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An astronomer, Whipple helped figure out the orbit of a newly discovered planet: Pluto. During World War II Whipple helped develop "chaff" -- flakes of metal designed to be dropped from planes to fool enemy radar. After the war, as director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1955, he correctly predicted that the age of artificial satellites was imminent, and set up a globe-spanning network of amateur astronomers to monitor them. They were ready when Russia's Sputnik was launched in 1957, and were able to track it as it orbited. But Whipple is best known as the researcher who correctly figured out that comets are "dirty snowballs", which was proven by a probe to Halley's comet in 1986. "Fred Whipple was one of those rare individuals who affected our lives in many ways," says Charles Alcock, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Whipple never tired of comets: at 95, he came out of retirement to work as a researcher for NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour, a probe to study comets. The probe was lost shortly after launch in 2002. Whipple died August 30 at age 97. From This is True for 29 August 2004 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Douglas Florian List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $10.88 Editorial Review: Blast off with Douglas Florian's new high-flying compendium, which features twenty whimsical poems about space. From the moon to the stars, from the Earth to Mars, here is an exuberant celebration of our celestial surroundings that's certain to become a universal favorite among aspiring astronomers everywhere. Includes die-cut pages and a glossary of space terms. (07/01/2007)  By: Richard FirestoneAllen WestSimon Warwick-Smith List Price: $20.00 Amazon Price: $13.60 Editorial Review: Newly discovered scientific proof validating the legends and myths of ancient floods, fires, and weather extremes • Presents new scientific evidence revealing the cause of the end of the last ice age and the cycles of geological events and species extinctions that followed • Connects physical data to the dramatic earth changes recounted in oral traditions around the world • Describes the impending danger from a continuing cycle of catastrophes and extinctions There are a number of puzzling mysteries in the history of Earth that have yet to be satisfactorily explained by mainstream science: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the vanishing of ancient Indian tribes, the formation of the mysterious Carolina Bays, the disappearance of the mammoths, the sudden ending of the last Ice Age, and the cause of huge underwater landslides that sent massive tsunamis racing across the oceans millennia ago. Eyewitness accounts of these events are chronicled in rich oral traditions handed down through generations of native peoples. The authors’ recent scientific discoveries link all these events to a single cause. In The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith present new scientific evidence about a series of prehistoric cosmic events that explains why the last Ice Age ended so abruptly. Their findings validate the ubiquitous legends and myths of floods, fires, and weather extremes passed down by our ancestors and show how these legendary events relate to each other. Their findings also support the idea that we are entering a thousand-year cycle of increasing danger and possibly a new cycle of extinctions.  By: John S. Lewis List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $14.40 Editorial Review: While we worry over the depletion of the earth’s natural resources, the pollution of our planet, and the challenges presented by the earth’s growing population, billions of dollars worth of metals, fuels, and life-sustaining substances await us in nearby space. In this visionary book, noted planetary scientist John S. Lewis explains how we can mine these precious metals from the asteroids, comets, and planets in our own solar system for use in space construction projects. And this is just one of the possibilities. Join John S. Lewis as he contemplates milking the moons of Mars for water and hollowing out asteroids for space-bound homesteaders—all while demonstrating the economic and technical feasibility of plans that were once considered pure fiction.  By: Tony Hallam List Price: $14.95 Amazon Price: $13.46 Editorial Review: In Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities, renowned geologist Tony Hallam takes us on a tour of the Earth's history, and of the cataclysmic events, as well as the more gradual extinctions, that have punctuated life on Earth throughout the past 500 million years. While comparable books in this field of study tend to promote only one likely cause of mass extinctions, such as extraterrestrial impact, volcanism, and or climatic cooling, Catastrophes and Lesser Calamities breaks new ground, as the first book to attempt an objective coverage of all likely causes, including sea-level and climatic changes, oxygen deficiency in the oceans, volcanic activity, and extraterrestrial impact. Hallam focuses on the so-called 'big five' mass extinctions, at the end of the Ordovician, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, and the later Devonian, and he also includes less well-known examples where relevant. He devotes attention especially to the attempts by geologists to distinguish true catastrophes from more gradual extinction events, and he concludes with a discussion of the evolutionary significance of mass extinctions, and on the influence of Homo sapiens in causing extinctions within the last few thousand years, both on land and in the seas.  By: O. Richard Norton List Price: $32.00 Amazon Price: $21.12 Editorial Review: This popular guide to cosmic debris introduces the fascinating world of meteorites, asteroids, comets, and impact craters. With more than 50 new photographs and updated illustrations, new and expanded appendixes, and some fun cosmic humor, Rocks from Space, Second Edition, journeys into the last frontier for close-up looks at the latest astronomical discoveries. |
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