Product Description

Seven years before Richard Preston wrote about horrifying viruses in The Hot Zone, he turned his attention to the cosmos. In First Light, he demonstrates his gift for creating an exciting and absorbing narrative around a complex scientific subject--in this case the efforts by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains of California to peer to the farthest edges of space through the Hale Telescope, attempting to solve the riddle of the creation of the universe.

Richard Preston's name became a household word with The Hot Zone, which sold nearly 800,000 copies in hardcover, was on The New York Times's bestseller list for 42 weeks, and was the subject of countless magazine and newspaper articles. Preston has become a sought-after commentator on popular science subjects.

For this hardcover reprint of what has been called "the best popular account of astronomy in action," (Kirkus Reviews) he has revised the text and written a new introduction.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #102379 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10-29
• Released on: 1996-10-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780812991857
• Condition: USED - GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
"There is a saying among astronomers that five billion people concern themselves with the surface of the Earth, and ten thousand with everything else," writes Richard Preston, best-selling author of The Hot Zone. And if you think these professional stargazers spend most of their time serenely peering into the night sky, guess again. Today's astronomers are world-class gadgeteers who scurry about giant (and often frigid) observatories tinkering with the mechanical and electronic tools of their trade. In First Light, they tangle with the Hale Telescope, one of the world's oldest and largest. This beautifully written book is highly recommended for anybody interested in astronomy.

From School Library Journal
YA As the title suggests, this is a book on astronomy, but it is also a great deal more than that. Nominally, First Light is about the efforts of a group of astronomers who are attempting to map the edge of the known universe. Because the sheer size of the numbers and concepts involved in astronomy have an almost universal gee-whiz fascination, that subject is interesting reading all by itself. What really makes this book something special, however, are the portraits of the people involved: how they approach their work, how they interact with each other. What is made clear in First Light is that for all their genius, for all their magnificent achievements, these astronomers are just like the rest of us: subject to the same emotions and frustrations, foibles and shortcomings. With no index or bibliography, this is not a book for students who just want to get through their next science report, nor is it intended to be. Karl Penny , Houston Public Lib .
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Profiles of Palomar Mountain's telescopes and astronomers lend a basic framework to this book about our understanding of the solar system and universe. Preston, a New Yorker contributor, portrays two sets of researchers: one group looking for the ultimate limits of the universe, the other focusing on the minor planets within our solar neighborhood. Whether profiling Caltech gadgeteers hunting quasars or Carolyn Shoemaker racing to discover more comets, Preston makes general readers understand the significant advances in astronomy and appreciate the scientist's joy of endeavor. Humor, vivid imagery, and a keen sense of language add to this book's appeal. (Macmillan Book Clubs alternate.)Laurie Tynan, Montgomery Cty.
Norristown P.L., Pa.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A must-read who anyone who enjoys a good read
This book easily makes my "ten best books ever" list. It's the story of the scientists using the Palomar 200-inch telescope to look for the edge of the observable universe. But it's more than that. Like an involving novel (even though this is non-fiction), it's also a portrait of the engaging, human, and sometimes quirky characters involved. Finally, First Light is a stylishly written, seductive explanation of what's at stake as the science team tries to "drill wildcat holes in look-back time." Even if you hate science and care nothing for astronomy, this book will charm and delight you

Amazing look at an awe-inspiring profession
First Light isn't a science popularization, like you might expect from authors such as Gould, Sacks, or Hawking. Instead, like the author's later book The Hot Zone, this is a very human story, told in an engrossing, narrative fashion. If you're looking for a galactic primer, there are better books. But if you're looking for a look at the daily life and work of astronomers on the cutting-edge, no better book has been written.

Light Reading, but Uneven
First Light starts out well by dealing with the Hale Telescope itself and the folks that work there (and in one case, actually keep the scope running). Preston also deals with some of the things the Hale had been used for years ago, concentrating on Dr. Schmidt's discovery of Quasars in the 1960s.

Part II deals with Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker's search for Trojan Asteroids orbit out near Jupiter. They used not the Hale Scope, but another, smaller, scope also on Mt. Palomar. While this is the best part of the book (the section on the Shoemaker's teaching Preston how to help them load film into the telescope is easily the best two pages of the book!), one wonders if it belongs here as this section deals neither with the Hale nor with anything near the edge of the Universe.

After the Shoemaker's section the book seems to lose its momentum and finally ends with little sense of closure. While you get an interesting sense of watching scientists at work this work is not presented as specific or highly interesting. Most of it is watching quasar candidates go by during observing runs on video screens.

In the end, this book has its moments, but is uneven in how it delivers them. If you're interested in a light read about this subject with little technical information and some (but not a lot) personality insights this book may be worth it.