David H. Levy – författare

On July 16, 1994 a world-shattering event occurred that would rivet our attention for six explosive days and go on to make history as the single most important celestial event of the century. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter, changing forever our understanding of comets and cosmic cataclysms. Our own sense of security would never be the same as the world witnessed fragment after fragment of the comet bash into Jupiter with the collective equivalent force of a 50-million-megaton bomb. David Levy, co-discoverer of periodic Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, shares his once-in-several-lifetimes' story from the time of the discovery, with Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker, of this unusual "squashed" comet to the later shocking revelation of hearing that "their" comet was destined to collide with Jupiter. Never in recorded history has a comet created such a catastrophic event as smashing into a planet. Impact Jupiter takes off where David Levy's earlier acclaimed book, The Quest for Comets, left us. Magnificent photos of the impacts, including superb color pictures, accompany David's poetic words, vividly bringing to life his thrilling story.Savor the words of one of the world's most celebrated amateur astronomers as he humbly and eloquently opens the beauty of the heavens to all who are curious.

When can you see fireballs and who should you contact if you spot one? When is it best to hunt for comets and meteors and whereabouts? How do you gauge the size of the coma in the head of a comet and estimate its degree of condensation? Clear and easy to use, this guide shows you how to make successful and valuable observations and records of comets, asteroids, meteors and the zodiacal light. For each topic the historical background and current scientific understanding support a wealth of observational techniques. Comet observers are shown techniques for search and discovery. They can learn how to make visual estimates of brightness and size, and how to make photographic studies of cometary heads and tails. Asteroid hunters will find a 'life list' of quarry and guidelines on how to search for these objects and then how to photograph or electronically image them. Fruitful photographic and electronic methods for studying meteors and meteor showers are provided. Visual and photographic techniques show you how to examine the often elusive zodiacal light.

In this simple guide, David Levy inspires readers to experience the wonder of eclipses and other transient astronomical events for themselves. Covering both solar and lunar eclipses, he gives step-by-step instructions on how to observe and photograph eclipses. As well as explaining the science behind eclipses, the book also gives their historical background, discussing how they were observed in the past and what we have learned from them. This personal account contains examples from the 77 eclipses the author has witnessed himself. The guide also includes chapters on occultations of stars and planets by the Moon and of asteroids by stars, and the transits of Mercury and Venus. Tables of future eclipses make this invaluable for anyone, from beginners to practised observers, wanting to learn more about these fascinating events.

Variable stars are fascinating objects to observe; found all over the sky, they change in brightness over time and can be seen with even the most basic of equipment. Variable star astronomy is one field in which amateur astronomers can still make significant contributions to science and in this highly accessible book David Levy teaches the reader how variable stars work, and how to observe them. Using simple, non-technical terms he explains how to get started with electronic (or CCD) observing, as well as how to observe variable stars through a small telescope or binoculars. Including a section on Southern hemisphere stars, the book covers various types of object that can be observed by amateur astronomers, including more exotic phenomena like gamma ray bursts, blazars, and polars. This book will serve to motivate anyone with even a basic interest in astronomy to begin observing these fascinating objects.

David Levy's entertaining, well-researched book is aimed at the amateur enthusiast who likes to learn enjoyably. Beginning with advice on binoculars and telescopes, and how to observe the night sky effectively, the author goes on to describe thoroughly the field of variable star observation, a field in which amateurs have made important contributions. He shows how to interpret variations in light output in terms of the life of a star, from birth through to sometimes violent death. All of the major variable stars are described and classified, as well as other variable objects such as active galaxies, asteroids, comets and the sun. The book also contains a guide to the seasonal night sky. Throughout, practical observations serve to complement the text, producing an exciting, very readable introduction to this fascinating subject.

The perfect introduction for the novice astronomer, this book stirs the imagination and puts observation in a framework of social activity and personal adventure. Written by an award-winning astronomer, it is a technical guide to the sky, full of helpful practical hints. The author's lively style engages, entertains, and informs. Newcomers will learn how to enjoy the Moon, planets, comets, meteors, and distant galaxies observable through a small telescope. Levy describes the features of the Moon from night to night; how to observe constellations; how best to view the stars, nebulae, and galaxies; how to follow the planets on their annual trek among the constellations; how to map the sky; how to find a new comet; how to buy or even make a telescope; what to see in a month of lunar observations or a year of stellar observation; and much more.

David Levy has held a lifelong passion for comets, and is one of the most successful comet discoverers in history. In this book he describes the observing techniques that have been developed over the years - from visual observations and searching, to photography, through to electronic charge-coupled devices (CCDs). He combines the history of comet hunting with the latest techniques, showing how our understanding of comets has evolved over time. This practical handbook is suitable for amateur astronomers, from those who are casually interested in comets and how to observe them, to those who want to begin and expand an observing program of their own. Drawing widely from his own extensive experience, Levy describes how enthusiastic amateurs can observe comets and try to make new discoveries themselves.

A guide to comets, which explores their history, recent discoveries and the belief that comets inspire everything from psychotic behaviour and suicide, to the actions of world leaders. The author also contemplates the possibility of a comet colliding with Earth.

It was a lucky twist of fate when in the early1980s David Levy, a writer and amateur astronomer, joined up with the famous scientist Eugene Shoemaker and his wife, Carolyn, to search for comets from an observation post on Palomar Mountain in Southern California. Their collaboration would lead to the 1993 discovery of the most remarkable comet ever recorded, Shoemaker-Levy 9, with its several nuclei, five tails, and two sheets of debris spread out in its orbit plane. A year later, Levy would be by the Shoemakers' side again when their comet ended its four-billion-year-long journey through the solar system and collided with Jupiter in the most stunning astronomical display of the century. Not only did this collision revolutionize our understanding of the history of the solar system, but it also offered a spectacular confirmation of one scientist's life work. As a close friend and colleague of Shoemaker (who died in 1997 at the age of 69), Levy offers a uniquely insightful account of his life and the way it has shaped our thinking about the universe.Early in his training as a geologist, Shoemaker suspected that it wasn't volcanic activity but rather collisions with comets and asteroids that created most of the craters on the moon and most other bodies in the solar system. Convincing the scientific community of the plausibility of "impact theory," and revealing its power for penetrating mysteries such as the extinction of the dinosaurs and the timing of the Earth's eventual demise, became Shoemaker's mission. Through conversations with Shoemaker and his family, Levy reconstructs the journey that began with a young geologist's serious desire to go to the moon in the late1940s. Sent by the government to find a way to harvest plutonium, Shoemaker instead found evidence in desert craters for what became his impact theory. While he never became an astronaut, he did become the first geologist hired by NASA and subsequently set the research agenda for the first manned lunar landing. After a series of victories and setbacks for Shoemaker, the collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter provided the most convincing proof to date of the role of impacts in our solar system.Levy's explanation of the scientific reasoning that guided Shoemaker in his career up to this dramatic point--as well as his personal portrait of a man who found white-water rafting to be an easy way to relax--sets these fascinating events in a human scale. This biography shows what Shoemaker's legacy will be for our understanding of the story of the Earth well into the twenty-first century.

A flash, a single streak of light, is what sparked David Levy’s passion for astronomy more than sixty years ago. In this delightful collection of essays, Levy shares not only his love for the sky and stars, but also his love for language and literature. With the voice of a poet and the eye of a skilled, albeit amateur, astronomer, Levy takes us on a glorious adventure as large as the universe.  Bringing together writing from across two decades of stargazing, Levy explores the different aspects of the night sky, from the simple star-studded vault that appears every clear night, to insight into how some amateur astronomers use advanced equipment to image details of the night sky. He writes about the James Webb Space Telescope and the Northern Lights, offering commentary on astronomical events and the profound questions they inspire. While there are books that describe how to observe the sky, this book explains why. Star Gazers is a celebration of the joy and mystery found in the stars, with the author’s personal experiences serving as a continuous thread throughout. Whether you are a seasoned astronomer or a curious newcomer, Star Gazers will inspire you to look up and embrace the night sky with renewed passion and curiosity.

David Levy brings these "ghostly apparitions" to life. With fascinating scenarios both real and imagined, he shows how comets have wreaked their special havoc on Earth and other planets. Beginning with ground zero as comets take form, we track the paths their icy, rocky masses take around our universe and investigate the enormous potential that future comets have to directly affect the way we live on this planet and what we might find as we travel to other planets. In this extraordinary volume, David Levy shines his expert light on a subject that has long captivated our imaginations and fears, and demonstrates the need for our continued and rapt attention.

Astronomy is not just a subject unto itself. We all look at the sky, and it has always been a fertile source of guidance and inspiration in art, music, and literature. This book explores the sky’s appearances in music and art, but focuses most on the sky’s enormous presence in early modern English literature. The author concentrates on William Shakespeare, whose references to the sky far exceed the combined total of all his contemporaries. Venturing into the historical context of these references, the book teaches about the Supernovae of 1572 and 1604, the abundant comets of this period, eclipses, astrology and its relation to the night sky at the time, and the early years of the telescope and how the literature of the time relates to it. This book promises to open doors between two great fields of study by inspiring readers to look for their own connections between astronomy and literature, and by helping them to enjoy the night sky itself more completely.

ChemistryThe Game Played by Atomsby R. G. ThomasBook SummaryImagine that you are part of a group watching an unfamiliar game in progress. Your group does not have a rule book and there is no way to access a list of the game rules. This is exactly the situation in which early chemists found themselves as they step by step unraveled many of the mysterious rules for the game of chemistry.Someone completely unfamiliar with the game of basketball, if completely dedicated to the task, should be able to figure out many of the game rules just by watching the game as it is being played. For the early chemists the situation was much more difficult since neither the players nor the game ball are visible. They knew something was going on but were unable to begin to understand the game until they were able to identify the players and the game ball.The rules for basketball have been changed so that some shots are now worth three points. This change was made by the people regulating the game in an effort to make the game more interesting for the spectators. Other changes have been made to please the companies which advertise on television. Even a unanimous vote by the members of the American Chemical Society cannot change any of the rules of chemistry. Unfortunately there is no way to change the rules of chemistry to make it more interesting although this book attempts to present chemistry in a manner which is more interesting than the exposure many students find in a traditional chemistry course. ChemistryThe Game Played by Atoms is an unique presentation of the evolution of chemistry written for both the general reading public and beginning science students. It is intended for the curious reader, with or without a scientific background. In the authors search of libraries and bookstores he was unable to find a book for the general reader which deals with the overall nature of chemistry. ChemistryThe Game Played by Atoms presents chemistry as a game. Discovering the rules for chemistry has not been easy. Using the observations made by a number of great scientists the reader is led through the discovery of the basic game rules. The concise historical development of the logic leading to the understanding of the chemical elements includes interaction with what might be called the human element. Information about many of the more observant scientists is included to show that they were interesting people rather than just names to be memorized in connection with scientific discoveries. Many of these basic explanations of why chemists believe as they do cannot be found in the usual chemistry textbooks.Chemistry--The Game Played by Atoms is not a textbook. This book does not require the reader to memorize facts, balance chemical equations, prepare for exams, or use complicated mathematics to solve problems. Each chapter of this book begins by comparing the game of chemistry with aspects of other well known games. Each chapter is long enough to thoroughly present the development of a basic chemical concept, but short enough that the concept is not lost in unnecessary detail.Following is a list of the titles of the chapters. Some of the titles do not clearly indicate the contents of the chapter unless you read the chapter. But this list should give the prospective reader a better idea of the nature of this book. Chapter 1The Game of ChemistryChapter 2In Search of a GameChapter 3The False StartChapter 4A Good Second ServeChapter 5 The PlayersChapter 6The Game RosterChapter 7The Game BallChapter 8 A Closer Look at the PlayersChapter 9Sizing Up the SituationChapter 10Passing and Catching AbilitiesChapter 11 The Playing FieldsChapter 12Game Ball DynamicsChapter 13Team PlayersChapter 14Team ShapeChapter 15Sticking TogetherChapter 16The Passing GameChapter 17Spectators on the Playing FieldChapter 18A Different Game BallChapter 19Another Game Pl

Over the centuries the starry night sky has inspired poets and scientists alike, and though the fruits of these inspirations take very different forms, they often enrich each other. Acclaimed science writer David Levy, the codiscoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, has written this wonderful jewel of a book to celebrate the complementary visions of human wonder and curiosity that are expressed in the separate disciplines of poetry and astronomy. Levy, known for his infectious enthusiasm, traces the works of the greatest poets-Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, Shelley, and others-to show how they were influenced not only by the beauty of the heavens but by their times, celestial events, and moreover by the discoveries of such great scientists as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. How strong is the connection between literature and science? Levy says, "To think that science and poetry are two disciplines that are properly divorced from each other is to lose sight of what each is about and what their common goal is. In their highest forms, both are avenues of inquiry into the human condition and its relationship to the Universe. Knowing what that Universe is and how it is structured is fundamental to each." The book culminates with Levy's eloquent reflections on the spectacular crash into the planet Jupiter of the comet he discovered: "It was the most conspicuous marking ever seen on another planet. By the end of impact week, Jupiter lay bombarded with these dark clouds, markings that remained visible for almost a year. Thou too, O Comet beautiful and fierce, Who drew the heart of this frail Universe Towards thine own; till, wrecked in that convulsion, Alternating attraction and repulsion, Thine went astray and that was rent in twain; Oh, float into our azure heaven again! - Percy Bysshe Shelley, Epipsychidion, 1821"

Veteran comet hunter and eloquent popular astronomy writer David H. Levy takes amateur sky-watchers on a fascinating journey into deep space in this enthusiastic and informative survey of the many far distant yet observable objects in the night sky. Light years beyond our solar system, deep sky objects include such intriguing phenomena as double and triple stars, nebulae, galaxies, and quasars. Designed to be accessible for even beginners, Levy's clear, elegant descriptions will guide astronomy buffs in any hemisphere and locale (light-polluted cities as well as dark countryside) to the wonders of our enormous universe.As the discoverer or codiscoverer of twenty-one comets, including the famous Shoemaker-Levy 9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994, Levy has devoted many decades of experience to observing the night sky. Over the years he has located over 300 deep sky objects, of which more than 100 "best and brightest" are featured in this book. Levy offers a physical description and a discussion of each object's history and beauty, as well as a star atlas to aid in finding the objects. Proceeding from objects closest to our solar system to those farthest away, Levy gives readers an awe-inspiring glimpse into the structure of the cosmos.Complete with both color and black-and-white photos, plus many helpful illustrations, Deep Sky Objects is the ideal guide to the wonders of the universe for both experienced and novice star gazers.

In this updated second edition renowned amateur comet-searcher David H. Levy expands on his work about the intricate relationship between the night sky and the works of English Literature. This revised and expanded text includes new sections on Alfred Lord Tennyson and Gerald Manley Hopkins (both amateur astronomers), extending the time period analyzed in the first edition from early modern literature to encompass the Victorian age. Although the sky enters into much of literature through the ages, British authors offer an especially fertile connection to the heavens, and Levy links the works of seminal authors from Shakespeare on to specific celestial events and scientific advances.  From the impact of comets and supernovae to eclipses, Levy’s ultimate goal in this book is to inspire his readers to do the same thing as their ancestors did so long ago—look up and appreciate the stars. His insights in this revised book spread farther and wider than ever before in this learned and enchanting tour of the skies.

In this updated second edition renowned amateur comet-searcher David H. Levy expands on his work about the intricate relationship between the night sky and the works of English Literature. This revised and expanded text includes new sections on Alfred Lord Tennyson and Gerald Manley Hopkins (both amateur astronomers), extending the time period analyzed in the first edition from early modern literature to encompass the Victorian age. Although the sky enters into much of literature through the ages, British authors offer an especially fertile connection to the heavens, and Levy links the works of seminal authors from Shakespeare on to specific celestial events and scientific advances.  From the impact of comets and supernovae to eclipses, Levy’s ultimate goal in this book is to inspire his readers to do the same thing as their ancestors did so long ago—look up and appreciate the stars. His insights in this revised book spread farther and wider than ever before in this learned and enchanting tour of the skies.