Fred Hoyle's Universe

Fred Hoyle was one of the most widely acclaimed and colourful scientists of the twentieth century, a down-to-earth Yorkshireman who combined a brilliant scientific mind with a relish for communication and controversy. Best known for his steady-state theory of cosmology, he described a universe with both an infinite past and an infinite future. He coined the phrase 'big bang' to describe the main competing theory, and sustained a long-running, sometimes ill-tempered, and typically public debate with his scientific rivals. He showed how the elements are formed by nuclear reactions inside stars, and explained how we are therefore all formed from stardust. He also claimed that diseases fall from the sky, attacked Darwinism, and branded the famous fossil of the feathered Archaeopteryx a fake. Throughout his career, Hoyle played a major role in the popularization of science. Through his radio broadcasts and his highly successful science fiction novels he became a household name, though his outspokenness and support for increasingly outlandish causes later in life at times antagonized the scientific community. Jane Gregory builds up a vivid picture of Hoyle's role in the ideas, the organization, and the popularization of astronomy in post-war Britain, and provides a fascinating examination of the relationship between a maverick scientist, the scientific establishment, and the public. Through the life of Hoyle, this book chronicles the triumphs, jealousies, rewards, and feuds of a rapidly developing scientific field, in a narrative animated by a cast of colourful astronomers, keeping secrets, losing their tempers, and building their careers here on Earth while contemplating the nature of the stars.

Table of Contents:
1: Coming to light 2: Hut No. 2 3: Into the limelight 4: New world 5: Under fire 6: New genesis 7: The end of the endless cosmos 8: Fighting for space 9: Storm clouds 10: 'Dear Mr Hogg' 11: His institute 12: The end of the beginning 13: The Astronomer Hoyle 14: The beginning of the end 15: Freelance scientist 16: Apocalyptic visions 17: Anti-Darwin 18: A new cosmology

About the Author :
Jane Gregory is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London.

Review :
`Among all British scientists, Fred Hoyle must be one of the most promising subjects for a biography. This is [because of] the importance and originality of his research; the fact that his science covers themes that attract wide public interest; and his role as one of the outstanding publicists of science.' ' Professor Sir Martin Rees, FRS (Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University) `[Jane Gregory] has a rare ability to combine a high level of historical scholarship with some very interesting ideas on the public understanding of science, all expressed in a highly readable narrative.' Dr Andrew Warwick (History of Science, Imperial College) `highly accessible' Sunday Times {Culture} `very well written. I am embarrassed by not being able to choose between these two excellent books. Luckily, they are so reasonably priced that I can happily recommend that you get both of the. Read one now and save the other for later enjoyment.' The Times Higher `very well written' Times Educational Supplement `lucid and enjoyable' Daily Telegraph