by Emily Levesque

The subtitle of this book, “The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers”, fails to do justice to what is actually contained in the book. Yes, it has a lot of fun and interesting stories about astronomers – including some really nice descriptions of some of the more difficult to comprehend parts of astronomy – but for me the book something that I have never read before. It gives a glimpse of what it “feels” like to be a scientist in general, and specifically an astronomer.

Over the years of working around “high tech”, big science, projects one of the things that always amazes me is the “feeling” of the place. There is something about big machines humming in the background, pure energy and potential. There is also usually an odd feeling of disjointedness, of being in some kind of “other world” where time is different, the smells are different, and the people are a special “bred” of their own. Dr. Leveque nails it with her description of boredom, excitement, exhaustion, enduring discomfort but enjoying every minute of it. I don’t know how to describe what she does – but she manages to bring humanity into her interesting (and fun) stories. It isn’t just about the people and equipment involved in the explorations, it is also about the people put in ways that I could “feel” as if I was there.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it reminded me why science is so much fun, why it feels so important, and what the people behind the headlines are doing and experiencing. I guess I can relate as a fellow “science nerd” – even though I don’t actually do any science.