My Newest Book, released May 2008
- The Universe in a Mirror, the Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Visionaries Who Built It. The book, released in May 2008 from Princeton University Press, is available for order. The book tells the story of the men and women who conceived, built, and saved the Hubble Space Telescope. Their effort, which often involved significant personal sacrifice, not only gave us all a spectacular glimpse into the unknown, it forever changed our perception of the universe.
"Zimmerman demonstrates the importance of vision, perservenance, 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.
To put it simply, the Hubble Space Telescope is the telescope that would not die. On a fundamental human level, Hubble epitomized the inevitable and irresistible lure of the unknown. Everyone involved in the telescope's creation knew that a telescope above the atmosphere was going to see things that had never been seen before. No one could resist that promise.
Read the first chapter!
Read the Wall Street Journal review by Glenn Reynolds.
Read the New York Times review by Dennis Overbye.
Read my thoughts upon taking the Page 99 test for page 99 of "The Universe in a Mirror."
Read my thoughts about life, exploration, and guns at the Powell's Books Technica Q&A.
- I have not only been fortunate to write about some of the most exciting moments in space history, I have also had the great and grand fortune to actually go where no one has gone before....more.
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- including essays and scripts written for Natural History, Air & Space Magazine, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, The Science Channel, The Sciences, Invention & Technology, American History, and many others.
Recent and upcoming appearances:
- Lecture: September 19, 2008, 9:00 pm (EST), Amateur Astronomers, Inc., Union County College, Cranford, New Jersey.
- Radio: September 21, 2008, 9:50 pm (EST) the John Batchelor Show, WABC 770-AM, New York, New York.
- Bookstore appearance: September 27, 3:00-5:00 pm, Constellation Books, 303 Main St., Reisterstown, Maryland.
- Radio: September 28, 2008, 9:20 pm (PST) the John Batchelor Show, KFI 640-AM, Los Angeles, California.
- Lecture: October 2, 2008, 8:00 pm (EST), The Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio (S*T*A*R), Monmouth Musuem on the Brookdale Community College campus, Lincroft, New Jersey.
- Radio: October 5, 2008, 8:50 pm (PST) the John Batchelor Show, KFI 640-AM, Los Angeles, California.
- Lecture: October 6, 2008, 3:30 pm, Engineering Colloquium,Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
- Radio: October 7, 2008, 12:00 pm (PST) Soundings with Alan Stahler, KVMR 89.5-FM, Nevada City, Nevada.
- Lecture: October 7, 2008, 8:00 pm, Public Lecture: An Idea That Would Not Die, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.
- Radio: October 13, 2008, 2:00-3:30+ am (PST), The Space Show with David Livingston, KKNW-AM 1150, Seattle, WA. Also webcast.
- Lecture: October 25, 2008, "America's First Half Century in Space: When the Future Began", Pioneer Hall, The Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum, Maryland.
- Lecture: October 28, 2008, 7:30 pm, Columbia Amateur Radio Association at the Gateway Center, Columbia, Maryland.
- Lecture: December 1, 2008, 1 pm (CST), Mather's Cafe, Chicago, Illinois.
- Radio: December 15, 2008, 2:00-3:30 am (PST), The Space Show with David Livingston, KKNW-AM 1150, Seattle, WA. Also webcast.
- Lecture: December 18, 2009, Howard Astronomical League, at the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, Columbia, Maryland.
- Lecture: January 17, 2009, 7:30 pm, The Explorers Club, Washington, DC Chapter, at the Cosmos Club, Washington, DC.
- Lecture: January 22, 2009, 7:30 pm, The Explorers Club, Philadelphia Chapter, at the Downtown Club, 6th & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- Lecture: January 24, 2009, "The Hubble Space Telescope," Pioneer Hall, The Historical Electronics Museum in Linthicum, Maryland.
- Lecture: February 6, 2009, 7:00 pm, Far Out Fridays at the Adler Planetarium,, Chicago, Illinois.
- Lecture: February 11, 2009, 7:30 pm, Westminster Astronomical Society, Bear Branch Nature Center, 300 John Owings Road, Westminster, Maryland.
- Past Appearances
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