Robert P. Kirshner

The author is a famous astronomer who holds a named chair at Harvard and this book is a memoir of his work with the high-z supernova search team that seems to have shown that the universe's expansion is accelerating, but that it passed through a time where it was decelerating. His work also helped put the ideas of dark matter and energy and their importance in the scientific consciousness. You will need some interest in these matters to enjoy this autobiography; much of the text comprises the names of scores of researchers, their associated institutions, how hard it is to schedule telescope time, how unpleasant committee meetings are, and so forth. There is some humor, including a picture of Fritz Zwicky (who coined the terms supernova and dark matter) flashing an "o" sign, associated in the text with his complaint that his colleagues were spherical bastards, i.e. bastards no matter how you looked at them. Dr. Kirshner was starting his career in the subbasement at CIT where he encountered Dr. Zwicky at the end of his career. Kirshner does not point out that it is fairly common to put elderly famous tenured faculty in the basement as they become more difficult and less productive in their later years, since you can't fire them. One of the best features of this book is the introductory material which serves as a not too untechnical introduction to astrophysics and cosmology.… (more)

The Extravagant Universe
Robert P. Kirshner
May 3, 2013

Kirshner is an astronomer who is famous for identifying supernova decay curves as standard candles for measuring distance and movement of the galaxies. His work led to the idea of "dark energy", a force that leads to the expansion of the universe. The work he refers to dates from the 1990's. The science in this book takes a back seat to Kirshner's reminisences and anecdotes, sometimes amusing, but not amounting to much interest.… (more)

While I was poking around in the Astronomy section of the library stacks, looking for Miss Leavitt's Stars, I happened upon this short book by Robert Kirshner of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. I recognized Professor Kirshner's name from my travels in the IDL universe. This is a first person account of how modern astronomers came to understand and use Type Ia supernovae as standard candles for measuring the Universe. (Hence, it was a perfect companion book to Miss Leavitt's Stars, see below.) But more than that, it was the story of how the “high-z team” of astronomers led by Professor Kirshner came to the startling conclusion that the Universe was not just expanding, but accelerating. It contains the clearest explanation I've ever read of dark matter and dark energy, and of the roles they play in the Universe. Clearly written, engaging, and sometimes funny, this is an excellent book for someone wanting to learn more about the strange modern discoveries of astronomy that are shaking up our view of the Universe.… (more)