The Unsolved Universe: Challenges for the Future: JENAM 2002

ISBN 10: 1402016735 / ISBN 13: 9781402016738

Published by Springer, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781402016738

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Unsolved Universe: Challenges for the Future: JENAM 2002
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1402016735
• ISBN 13: 9781402016738
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Joint European and National Astronomical Meeting (JENAM) of 2002, was held in Porto - Portugal (2-7 September 2002), corresponding to the I ph Meeting of the European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the IJ! En- contra Nacional de Astronomia e Astroftsica (12ENAA) of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Astronomia (SPA). Portugal has a small and young community of researchers in Astronomy. This meeting have had an important role in marking the beginning of what we expect to be a new phase for Astronomy in Portugal. The fact that we have chosen to address '"the future" reflects this will of the Portuguese com- munity to share and discuss our commitment for the next decades with our colleagues. The meeting, titled "The Unsolved Universe: Challenges for the Fu- ture", aimed at discussing some of the major research programmes and objec- tives for the next decades. The scientific programme included the plenary ses- sions (invited reviews and highlight talks), whose contributions are published in this book, and several workshops on more specific topics.

Review

Whereas many published meeting proceedings are quite limited in relevance (they are rapidly superseded) and in audience (appealing only to specialists), I suspect this little book will appeal to a wider readership, for longer than most. It will stand as an historical record of what researchers considered important in this era. Perhaps in hindsight, future researchers will find the omission of solar-system topics from the list as astonishing, considering the future of humankind may well hinge on our ability to exploit or deflect near-Earth asteroids. Perhaps they will be shocked that the effects of solar activity on the Earth's climate were not worthy of examination. Perhaps they will laugh at our blindness to non-stellar baryons in the Universe. Write down your own list of unsolved astronomical problems, and compare it with those in this book a decade hence! The comparison can only prove enlightening.
(G.C.L. Aikman, The Observatory (124/1183/2004)