The Biggest Bangs: The Mystery of Gamma-ray Bursts, the Most Violent Explosions in the Universe

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Overview

Gamma-ray bursts are about ten times more energetic than the most powerful supernovae. At their peak, they are the brightest objects in space, about 100,000 times brighter than an entire galaxy. In The Biggest Bangs, astrophysicist Jonathan Katz offers a fascinating account of the scientific quest to unravel the mystery of these incredible phenomena. With an eye for colorful detail and a talent for translating scientific jargon into plain English, Katz ranges from the accidental discovery of gamma-ray bursts (by ...
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The Biggest Bangs: The Mystery of Gamma-Ray Bursts, the Most Violent Explosions in the Universe

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Overview

Gamma-ray bursts are about ten times more energetic than the most powerful supernovae. At their peak, they are the brightest objects in space, about 100,000 times brighter than an entire galaxy. In The Biggest Bangs, astrophysicist Jonathan Katz offers a fascinating account of the scientific quest to unravel the mystery of these incredible phenomena. With an eye for colorful detail and a talent for translating scientific jargon into plain English, Katz ranges from the accidental discovery of gamma-ray bursts (by a Cold War satellite system monitoring the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty) to the frustrating but ultimately successful efforts to localize these bursts in distant galaxies.
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Editorial Reviews

Luigi Piro
The Biggest Bangs details the early measurements, achievements, false trails, and problems that scientists faced before afterglows were discovered. Katz is a theoretician who has worked in the GRB [gamma-ray burst] field, and he turns a physicist's eye on the main astrophysical problems using non-mathematical yet rigorous prose. Often, he widens the problems encountered in the GRB firld to touch on other major riddles in modern astronomy. His explanations are enriched with informative historical links.
—July 18, 2002 issue of Nature magazine
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780195145700
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
  • Publication date: 6/28/2002
  • Pages: 232
  • Product dimensions: 9.30 (w) x 6.10 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Jonathan Katz earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University at the age of twenty-two. A Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis, he has worked on problems as diverse as X-ray stars, earthquakes, the fracture of glass, and gamma-ray bursts.

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Table of Contents

Preface ix
Introduction 1
1. Vela 3
2. Detectors 12
3. Where Are They? 21
4. What Are They? 29
5. Compactness 40
6. The Large Magellanic Cloud 50
7. False Lines 60
8. False Light 70
9. The Copernican Dilemma 82
10. Soft Gamma Repeaters 94
11. Batse 106
12. The Great Debate 116
13. The Theorists' Turn 126
14. Afterglows 139
15. A Supernova Connection? 152
16. The Holy Grail 162
17. The End of the Beginning 178
Afterword 181
Appendix Did a Gamma-ray Burst Kill the Dinosaurs? Will a Burst Kill Us? 185
Glossary 189
Sources 197
Index 209
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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 21, 2002

    Amazing and Fascinating

    Gamma Ray Bursts are the most amazing things in the universe. They squirt out matter at 99.999% of the speed of light, and this makes gamma rays, visible light, and more. They are a billion times more powerful than an entire galaxy (fortunately, only for a few seconds!). A burst nearby could cause a great extinction on Earth, like the one which killed the dinosaurs. The Biggest Bangs is a fascinating account of gamma-ray bursts---their accidental discovery and how astronomers came to understand them. It shows how science really works, which isn't at all the way we were taught in school. Some of the human characters are real vipers, and Katz mounts their heads as trophies. If you enjoyed Hawking or Sagan, you'll like The Biggest Bangs too, bringing the latest science to the layman in understandable language which captures what the professionals do.

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