Kellermann & Bouton - Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe [Book]

[lrh]

Hi all,

I hope this is of interest to some. I'm currently working my way through Star Noise: Discovering the Radio Universe by K.I. Kellermann and E.N. Boutone. It covers the history of radio astronomy in good detail, starting with Karl Jansky and his detection of radio emission from the galactic plane in the 1930s. I've found it to be very well written, and despite having a good level of technical detail, entertaining. I knew the brief version of many of the events covered in the book before reading it, but the inclusion of anecdotes and stories (backed up by an extensive bibliography) really adds life to them.

If anyone was thinking about giving it a read - or is interested in the history of radio astronomy (or astrophysics across the last century in general) - I'd definitely recommend it. Do note that there is a certain level of assumed knowledge, probably around the late undergraduate / early-postgraduate physics/astronomy level, but I think an enthusiastic amateur will be able to follow everything without much problem.

Cheers,

Luke