“Majestically told, lavishly illustrated, and meticulously documented, Linda Schweizer’s vivid portrayal of the personalities that brought the cosmos into focus—most notably Palomar Mountain, the renowned cosmic cathedral and the book’s protagonist—reads like a novel and is impossible to put down.”
Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics, University of California, San Diego; author of Losing the Nobel Prize
Cosmic Odyssey vividly captures one of the greatest eras in the history of astronomy. Rich in scientific detail and written with an engaging flair, this account by Linda Schweizer—who played a role in the journey—reveals both the triumphs and foibles as 20th-century observers discovered a violent universe never before imagined. This should be required reading for every astronomer-in-training.”
Marcia Bartusiak, author of The Day We Found the Universe and Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony
In this extremely well-researched biography of one of astronomy’s ‘sacred mountains,’ Schweizer charts—in vivid and captivating detail—the many discoveries of the near and far universe and the minds and hands that propelled them.”
Priyamvada Natarajan, Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University; author of Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos
Cosmic Odyssey is an important book that tells the story of the Palomar Observatory, one of the most important groups of scientific instruments in history. Schweizer gives us crystalline detail, deep knowledge of the process of science, and intimate portraits of great astronomers, deepened by years of conducting interviews with them. Cosmic Odyssey is an achievement and a treasure.”
Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe
Linda Schweizer’s informed account of the science conducted here is an astronomer’s answer to The Thousand and One Nights. It speaks of geeky midnight assignations, of dogged devotion to data gathering, of theories tested and patience tried though rarely exhausted.”
Dava Sobel, author of The Glass Universe
The 200-inch telescope at Palomar Mountain ruled as the world’s premier astronomical instrument for 40 years. In Cosmic Odyssey, Linda Schweizer goes beyond the masterful technology to show what this marvel was used for, who was doing it, and what they achieved.”
Linda Schweizer 