The Rise of Astrophysics in Modern Spain: From Dictatorship to Democracy

With foreword by astrophysicist and Queen guitarist Brian May

This book describes the unlikely development of astrophysics in Spain, set against the final decade of Franco’s rule and the country’s transition to democracy.

The author, Founding Director of Spain’s Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, gives a firsthand account of his own and others’ odyssey in establishing the field in Franco’s Spain, showing how in a mere half-century, Spain was able to transform from a scientific backwater t...