60- and 100-inch Mt. Wilson telescope projects, and without him, arguably, these instruments would not have been the stupendous successes they were. Clearly Hale owed much to Ritchey, but after their falling out and Ritchey's subsequent firing from Mt. Wilson, Ritchey all but disappeared from American astronomy. Hale didn't overtly blackball him, but such was Hale's influence and universal respect, that if Hale didn't want to be around you, well then, nobody wanted to be around you. Ritchey spent years in France working on several telescope projects that ultimately failed, and eventually came back to the US as an old man and built the reflector for the US Navel Observatory, a 40-inch Ritchey-Chretien model. It was an exquisite instrument, but due to its location in light-polluted Washington D.C., it never realized its potential until long after Ritchey was dead and it was moved to an Arizona mountaintop.

Osterbrock points out that the Ritchey-Chretien reflector model, so ignored and disparaged during his lifetime, eventually won out and now nearly all large telescopes are built using this model.

Ritchey was a genius and well ahead of his time in many respects. It was simply his misfortune to have lived opposite the likes of George Hale, who because of money, position, and success, was able to overshadow and dominate his accomplishments. If Ritchey could have adapted to his position as optician, he could have had a sparkling career at Mt. Wilson, and later, Mt. Palomar. Instead, his hard-headedness met the immovable object of George Hale's ambition and momentum, and Ritchey ultimately lost.

Dr. Osterbrock presents an excellent behind the 'hipe' view of how large expensive telescopes were (and are!) built and who built them. Anyone interested in astronomy, engineering, and telescopes and has a desire to have a career in these areas should read this book. Osterbrock presents a reality about engineering, people and money that's true today as it was in the 20's and 30's. This book shows the result of personal styles and arrogance on techincal decisions. It also shows how easy it is to overextend your real knowledge and capability through innocent assumptions producing a disaster. Hale and Ritchey were great men in their narrow areas of expertise. The discussion of telescope mirror design and manufacture (esp. the RC system) is very interesting. A somewhat long and expensive but fasinating book written by an obvious insider.

Yerkes observatory, of the University of Chicago, played a major role in the development of astrophysics in the early 20th century. Though quickly overshadowed by the larger telescopes of Mt. Wilson and Mt. Palomar in California, Yerkes in Wisconsin managed to stay near the forefront of scientific research throughout the 1930's through the 1950's, largely through the efforts of director Otto Struve. Osterbrock's excellent book is largely the story of Struve's success as a director and research leader. Well written and thoroughly documented, this book is an important addition to the history of astronomy in the US.