Light from the Depths of Time [Paperback]

Although this book has been available for some time, it is only now appearing in an English edition. This gives me the opportunity of adding a few explanations. I have not struggled to include the very latest, tentative results. I have, instead, concentrated on presenting cosmological ideas to interested non? experts. They often encounter considerable difficulties when attempts are made to explain even long-established results in this field, so the aim of this book is to provide them with help. Naturally, I have also tried to include modern findings. To help with the explanation I have made use of the fictitious inhabi? tants of Flatland, occasional historical digressions, and the dreams of Herr Meyer. Incidentally, I chose this name, which is very common in German? speaking countries, to suggest an average citizen, just like the man next door. I should like to thank Springer-Verlag for deciding to publish this book in the language in which many of the discoveries described here were first formulated. I also thank my translator, Mr Storm Dunlop. Finally I thank Hanna Tettenborn for compiling the index.1. Anatomy of the Milky Way.- Cosmic Yardsticks.- Herr Meyer Solves a Riddle.- Approaching the Milky Way.- In the Virgo Cluster.- The Stars of the Milky Way Make Their Appearance.- Inside the Milky Way.- The Centre of the Milky Way.- 2. Light.- Waves in Empty Space.- Herr Meyer Dreams About the Electromagnetic Spectrum.- The Spectrum.- How the Spectral Lines Are Formed.- Hydrogen as a Radio Transmitter.- Thermal Radiation.- Spectra from the Depths of Space.- A Millionth of a Gramme of Light.- Radiation into Matter; Matter into Radiation.- Energy in Light and Matter.- 3. Speeding Up the Milky Way.- Novae and Supernovae.- The Rotating Disk.- Two Populations.- Motion Revealed by Light and Radio Waves.- Herr Meyer and His Bicycle.- The Doppler Effect.- The Pattern of Movement Within the Milky Way.- 4. Plumbing the Depths of the Milky Way.- Stellar Proper Motions.- Radial Vl³$