Table of Contents

Introduction. The Origins of Astronomy. From Babylon to Ancient Greece. The Almagest. Astronomy in the Dark Ages. The Copernican Revolution. Chasing the Paths of the Planets. Galileo: The Great Telescope Maker. Jeremiah Horrocks: Father of English Astronomy. The Clockwork Universe. English and French Rivalry. Finding Longitude. William Herschel: Gazing Deeper into Space. Understanding the Forces of Nature. Albert Einstein: Relativity Redefines Astronomy. The Hubble Universe. From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Beyond the Visible Spectrum. Black Holes, Quasars and the Universe. Stephen Hawking: Exploring the Boundaries of Space. Astronomy in the Space Age. The Big Bang and the Creation of the Universe. Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Planets, Moons and the Search for Life. Glossary. Further Reading. Index.

About the Author

Peter Aughton is the author of the hugely successful popular history titles Endeavour The Story of Captain Cook's First Great Epic Voyage, Resolution, Newton's Apple and The Transit of Venus. Formerly a computer engineer in the aerospace industry, where he worked on the world's first supersonic airliner, he went on to lecture at the University of the West of England for 25 years. He now lives in Leeds with his family.