Searching for the Oldest Stars
Anna Frebel Princeton University Press £19.95 HB
The commonly heard phrase ‘we are made of star stuff’, often attributed to Carl Sagan, could be a suitable subtitle for this book about stellar archaeology (it’s actually subtitled: Ancient Relics from the Early Universe).
The Big Bang created hydrogen, helium and lithium, but all the other elements were manufactured inside stars and their dying explosions. Frebel’s account not only explains how this came about, but also reveals the significance of the oldest known stars to our understanding of the nature, origin and evolution of the Universe as a whole.
In the early part of this book the author treats us to a history of stellar astronomy. Justifiably, some emphasis is given to female protagonists in the development of this field, from Henrietta Leavitt to Margaret Burbidge. We cover the development of spectroscopy, the introduction of quantum mechanics and the application of nuclear physics to stellar nucleosynthesis. Although it’s long and detailed, the chapter on stellar evolution is an excellent prose treatment of the subject that the layperson can easily follow. What follows is the story of the discovery of ‘metal-poor’ stars and what they tell us about the early history of the cosmos.
Written with a good deal of personal insight, relevant anecdotes and even descriptions of the optical astronomer’s nightly duties, all in a refreshing style, Frebel’s book does her justice as one of the leading figures in modern stellar research. While covering many complex areas of physics and their astronomical application, Searching For The Oldest Stars remains both accessible and intriguing. DR ALASTAIR GUNN is a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
It’s normally a bad sign when you open a book and the pages fall on the floor. That’s exactly what happened to me when I first opened To the Edge of the Universe. It wasn’t because the binding had failed, but completely due to the “4m fold-out journey” promised in the sub-title.
The book is aimed at younger readers, perhaps 7-14 years old. The first half can be read page-by-page and works upwards, lifting off from Earth’s surface and travelling out through the Solar System. Brief paragraphs are written in clear, concise fashion, while the final pages zoom through the Galaxy and wider cosmos, all still explained in simple language. The book’s illustrative style is eye-catching and, while undulating lines make the background rather busy, it’s toned down enough to not interfere with the information.
Then, just as you get to the edge of the visible Universe and what might appear to be the end of the book, the return journey begins. As the pages unfold into a long pull-out, it becomes clear that the second half is more technical, aimed at readers who are perhaps older or maybe just more interested in the details. There are many more facts and figures presented in an infographic style, although it’s a shame about one unfortunate typo (100,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000 is considerably more than 100 thousand million!). There’s even a scaled representation of the Solar System and the timeline of our exploration along the bottom – though you may have to provide a larger bedroom to appreciate the full 4m foldout.