Pasachoff's Publications Inform Both Amateur and Advanced Astronomers

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 26, 2004 – Why is the sky blue and a sunset red? These are two of the many questions answered by “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to The Sun,” written by Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Hopkins Observatory at Williams College.

The book covers such topics as the origin of the Sun, its physical properties, how and until when it will shine, some of the pioneering astronomers and what they discovered about the Sun, solar eclipses, solar research, and the latest scientific data and images gathered by satellites and spacecraft.

Pasachoff’s straightforward, easy-to-understand style is perfect for the average non-astronomer. The book is filled with numerous anecdotes, fun facts, and technical concepts explained in everyday English.

“Jay’s book does an excellent job of describing what we do know [about the Sun] and pointing out where understanding is still lacking… [it’s] a fun read which I enjoyed immensely,” said Dr. Stephen Keil, director of the National Solar Observatory.

Also recently released is the second edition of Pasachoff’s textbook “The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium,” with fellow astronomer Alex Filippenko as co-author. The book, designed specifically for one-term college astronomy courses, offers concise coverage of a wide range of astronomical topics.

In the book’s preface, the authors explain that they are not attempting to condense all of the content from more comprehensive texts such as Pasachoff’s “Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe” (now in its sixth edition). Instead, they focus on a smaller range of topics, but a range that enables them to convey “much basic astronomy and many of the exciting topics now at the forefront.”

The text is organized in an “Earth-outward” progression. It begins with fundamental astronomical concepts and the early history of astronomy. After moving through the Moon, the solar system and the Sun, its focus broadens to examine all aspects of stars. The last chapters examine such broad topics as the ultimate questions of cosmological creation and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

The book is dedicated to the crew aboard the space shuttle Columbia when it disintegrated in the atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

Pasachoff, a professor at Williams since 1972, teaches a number of introductory astronomy courses; upper-level tutorials titled “The Solar Corona” and “Solar Physics”; and an astronomy and history of science course titled “Science, Pseudoscience, and the Two Cultures.”

In addition to his college astronomy texts, Pasachoff is the author of “A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets.” He and R. J. M. Olson, professor of art history at Wheaton College, are co-authors of “Fire in the Sky: Comets and Meteors, the Decisive Centuries, in British Art and Science” (Cambridge University, 1998) – examining images of comets in 18th- and 19th- century British art and the growth of scientific accuracy in artistic representation.

Pasachoff specializes in studying the Sun at total solar eclipses. He has observed 37 solar eclipses and is chair of the Working Group on Solar Eclipses of the International Astronomical Union. He also works in radio astronomy, concentrating on cosmic deuterium and its consequences for cosmology.

Pasachoff was recently elected president of the Commission on Astronomical Education and Development of the International Astronomical Union. He has twice been chair of the Astronomy Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has been on the astronomy education committees of the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is on the Council of Advisors of the Astronomy Education Review, the on-line journal sponsored by the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

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Williams College is consistently ranked one of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges. The college’s 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their undergraduate teaching. The achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in research. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted. Founded in 1793, it is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college is located in Williamstown, Mass. To visit the college on the Internet: www.williams.edu

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Published March 26, 2004