The New Brain: How the Modern Age Is Rewiring Your Mind

Science writer Bartusiak tells the history of astronomy through the words of the greatest thinkers the field has known. She presents excerpts from 100 seminal documents about celestial phenomena, accounts that furthered people's understanding of the cosmos and revealed the nature of the scientists who wrote them. Each account is _hprefaced by Bartusiak's words providing historical and scientific context. The text is ordered chronologically. Leading off, "Ancient Sky" includes papers documenting the earliest naked-eye observations and the Mayans' first cosmic mappings. The concluding section brings readers to modern-day astronomy and describes continuing attempts to explain dark matter and an accelerating universe. Other astronomical milestones range from Tycho Brahe's accomplishments at the first observatory in Europe to the launch of X-ray astronomy. Bartusiak's selections make a coherent and compelling history. Pantheon, 2004, 695 p., b&w photos/illus., hardcover, $35.00.