Institute of Astronomy

Library News

New books for May

Published on 27/04/2011 

The following new books will be on display through the month of May in the Hoyle Building library area.  You can reserve them using the clipboard underneath the display.

Physics and astrophysics of neutron stars and black holes / R. Giacconi and R. Ruffini  Second Edition.  Cambridge Scientific Publishers, 2009  ISBN 9781904868712  (58/GIA)

Last chance to see Mystery Display

Published on 21/04/2011 

We have just added an offprint by Frank Drake about Project OZMA (an attempt to find radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligences).  But the display will end this afternoon at 4.00pm.

Mystery display: Update 3

Published on 20/04/2011 

A German pamphlet from 1963 showing pictures of early space probes containing animal test subjects has been added today.  Rather sad to see these poor dogs and monkeys who led the way into space for us, but inspiring too.

Mystery display: Update 2

Published on 19/04/2011 

Today the display has been updated with a Press Release from the Carnegie Institution from 26 October 1964 entitled "Carnegie committee now has "image tubes" capable of tripling power of telescopes; production order placed for first twenty".  What would they have thought of todays CCD detectors?

Update: mystery library display

Published on 18/04/2011 

The Update

The display already contains a letter from Moscow dated 1964, a preprint by Fred Hoyle and co-authors from 1965 and a report from the British Royal Aircraft Establishment about visual tracking of space craft.

Mystery Library Display

Published on 15/04/2011 

Society for the History of Astronomy: Spring Conference at the IoA (9 April 2011)

Published on 11/04/2011 

The Society for the History of Astronomy (SHA) held their Spring Conference at the IoA on Saturday 9th April.  The IoA Library mounted a display of items to illustrate some of the talks being given on the day.  Items included a book by English instrument maker Jesse Ramsden of 1779 and an article on the nebulae by Sir William Herschel darting from 1784.  There was also a tour of the Library and historical telescopes.

New books for April

Published on 31/03/2011 

The following books will be on display in the Hoyle Building library area for the month of April:

Stellar Physics 2: Stellar Evolution and Stability / Gennady S. Bisnovatyi-Kogan: Springer 2010 (ISBN978-3-642-14733-3) 52/BIS

What are Gamma-Ray Bursts? / Joshua S. Bloom :Princeton University Press 2011 (ISBN 978-0-691-14556-3) 58/BLO

2014 How to Survive the Next World Crisis / Nicholas Boyle : Continuum 2010 (ISBN 978-1441-18509-9) 85/BOY

Spectra from the Stars - a success!

Published on 21/03/2011 

The IoA Library mounted a special exhibition for the Open Day on Saturday 26th March.  The exhibition, entitled, Spectra from the Stars, was about Sir William and Lady Huggins, a couple of victorian amateur astronomers who made fundamental advances in astronomy from their home observatory.  The exhibition attracted over 390 people, the highest number we have recorded yet for a one day IoA Library exhibition.

New Books - March 2011

Published on 25/02/2011 

Books to be on display during MARCH in the Hoyle Building library area. If you wish to borrow any of these books, please fill in your details on the clipboard underneath the display, the book will be supplied to you when the display is changed.

Galaxies and their masks: a conference in honour of K.C. Freeman, FRS / David L. Block, Kenneth C. Freeman, Ivanio Puerari (editors) New York: Springer, 2010 ISBN 9781441973160 (129/BLO)

Moon: a brief history / Bernd Brunner. Yale University Press, 2010 ISBN 97803000152128 (94/BRU)