Books about Astrophysicist from Amazon.com

Former NASA astrophysicist Jeanne Cavelos examines the scientific possibility of the fantastical world of Star Wars. She explains to non-technical readers how the course of science might soon intersect with such fantasies as interstellar travel, robots capable of thought and emotion, habitable alien planets, bizarre intelligent life forms, high-tech weapons and spacecraft, and advanced psychokinetic abilities.She makes complex physics concepts, like quantum mechanics, wormholes, and Einstein's theory of relativity both fascinating and easy to comprehend. The Science of Star Wars does for Star Wars what Lawrence Krauss's bestselling The Physics of Star Trek did for the Star Trek universe. Cavelos answers questions like:* How might spaceships like the Millennium Falcon make the exhilarating jump into hyperspace?* Could a single blast from the Death Star destroy an entire planet?* How close are we to creating robots that look and act like C-3PO and R2-D2?* Could light sabers possibly be built, and if so, how would they work?* Do Star Wars aliens look like "real" aliens might?* What kind of environment could spawn a Wookie?* What would living on a desert planet like Tatooine be like?* Why does Darth Vader require an artificial respirator?* Can we access a "force" with our minds to move objects and communicate telepathically with each other?

Astrophysicist and space pioneer James Van Allen (1914-2006), for whom the Van Allen radiation belts were named, was among the principal scientific investigators for twenty-four space missions, including Explorer I in 1958, the first successful U.S. satellite; Mariner 2's 1962 flyby of Venus, the first successful mission to another planer; and the 1970's Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, missions that surveyed Jupiter and Saturn. Drawing on Van Allen's correspondence and publications, years of interviews with him as well as with more than a hundred other scientists, and declassified documents from such archives as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Applied Physics Laboratory. Often called the father of space science, Van Allen led the way to mapping a new solar system based on the solar wind, massive solar storms, and cosmic rays. Foerstner's compelling biography charts the eventful life and times of this trailblazing physicist.

Grant Archer only wanted to study astrophysics But the forces of the "New Morality," the coalition of censorious do-gooders who run 21st-century America, have other plans for him. To his distress, Grant is torn from his young bride and sent to a research station in orbit around Jupiter, to spy on the scientists who work there. Their work may lead to the discovery of higher life forms in the Jovian system-with implications the New Morality doesn't like at all.What Grant's would-be controllers don't know is that his loyalty to science may be greater than his desire for a quiet life. But that loyalty will be tested in a mission as dangerous as any ever undertaken-a mission to the middle reaches of Jupiter's endless atmosphere, a place where hydrogen flows as a liquid, and cyclones larger than planets rage for centuries at a time.What lurks there is more than anyone has counted on...and stranger than anyone could possibly have imagined.