image: This is a sumptuously illustrated coffee-table book taking the reader behind the scenes at the most productive ground-based observatory of the world. It contains the best 300 hand-picked images from ESO's large collection of more than 100,000 images. It was produced especially for ESO's 50th anniversary. view more
Credit: ESO/G. Schilling/L.L. Christensen
The coffee-table book, which contains 300 spectacular hand-picked images selected from ESO's impressive collection of over 100 000 images, tells a story of aspiration, inspiration and discovery as the reader follows ESO on its journey to become the most productive ground-based observatory in the world. From the signing of the ESO convention in 1962, to the the creation of the La Silla Observatory in Chile, the book is an accurate depiction of the instruments, discoveries and the people who have made ESO what it is today.
Each book includes a copy of the DVD of the movie with the same title. The movie consists of eight chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of ESO while also offering a unique insight into the science of astronomy.
A second book entitled The Jewel on the Mountaintop — The European Southern Observatory through Fifty Years — will also be released within days. Written by Claus Madsen, one of ESO's senior advisors, this book is a comprehensive historical account of the observatory, as well as of a truly remarkable success story for European research.
Links
- Download the book: http://www.eso.org/public/products/books/europe_stars/
- The book's website: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/50years/europetothestars/book.html
- The movie's website: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/50years/europetothestars/movie.html
- The web page for ESO's 50th anniversary: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/50years.html
- Wiley-VCH: http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-3527411925.html