Update on “A Breathtaking Window on the Universe”

“A Breathtaking Window on the Universe: a guide to the observatory at the Roque de Los Muchachos” has finally been sent to the printers. Copies should be on sale on this website by the end of November, price €15 for 148 pages, A5.
I am currently investigating the possibility of selling the book on Amazon.

Here’s the back-cover blurb:

Welcome to the Roque de Los Muchachos, where 15 telescopes from 19 nations use the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos. Find out what it’s like to work in this strange world above the clouds. Learn about each telescope, how they’re run, and a little of what they’ve discovered.

Sheila Crosby knows the observatory well. She worked there as an engineer for nearly 12 years, and has been a tour guide there for three, showing hundreds of tourists, journalists and students around.

This book is written for the general public rather than professional astronomers, with over 120 photos and diagrams, and a full glossary of all the technical terms for non-geeks.

I’ve learned more about astronomy, science and astrophysics in an hour’s tour of the GranTeCan telescope than I did in 15 years of full time education. Why? Because Sheila made it all such fun.
Her enthusiasm, sense of fun and ability to relate the most complex of scientific instruments and theories to everyday objects and situations make her tour immensely enjoyable and educational. If she had chosen a career in education rather than engineering she would have been one of those teachers or professors who mould young lives and inspire greatness.
Andrea Montgomery, Buzz Trips (http://buzztrips.co.uk)

 

“After spending two careers in more ‘earth-bound’ sciences, it has been a pleasure to watch Sheila develop this book. It opened up a whole new area of interest for me, and put a new destination on my lifetime travel list.”

Doc Finch, US Navy, retired, writer.