Overview
- Unfolds the complexity and beauty of aurora borealis for a general audience in easy to understand prose
- Demonstrates how a dedicated scientist could resolve mysteries of space using just groundbased observations
- Provides a realistic basis for understanding how the space-age world we live in came to be
- Singular access to family archives allowed the authors to write the first and only biography of Carl Størmer
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library (ASSL, volume 393)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This biography summarizes the seminal contributions to auroral and space science of Carl Størmer (1874 - 1957). He was the first to develop precise photographic methods to calculate heights and morphologies of diverse auroral forms during four solar cycles. Størmer independently devised numerical techniques to determine the trajectories of high-energy charged particles allowed and forbidden in the Earth’s magnetic field. His theoretical analyses explained cosmic ray access to the upper atmosphere, 20 years before they were identified by other scientists. Størmer’s crowning achievement, “The Polar Aurora,” published when he was 81 years old, stands to this day as a regularly cited guide in graduate-level courses on space physics.
The authors present the life of this prodigious scientist in relation to the cultural life of early 20th century in Norway and to the development of the space sciences in the post-Sputnik era.
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“The authors give a detailed account of his early life, his parents, and Størmer’s growing interest in mathematics, astronomy, and botany. … for those who have seen, or harbour hopes of seeing, the lights in the northern sky, this is a book worth reading as it will infect the reader with some of Størmer’s magic and will make the experience so much more meaningful.” (Ken Kennedy, The Observatory, Vol. 134 (1242), October, 2014)Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Dr. William J. Burke got his Ph.D. in 1971 from MIT. During his scientific career he lead several teams for satellite experiments. He authored or co-authored about 300 scientific publications.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Carl Størmer
Book Subtitle: Auroral Pioneer
Authors: Alv Egeland, William J. Burke
Series Title: Astrophysics and Space Science Library
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31457-5
Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-31456-8Published: 20 October 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-662-51026-1Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-31457-5Published: 20 October 2012
Series ISSN: 0067-0057
Series E-ISSN: 2214-7985
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 195
Topics: Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics), Atmospheric Sciences, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Popular Science in Astronomy