The Universe in which we live is unimaginably vast and ancient, with countless star systems, galaxies, and extraordinary phenomena such as black holes, dark matter, and gamma ray bursts. What phenomena remain mysteries, even to seasoned scientists? Our Universe is a fascinating collection of essays by some of the world's foremost astrophysicists. Some are theorists, some computational modelers, some observers, but all offer their insights into the most cutting-edge, difficult, and curious aspects of astrophysics. Compiled, the essays describe more than the latest techniques and findings. Each of the ten contributors offers a more personal perspective on their work, revealing what motivates them and how their careers and lives have been shaped by their desire to understand our universe. S. Alan Stern is Director of the Department of Space Studies at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist with both observational and theoretical interests. Stern is an avid pilot and a principal investigator in NASA's planetary research program, and he was selected to be a NASA space shuttle mission specialist finalist. He is the author of more than 100 papers and popular articles. His most recent book is Pluto &Charon (Wiley, 1997). Contributors: Dr. John Huchra, Harvard University Dr. Esther Hu, University of Hawaii, Honolulu Dr. John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Dr. Nick Gnedin, University of Colorado, Boulder Dr. Doug Richstone, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Dr. Bohdan Paczynski, Princeton University, NJ Dr. Megan Donahue, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD Dr. Jerry Ostriker, Princeton University, New Jersey G. Bothun, University of Oregon, Eugene

"...a fascinating collection of essays on cosmology by nine of the most important scientists in the field, who take the reader to the edge of the Big Bang and the event horizon of a black hole...the essays are accessibly written and will be eagerly read by science buffs...Young people interested in going into any of the sciences will learn about the often uphill battle from several of the personal accounts here." Publishers Weekly"Nine renowned astronomers recount their simple childhood love of the night sky and how they grew up to be cutting-edge scientists using sophisticated instruments to investigate black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the mysteries of dark matter." Discover

The universe is unimaginably vast and ancient, with countless star systems, galaxies and extraordinary phenomenon. This collection of essays by the world's foremost astrophysicists offer insights into the latest techniques, findings, and mysteries. Illustrations.

Our Universe is a fascinating collection of articles covering extra-galactic astronomy and cosmology at the dawn of the 21st century. In highly personalized accounts, nine of the world's leading astrophysicists describe some of the most amazing phenomena and wonders of the Universe, the extraordinary achievements of modern astronomy, its techniques and state of knowledge, but also much more. This accessible, wonderfully illustrated book also reveals what drives these talented scientists, and how their careers and very lives have been shaped by a burning desire to understand our Universe.

Our Universe is a fascinating collection of articles covering extra-galactic astronomy and cosmology at the dawn of the 21st century. In highly personalized accounts, nine of the world's leading astrophysicists describe some of the most amazing phenomena and wonders of the Universe, the extraordinary achievements of modern astronomy, its techniques and state of knowledge, but also much more. This accessible, wonderfully illustrated book also reveals what drives these talented scientists, and how their careers and very lives have been shaped by a burning desire to understand our Universe.

"Our Universe" is a fascinating collection of essays by some of the world's foremost astrophysicists. The essays describe in personal and varied terms the cutting-edge, difficult and curious aspects of astrophysics. Illustrations.

Leading astrophysicists give personal accounts of their work and desire to understand our Universe.

Introduction A. Stern; The frontier universe: at the edge of night A. Stern; Part I. Revealing A Universe: Mapmaker, mapmaker make me a map: probing the universe's large scale structure John Huchra; Looking back in time: searching for the highest redshift galaxies Esther Hu; COBE probes the cosmic microwave background John Mather; Computational adventures in large scale structure Nick Gnedin; Part II. Denizens of the Deep: The discovery of massive black holes Doug Richstone; Gamma ray bursters revealed Bohdan Paczynski; Galaxy clusters, cathedrals, and the fate of the universe Megan Donahue; Courier new, courier: dark matter and the discovery of galactic halos Jerry Ostriker; Galaxy hunting: discovering low surface brightness galaxies Gregory Botham.