You can purchase this book clicking here.

If you wish to purchase further titles already reviewed here, please return each time to SBB. Using the direct links available at our site is easier than searching by title, author, or ISBN number.

EDITORIAL INFORMATION

In 1965, Vera Rubin became the first woman scientist permitted to observe at Palomar Observatory. In the years since, her work (especially on galactic motion and on the probable existence of dark matter) has placed her at the forefront of modern astronomy.

Bright Galaxies, Dark Matters charts two extraordinary journeys: the road to a better understanding of the structure and composition of the universe, and.Dr. Rubin's own pathbreaking career. By bringing together research breakthroughs, personal observations, and a gallery of intriguing personalities, Bright Galaxies, Dark Matters offers a definitive portrait of a scientist and her science.

(Extracted from the dust jacket).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Contents.

-About the Series.

-Preface.

-Acknowledgements.

-Part I. Galaxies.

-Part II. Tools of the Trade: Telescopes, a Catalog, and Some Maps.

-Part III. Matter and Motion.

-Part IV. The Astronomical Life: Woman in Science and Other Heroes, Colleagues, and Friends.

-Sources.

-Subject Index.

-About the Author.

OUR REVIEW

Vera Rubin, one of the first women astronomers who had access to the great telescopes, presents a compilation of her essays and articles in this book, up to 35, comprising a period of 36 years, that deal with the different aspects that have occupied the career of this pioneering woman. In actual fact, many of her initial papers have been lost, so most of those we can read here belong to more recent times. In spite of this, all of them reflect the least technical, most divulgative side of their author, who thus makes the comprehension of many of the marvels of the Universe available to the general readership.

The book is divided into different parts, the first of them being devoted to the galaxies, the second to the tools of the astronomers, the third to the movement and the matter itself, and the last one to the more mundane, and also the more intimate aspects of Vera Rubin's life. In this last chapter, the author tells us about some of her colleagues, the reality that women have to face in science, and the different circumstances that led her to become one of the most remarkable personalities in the field of astronomy worldwide.

With a simple, clear language, Rubin takes us within the idiosyncrasy of the life of an astronomer, as well as the most interesting questions of the Universe, from the viewpoint of one who has studied them in depth and who has collaborated in making them more understandable for all of us.

In all, this is a splendid book, full of descriptions and an attractive scientific narrative.