The History of Astronomy and Astrophysics

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The history of astronomy and astrophysics ranges from antiquity to the landing of spacecraft on the Moon, Mars, Venus, and even an asteroid. Since early times, human beings have sought to understand what they see in the sky. The invention of the telescope opened new avenues of observation and research. Speculation about life on the Moon and other planets became a hot topic, and theories about the evolution of the universe were developed. New investigative tools, such as spectrometry and photometry, were used to determine spectral characteristics and brightness of cosmological objects. Then scientists began to detect electromagnetic radiation other than visible light from the sky, such as infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays. This book approaches the history of astronomy and astrophysics from a biographical point of view, considering people to be more interesting than things, and the combination of the two more interesting than the sum of the individual parts. After a brief overview of classical astronomy and modern astrophysics, 293 one-page biographies of individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and astrophysics are presented.