Using the "Parallel Lives" approach adopted by the Greek biographer Plutarch, noted historian of astronomy William Sheehan contrasts the lives and research careers of two famous astronomers, Percival Lowell and Edward Emerson Barnard. Drawing on vast archival materials and hitherto unpublished source materials, Sheehan documents in detail the contributions of these two late 19th and early 20th astronomers.

Living at a time when controversies about Mars peaked, when great observatories were being built, and when research increasingly turned away from the Solar System toward the stellar and extra-galactic universe, these observers made spectacular contributions to astronomy. Their work still inspires, and continues in Perseverance rover's explorations of the surface of Mars carrying forward Lowell's dream of showing that Mars may once have been "the abode of life," and in Barnard's pioneering wide-angle photographs of the Milky Way which first showed the sweep, majesty and complexity of the Galaxy.

The work of decades of research and writing, Sheehan has produced what is likely to become the definitive work on these two great astronomers.

" Parallel Lives marks an important contribution to the history of astronomy. The book is masterful and inventive. William Sheehan could hardly have chosen two more compellingor contrastingpersonalities to analyze in this fascinating dual biography."

• David Baron, author of American Eclipse and The Martians , and former Chair in Astrobiology at the Library of Congress.

"Sheehan has united scientific acumen, detailed historical research, penetrating insight into character, and narrative virtuosityand adapted it all to an ancient Greek modela remarkable achievement!"

• Michael Armstrong, Assoc. Prof. Emeritus of Classics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva NY

William Sheehan's many books include the authoritative biography The Immortal Fire Within: The Life and Work of Edward Emerson Barnard and (with Jim Bell) Discovering Mars: A History of Observation and Exploration of the Red Planet , which has been called the "gold standard of books on Mars" (Michio Kaku).

Presents and contrasts the lives and achievements of two famous astronomers; Percival Lowell and Edward Barnard Considers the psychological and sociological aspects of humans traveling to Mars and other celestial objects Highlights the challenges involved in trying to understand big questions in the field of space science and astronomy

Autorentext

William Sheehan is an astronomical historian and author of the biography of Milky Way photographer and pioneering astronomer E.E. Barnard, The Immortal Fire Within (Cambridge University Press, 1995). He is a regular scholar-in-residence at leading observatories, including Yerkes, Lick, Lowell and Mt. Wilson. As both a professional psychiatrist and an astronomer, he has a unique insight into the personalities of the pioneering figures of the history of science. He has published a number of books on the history of solar system studies, especially on the Moon and Mars. Sheehan is a consulting editor of Sky & Telescope, a 2001 fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for his research on the Milky Way, and a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Oriental Astronomical Association. Asteroid no.16037 is named in his honor. Christopher Conselice, an astronomer at the University of Nottingham, is one of the world's leading experts on galaxy formationand evolution. He was educated at the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has held post-doctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and the Space Telescope Science Institute. He was a regular contributor to Mercury, the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He has published his research in leading professional journals, including Science, Nature and the Astrophysical Journal.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: The Flower and the Bee.- Chapter 2: Astronomy from the Top Down: Percival Lowell.- Chapter 3: Astronomy from the Bottom Up: Edward Emerson Barnard.- Chapter 4: Rivals of Mars.- Chapter 5: A Tale of Two Telescopes.- Chapter 6: The Spokes of Venus.- Chapter 7: Adventures with the Bruce.- Chapter 8: Percival Returns.- Chapter 9: Canali! Canali!.- Chapter 10: Wisps, Tores, and Good and Bad Reviews.- Chapter 11: A Barnard Ally Ups the Ante.- Chapter 12: Vale Percival.- Chapter 13: Ad Astra Edward.- Chapter 14: Lowell and Barnard Compared.