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[Kalvis]

Blind Watchers of the Sky is a 338 page book by Rocky Kolb. It was published in 1996 by Helix Books, an Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. The subtitle is “The People and Ideas that Shaped Our View of the Universe.”

On 12 December 2005 I attended the New Views of the Universe symposium at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. This book’s author Dr. Edward Kolb (who also goes by the nickname of Rocky Kolb) was one of the four panelists. He had a very personable style in responding to questions that evening and was the easiest to understand. That’s what drove me to check out his book from the Chicago Public Library.

The title initially turned me off because I thought that this was going to be about radio astronomy. Luckily, I soon realized that this book was about something else. It describes how our understanding of the cosmos evolved thanks to the work of some of the most interesting and at their time misunderstood astronomers, philosophers, scientists and physicists. This is not a bland history of Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, Netwon, Einstein and company. In a very conversational manner Rock Kolb describes the life and times of these great influencers. We get a glimpse of their personalities as well as the times in which lived and worked.

Although not a highly technical it helped me gain a better perspective of some pretty complex ideas. Many helpful pictures and diagrams are included while complex mathematical equations are kept to a bare minimum. I would recommend it almost for this reason alone, but that’s not all. For those of us living in the Chicago area Blind Watchers of the Sky also provides numerous local references which bring the topics very close to home. This includes Fermilab, the Chicago train system, the Univ. of Chicago, Northwestern Univ., Wheaton High School, and Edwin Hubble’s connections to these institutions.

I highly recommend this book for its easy and fascinating reading. I would also recommend attending one of Rocky Kolb’s classes or public lectures.

Kalvis

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Here is a brief review of the Book:

In terms of volume of books, perhaps the only astronomy-related area that can complete with the solar system is cosmology, and in particular the evolution of our views of the universe. We've read time and time again the transformation of our worldview (or perhaps more precisely our "universeview") from the rigid Earth-centric Aristotleism to a Sun-centered, then Galaxy-centered, to now a definite centerless view of the universe. Blind Watchers of the Sky reminds us that these transformations were accomplished by brilliant but certainly imperfect people, and thus provides a welcome new look at cosmological history.

The title of the book, a quotation by Tycho Brahe ridiculing those who watch but do not truly observe and understand the sky, is ironic, for Kolb focuses on those who did understand the universe in a way no one had done before. Kolb's focus in on the human side of history: he looks at the lives of people like Brahe, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton, among others. This adds a new dimension to history: we can now not only see that Kepler discovered his laws of motion, but how he was motivated and driven to find those laws. This focus on the human side of cosmological history is dulled in the latter portion of the book, which concentrates more on ideas, but there are still profiles of astronomers like William Herschel and Edwin Hubble.

Kolb's emphasis on the lives of leading astronomers would not have succeeded nearly as well if it weren't for his lively writing style. Kolb's sharp wit is evident throughout the book and lives up not only discussions of theories of the universe, but the lives and times of the astronomers who discovered it. (Residents of New Jersey note: you are at the sharp end of at least a couple of Kolb's barbs, as in: "I could never have imagined so many strange misconceptions... First of all, she seemed proud to be from New Jersey.")

The history of ideas that are the theme of this book are probably familiar to most SpaceViews readers. However, the history of the people who developed these ideas are probably much less familiar even if you're familiar with both the history of the ideas and the people, Kolb's lively writing style makes this book fun to read, and it is certainly one of the most enjoyable books about the history of our views of the universe in recent years.

I haven't read the book, but I see at Amazon it can be had as little as $1.99!! #idea#

Might be a good read.

[Kalvis]

A few comments on the views expressed by Centaur:

1. Curt, your grasp of celestial mechanics is undoubtedly very strong, and I admire your having caught some of Kolb's mistakes. However, Kolb is not an astronomer. Instead he is a particle physicist and cosmologist. He admits ofen to being caught off guard by those who expect him to know every constellation, planet and viewable wonder in the night sky. The book does not purport to be a textbook on celestial mechanics. I dare say that the insights it give us novices outweigh these hopefully rather minor errors which bugged you. I sure passed by them blissfully ignorant.

2. Contrary to your recollection, throughout the book the author does wonder about how the accomplishments of science today will be viewed by future generations. He admits that we too, just like folks in bygone eras, are surely blind -- just in a way different from our predecessors. We don't recognize to what we are blind, i.e. what are we missing? Kolb repeatedly says that only those few pioneers who are willing to accept truths even when least expecting them can help us gain an even more accurate (i.e. less blind) view of the cosmos.

[Rocketman]

Now that is a nice post Kalvis, I like it mucho grande

[Centaur]

kalvis said:

2. Contrary to your recollection

Sorry, Kalvis, it has been ten years; perhaps I was thinking of a different book. Or an earlier edition? Whatever book I actually read, its flaws certainly stuck in my mind. Though I sure thought the described book was one I had read. Admittedly, I should have gotten hold of a copy before I commented. I've deleted my post and won't critique the book again until I've taken another look and/or cured my senility. Thanks for the knock on this old head.

[Rocketman]

You are far from senile, Kurt