The Secret Life of Space

Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest Aurum Press £20 HB

The Secret Life of Space is a non-stop tour of all the big moments in the history of Western astronomy. Ptolemy is there, as are Newton, Hubble and Einstein. For students of astronomy it’s a great introduction to major stories, revealing the personalities behind the names known otherwise as those of satellites, theorems and equations. There are lesser-known inclusions too, such as the Antikythera mechanism from Ancient Greece, and there is a strong emphasis on 20th and 21st Century astronomy. My problem, however, is with the book’s opening claim: that it seeks to uncover and debunk old myths regarding astronomy’s history. It even goes so far as to assert that it is about the “unsung heroes and heroines” and that it includes the many overlooked but “important breakthroughs [that] have been made by women”. This is an excellent and laudable aim; sadly it is not followed through.

This book, with a few minor additions, is a retelling of the same ‘great men’ story of astronomy’s history that has been told for decades. It’s a shame, because it would have been perfectly possible to deliver on the more ambitious claims. The past 30 years have seen some fantastic research rediscovering lost women and returning the technicians, assistants and other generally lower class contributors to the story. There has been a surge too in interest and research regarding the contributions to science that took place outside America and Europe, particularly in the Islamic world and in China. All this historical research, however, is ignored. Women in this story are overwhelmingly cheerleaders, on the periphery of great (male) achievements, while non-Western cultures are seen as ‘exotic’.

If we put aside the opening claims of this Ptolemy explains book and an unfortunate

astronomy to dig at environmentalists at the Johannes Müller beginning of chapter eight, however, it is still an entertaining read, and does give a certain historical backdrop to the many names that populate modern astronomy. And when all is said and done, a book that lets us know Fritz Zwicky used to refer to his disliked colleagues as ‘spherical bastards’ can’t be all bad. EMILY WINTERBURN is the author of Stargazer’s Guide

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