Hubble

In the spirit of National Geographic's top-selling Orbit, this glorious volume tells the full story of the Hubble Space Telescope and showcases hundreds of dramatic deep-space panoramas. We're sped on an astonishing journey to the edge of the known universe - a realm of colliding galaxies, massive baby stars, and mysterious forces that scientists have barely begun to understand. Hubble: Imaging Space and Time reveals, in breathtaking color ... a colossal 50-light-year-wide view of the Carina Nebula, detailing star birth as never before; the violent interplay of galaxies, in which a giant cannibalizes its neighbor; remarkable visual evidence that the universe is expanding - a phenomenon first observed by astronomer Edwin Hubble; important work now underway to set the stage for the Hubble's successor - the new James Webb telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013 on a quest "to the beginning of time."
Respected space historians David DeVorkin and Robert Smith give a fascinating account of this engineering marvel, explaining how the orbiting telescope works and introducing the people - from Galileo to Edwin Hubble to today's foremost astronomers - who have shaped its development. The authors disclose the inside story of Hubble's beginnings, its controversial early days, the drama of its servicing missions, and its role in investigating deeps-pace mysteries such as the force known as "dark energy." Illuminating every discussion are the dynamic, unparalled Hubble images, reaching us across millions of light-years from a time very close to the instant when the universe was born.

Robert W. Smith is Professor of History and Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program at the University of Alberta, and formerly a curatorial staff member at the National Air and Space Museum. His books include the award-winning The Space Telescope: A Study of NASA, Science, Technology and Politics; The Hubble Space Telescope: Imaging the Universe; and The Expanding Universe. He has closely followed Hubble's history for more than 25 years.