The New Heavens

Counting the stars visible to the eye gives George Ellery Hale a starting point for explaining how instruments change our view of the heavens. This illustrated volume brings together three articles on astronomical research, with chapters on the expanding reach of observation, giant stars and the physical processes studied in observatory laboratories. Hale traces earlier observing methods before introducing the buildings, telescopes and photographs of Mount Wilson.

The account becomes especially concrete when Hale explains how an interferometer attached to the 100-inch Hooker telescope can measure a star's diameter. Movable mirrors, beams of light and patterns of interference turn a distant point of light into something measurable. Photographs and diagrams connect the discussion to actual equipment and observations. Readers interested in the history of astronomy can see how Hale presented the science of his time through the tools and experiments that made new measurements possible.