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Natural History of the Universe: From the Big Bang to the End of Time
Provides an accessible account of the origins of the universe, discusses fundamental cosmic laws and theories, including relativity, quantum theory, space, and time, and surveys the state of the universe today
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Colin A. Ronan
76 books3 followersColin A. Ronan was a British author and specialist in the history and philosophy of science.
He was educated at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and served in the British Army from 1940–1946, achieving the rank of major. After the war he obtained a BSc in Astronomy, and then took an administrative post at the secretariat of The Royal Society. While there he did an MSc in the History and Philosophy of Science under Herbert Dingle at University College London. After leaving the Royal Society he took up writing, and during a long career as an author produced over forty books, mainly on astronomy, and the history and philosophy of science. Later in life he collaborated with Joseph Needham on an abridgement of Needham's great work on China, producing The Shorter Science and Civilization in China in several volumes. He played key roles in the administration of the British Astronomical Association, where he was president from 1989 to 1991, and for many years he was the editor of its journal, and director of the historical section.
For a considerable period in the 1980s and early 1990s he collaborated with Sir Patrick Moore in lecture tours. These lecture tours took the form of weekend residential symposia on single topics such as the return of Halley’s Comet. Notable and hilarious, the interplay between Ronan’s sober and intellectual analysis along with Moore’s more extravagant character, led frequent disagreements that were usually solved over several bottles of red wine. These weekends were an enormous success and made a valuable and irreplaceable contribution to the amateur astronomical scene
With his second wife Ann, he founded the Ronan Picture Library, which specialises in scientific and historical pictures. Among his many books on the history of science were studies of scientists such as Galileo, William Herschel and Edmond Halley. He also wrote scientific books for children, along with books such as The Practical Astronomer (1981) written for beginner amateur astronomers.
Ronan had an asteroid named in honour of his achievements: 4024 Ronan belongs to the Floras family, discovered by E. Bowell on November 24, 1981, at Anderson Mesa.
He was educated at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and served in the British Army from 1940–1946, achieving the rank of major. After the war he obtained a BSc in Astronomy, and then took an administrative post at the secretariat of The Royal Society. While there he did an MSc in the History and Philosophy of Science under Herbert Dingle at University College London. After leaving the Royal Society he took up writing, and during a long career as an author produced over forty books, mainly on astronomy, and the history and philosophy of science. Later in life he collaborated with Joseph Needham on an abridgement of Needham's great work on China, producing The Shorter Science and Civilization in China in several volumes. He played key roles in the administration of the British Astronomical Association, where he was president from 1989 to 1991, and for many years he was the editor of its journal, and director of the historical section.
For a considerable period in the 1980s and early 1990s he collaborated with Sir Patrick Moore in lecture tours. These lecture tours took the form of weekend residential symposia on single topics such as the return of Halley’s Comet. Notable and hilarious, the interplay between Ronan’s sober and intellectual analysis along with Moore’s more extravagant character, led frequent disagreements that were usually solved over several bottles of red wine. These weekends were an enormous success and made a valuable and irreplaceable contribution to the amateur astronomical scene
With his second wife Ann, he founded the Ronan Picture Library, which specialises in scientific and historical pictures. Among his many books on the history of science were studies of scientists such as Galileo, William Herschel and Edmond Halley. He also wrote scientific books for children, along with books such as The Practical Astronomer (1981) written for beginner amateur astronomers.
Ronan had an asteroid named in honour of his achievements: 4024 Ronan belongs to the Floras family, discovered by E. Bowell on November 24, 1981, at Anderson Mesa.
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March 28, 2021
One of the best reference book for astronomy that one could own. It not only reads like a pop-science book, but it also dives into observational methods currently being implied in modern astronomy in order to study, model and test for astrophysical predictions. It also contains many beautiful illustrations and pictures. All in all, if there is one heavy reference book I'd reccomend for astronomy it would be this one.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review