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The Universe in a Mirror: the Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built ItFrom Princeton University Press, June 2008 |
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More than any other scientific instrument invented since Galileo first looked through a spyglass in 1609, the Hubble Space Telescope has helped to reshape our view of the universe. As I wrote in chapter 7, "Here was truth, staring us all in the face."Yet the effort to build this space telescope was long, hard, painful, and often destructive to the individuals involved. It is my hope that with the publication of The Universe in a Mirror, some of that pain and loss can be repaired, and that the men and women who sacrificed much to make this achievement possible will get the credit they truly deserve.
"Zimmerman demonstrates the importance of vision, perseverance, politics, and good luck in getting this national telescope constructed, fixed, and operated. He also illustrates, somewhat poignantly at times, the human costs and disappointments that came up along the way." --J. Michael Shull, University of Colorado at Boulder
"For everyone who knows something of the story of the space telescope and its travails, this book provides a fascinating look behind the scenes. An excellent contribution to the history of technology." --Robert P. Kirshner, author of The Extravagant Universe
"Spectacular images of the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope have become so routine that it's easy to forget the astronomical community's despair in 1990, when NASA discovered that the main mirror was improperly shaped. In The Universe in a Mirror, Robert Zimmerman brings the visionaries behind this most remarkable of instruments vividly to life, taking us artfully through the decades--long minefield of lobbying, funding, design, construction, delay after the Challenger explosion and launch--and then through the Hubble's near-death experience as astronomers realized to their horror that its mirror was ground to the wrong shape. His meticulously researched but engaging prose makes it clear how remarkable an achievement the telescope actually was, and how easily it might not have happened at all." --Michael D. Lemonick, contributing writer to Time and lecturer at Princeton University
"Quite a story. I really liked this book." -- John Huchra, Harvard University
Check out the reviews on amazon.com's webpage.
Leaving Earth:
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Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
The award is given annually for the year's best space history book. As the AAS stated in its award statement:"Robert Zimmerman has done a masterful job. . . .Clearly written and compellingly argued, Leaving Earth offers important insights into what most experts regard as the future of space exploration."
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened."
-- Arthur C. Clarke"In this definitive account of man's quest to shoot for the Moon and beyond, award-winning science writer Robert Zimmerman details the adventure, exploration, research, and discovery of the world's first space cowboys and reminds us why courageous astronauts continue taking these daring flights."
-- Mercury"This is a scientifically vivid and intensely personal book that explores the people and their relationships as much as the technology. . . . It's a grand chronicle of an overlooked human adventure, and also asks some difficult questions about the direction of the current space program. Recommended for all space fans, and for historians too." -- Focus, December 2003
"Leaving Earth is a good read and perhaps the best source of information on a neglected part of space history: the experience of living and working in space for days and weeks at a time, often under trying conditions."
-- John M. Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, DC., in his review in Astronomy."A truly great book."
-- David M. Harland, space historian and the author of numerous books on space, including The MIR Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization"Space enthusiasts worried about where the manned space program is headed will take some heart from reading Robert Zimmerman's Leaving Earth: Space Stations Rival Superpowers and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, in which the author tells how determined men and women have mastered, if not totally overcome, many of the hazards of living in space. . . . Mr. Zimmerman shows that engineers and astronauts have the ability to survive, and even thrive in space, to conquer everything that can be thrown at them by nature and their fellows. . . . The haunting question Mr. Zimmerman leaves us with is, does he have the will?"
-- Washington Times, August 30, 2003. Read the full review."[Leaving Earth] will undoubtedly be the leading book on the Russian space station program for the foreseeable future."
-- Publishers Weekly"It is well researched, well written, and contains valuable insights into the interplay between national politics and space programmes. The book forms a useful backdrop to the debate on the present crisis in manned space flight, over its unclear objectives, increasing costs and declining public support. . . . Zimmerman provides many fascinating examples of the interplay between space, personalities, and Cold War politics. . . . Leaving Earth is the best analysis of its subject yet to be published."
-- D.M. Ashford, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, January 9, 2004"Leaving Earth offers perhaps the best single-volume history of space station development yet written. Given how unfamiliar most Americans, even those who consider themselves space advocates, are of Russian space history, this book does a valuable service by introducing them to the cosmonauts who pioneered space station development for decades."
-- Jeff Foust, editor of The Space Review. Read the full review."Though [Leaving Earth] contains many of the technical issues of the designs of space stations as well as the sordid details of politics, its greatest provision is the human experiences that so richly embellish the story. You read of cosmonauts that try farming plants throughout the interior of their craft in efforts to yield a worthwhile harvest. There is a female fighter pilot/cosmonaut that ended up wearing a dress and being a hostess in space. Innumerable misses of docking craft demonstrate the riskiness of the whole affair. As well, the complete dependency on temperamental machinery constantly kept stark terror a scant distance away. Most of all though, the reader can see the triumph of human ingenuity and community where coming together is not just a convenience but a necessity."
-- Mark Mortimer, Universe Today, September 28, 2004. Read the full review."This is a fascinating version of the history of one of the most fascinating areas of human space flight. The book is a 'must-read' even for veterans of the Russian and American space programs. As the first American member of a Russian crew, I thought I knew it all but the book revealed aspects of the Shuttle-Mir program and my Mir 18 mission of which even I was unaware. I found myself muttering 'So that's what was going on!' Be prepared to learn the 'real' story behind the race to the colonization of space."
-- Norm Thagard, former NASA astronaut and the first American to fly on a Russian rocket as well as live on Mir"Zimmerman's new work is at once exciting to read and an authoritative, meticulously researched history of long-term human presence in space. As the story unfolds, we visit the American Skylab, the seven Soviet Salyuts and Mir, and the evolution of tentative Freedom and Alpha designs to the current International Space Station. Especially intriguing are Zimmerman's brilliant interweaving of events on the ground--often political--with those of Mir crews in orbit, and his description of cultural trials facing Americans and Russians learning to work together in orbit. A literary tour de force."
-- Frederick I. Ordway III, author of The Rocket Team and Wernher von Braun: Crusader for SpaceRead two excerpts printed by United Press International:
- Excerpt One: Sergei Krikalev, Russian cosmonauts, finds out what it is like to live in America.
- Excerpt Two: After setting the record for the longest spaceflight, Valeri Polyakov finally returns to Earth.
Check out the reviews on amazon.com's webpage.
The Chronological Encyclopedia
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"Useful to space buffs and generalists, comprehensive but readable, Bob Zimmerman's Encyclopedia belongs front and center on everyone's bookshelf." --Mike Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut"Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It certainly deserves the name of Encyclopedia--complete, accurate and vividly interesting." --Ben Bova, science fiction writer
"If you want to know about every spacecraft ever launched and what each mission accomplished, this handy reference volume from a frequent Astronomy contributor. . .is just for you." --Astronomy
"Zimmerman, an essayist and historian of space, has created an essential tool for 'space junkies' and the libraries that serve them. . . . Not only is the book useful for quick fact checks but it invites readers to stay awhile. There are entries for every space mission that has been undertaken by every country on Earth--not just manned missions but the launches of probes, communications and navigation satellites, and commercial ventures as well. If humans launched it into space, you can read about it here. . . . The Chronological Encyclopedia is the product of painstaking research and clearly conveys a sense of how far humans have progressed in their knowledge of space." --Booklist"The Chronological Encylopedia of Discoveries in Space is no passionless compendium of information. Robert Zimmerman's fact-filled reports, which cover virtually every spacecraft or probe to have ventured into the heavens, relate the scientific and technical adventure of space exploration enthusiastically and with authority." -- American Scientist
From Gemini to the Space Shuttle, from the private sectors' first rocket launches to the efforts of nations around the world to touch the outer atmospheres, you'll engage in an historical perspective that is fresh, incredibly detailed and most importantly--objective. . . .The discoveries made by each mission are placed in historic context by cross-referencing each mission so that the reader can follow the gradual unfolding of knowledge over time. As you turn the pages, you realize how vast mankind's efforts have truly been in the past 50 years. -- Destination Space (read the full review)
"A highly recomended reference resource." -- Spaceflight
"This reference book goes beyond simply listing mission dates and objectives; the author extends his presentation to include the scientific discoveries of each mission and their relevance to society. . . .The volume proves to be a useful tool in examining the historical significance and impact of space exploration on science as we know it. Its logical and sequential presentation of every launch worldwide would be an asset to teachers trying to put a global face on not just the space race but also on the vast gains in our understanding of the final frontier." --National Science Teachers Association
"This is a very impressive reference work, and highly recommended." --E-Streams
"An excellent source, worthwhile for all libraries." --Choice Magazine
"This monumental tome gathers together for the first time in one book a chronological catalog of . . . space missions. . . There is no comparable source to this volume for its comprehensiveness and conciseness. Every school library should get a copy." --Science Book & Fiction
"In this unusually informative and thorough work, the author gathers into one source the scattered and remote information about space missions, so those searching for this information may spend less time gathering it
themselves. . . . Valuable to all collections that need to support space exploration information questions." -- The Book Report
Genesis, the Story of Apollo 8From Four Walls Eight Windows, October 1998 |
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"The significance of the 1968 mission around the moon was not only scientific. As science journalist Zimmerman demonstrates here, in sending humans outside Earth's gravitational pull for the first time, the mission proved a major technological triumph; it was also a political triumph... With great intelligence and an eye for enjoyable reading, Zimmerman highlights a period in American history when everyday heroes still existed and we had not lost our capacity to be awed by scientific achievement."-- Publishers Weekly, 9/28/98"Well-told... Provide[s] a unique perspective... Zimmerman's work is the first to cover this flight alone and to stress its monumental significance as the most important Apollo mission." -- Library Journal, 11/1/98
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs." --San Antonio Express-NewsZimmerman is accurate and thorough in his approach, giving the reader insights into Apollo 8 and the U.S. Space Program that might never have been told at the time. He weaves an exciting and thought provoking tale. . . . he not only tells the big picture - the politics, the Cold War, the titanic struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States and their "Race to the Moon" - but he vividly portrays the little pictures as well. --Destination Space (read the full review)
"Genesis captures the essence of the space race and the Apollo program." -- Frank Borman (Apollo 8 commander)
"The flight of Apollo 8 brought a shining ending to a year of turmoil. Zimmerman tells the reality of that story with vigor." -- Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 astronaut)
"Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 successfully weaves together the flight to the moon with the political backdrop of that very troubled decade of the sixties." -- Bill Anders (Apollo 8 astronaut)
Check out the reviews on amazon.com's webpage.
Check out the excerpt available at msnbc.com.
Return to A Zimmerman Bibliography
Last updated: April 14, 2008