A Journey with Fred Hoyle

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Science, Physics, Astrophysics & Space Science, Other Sciences, History

• Author: Chandra Wickramasinghe, Kamala Wickramasinghe
• ISBN: 9789814436144
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
• Publication: February 27, 2013
• Imprint: WSPC
• Language: English

This is the story of the author's unique scientific journey with one of the most remarkable men of 20th century science. The journey begins in Sri Lanka, the author's native country, with his childhood acquaintance with Fred Hoyle's writings. The action then moves to Cambridge, where the famous Hoyle–Wickramasinghe collaborations begin. A research programme which was started in 1962 on the carbonaceous nature of interstellar dust leads, over the next two decades, to developments that are continued in both Cambridge and Cardiff. These developments prompt Hoyle and the author to postulate the organic theory of cosmic dust (which is now generally accepted), and then to challenge one of the most cherished paradigms of contemporary science — the theory that life originated on Earth in a warm primordial soup.

This new edition examines the many scientific developments that have transpired since the first edition was published. The discovery of bacteria in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, biological signatures in meteorites, spectroscopy of high-z galaxies and more all mesh with many of the ideas that had their origin in the first edition. Pushing into the future, the updated text examines the many experiments and probes currently operating or planned that will shed more light on the theory of planetary panspermia. A Journey with Fred Hoyle is an intriguing book that delineates the progress of a collaboration spanning 40 years, through a sequence of personal reflections, anecdotes and reminiscences.

Contents:

• Origins: Prelude to the Journey
• Cambridge and a First Meeting
• A Hike in the Lake District
• Betwixt the Stars
• The Route to Carbon Dust
• A Theory Takes Shape
• The Institute of Astronomy: The Vintage Years
• Winds of Change
• The Cardiff Era
• The Search for Cosmic Life
• Life from Comets and Pathogens from Space
• First Signs of Life
• Bacterial Dust Predictions Verified
• Life on the Planets
• Evolution from Space
• Theories of Trial
• A Fossil Controversy
• Comet Halley and Its Legacy
• Alternative Cosmologies
• The Last Decade
• Epilogue

Readership: General readers and students of the history of science.
Key Features:

• Gives a unique insight into the minds of two men who challenged one of the most cherished paradigms of modern science
• Highlights the personal and social contexts of a major scientific controversy as it developed and was finally resolved
• Shows how an idea that was heresy eventually became accepted by the scientific community