Sky and Telescope - February 2018 - 71

DÜRER: PH AIDON / SOTHEBY'S, INC; G A LILEO: PH AIDON / BIBLIOTECA N A ZION A LE CEN TR A LE DI FIRENZE

ranging, representing almost every
part of the populated world, with some
works dating back to 16,500 BC.
Beyond the strictly astronomical
material, the selections made by the editorial board are - in a word - astounding. The names of some of the artists
represented are quite familiar: Pablo
Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Anish
Kapoor, Nancy Holt, Zarina, Yayoi
Kusama, and Anselm Kiefer, to name
just a few. But I was pleased to ﬁnd so
many contemporary artists doing work
that resonates with astronomers. Each
of the selected artists has compelling
thoughts on the cosmos and its workings, so don't be put off if you're not
"into" art. Pieces like Cornelia Parker's
Meteorite Misses Waco and Jessica
Rankin's Field of Mars will still make
your eyes pop out of your head.
Universe opens with an introduction
by astronomer Paul Murdin (Institute
of Astronomy, Cambridge). His essay
frames the collection, preparing us for
an encounter with a comprehensive
visual record of humanity's interaction
with the universe: through observation
(with the naked eye and telescope); via
exploration (crewed and uncrewed space
missions); by recording (sketching and
imaging); and in creative interpreta-

p Left: Albert Einstein was reportedly fascinated by Alexander Calder's kinetic sculpture A Universe (1934). A motor moves the red and white spheres along the artwork's flexible wires. Right:
Pablo Carlos Budassi drew the data for his logarithm map, Observable Universe, from maps
produced at Princeton University using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data.

tions and reimaginings (art). Murdin's
thoughts are bookended by an afterword on astrophotography and technology written by the renowned Australian
astrophotographer David Malin.
Also included in Universe is a helpful
timeline that begins with the Big Bang
(13.8 billion years ago) and ends with
the data release for NASA's Juno Probe
(2017). The editors have written up a
useful glossary of astronomy terms as

p Left: Albrecht Dürer's woodcuts of the northern and southern skies (c. 1515) were the first
printed celestial maps. Right: Galileo based his sepia-wash drawings on notes he took while
studying the Moon in December 1609. Published in his Siderius nuncius in 1610, these sketches
are considered the earliest images of our satellite drawn with the aid of a telescope.

well as biographies of some of the natural philosophers, astronomers, and artists whose work is included in the book.
Universe is an art object in and of
itself. It feels solid in the hands and
sports a well-ﬁtting and eye-catching
dustcover. The paper quality is high, the
printing sharp, the typeface clean and
elegant. The true beauty of the book
comes from the quality of the images,
however. Reproducing two- and threedimensional artworks and objects in a
way that makes you want to reach out
and touch them is a difﬁcult task, and
the success of this project is due to publishers and editors who know how to
handle visuals. This is the clearest you'll
see Caroline Herschel's comet diagrams
and Galileo's Moon drawings (left).
The sketch of the Whirlpool Galaxy
(M51) made by William Parsons, Earl
of Rosse, in 1845, and placed opposite
a full-color Hubble Space Telescope
image of the same object, simply sings.
There are no bad choices, no unnecessary illustrations in Universe: Exploring
the Astronomical World. If you pick it
up and spend a few winter afternoons
reading it, you'll surely consider it time
well spent.

¢ Associate Editor S. N. JOHNSONROEHR can occasionally be found with
a paintbrush in her hand.
sk yandtelescope.com * FE B RUA RY 2 018

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

Sky and Telescope - February 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - February 2018