The Individual and the Universe (Rare, 1959)

A.​C.B. Lovell​ was Professor of Radio Astronomy at the University of Manchester and Director of the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station​. This book is a publication of his six lectures read on the BBC in the autumn of 1958, and contains six corresponding chapters. In the first chapter, “Astronomy ​b​reaks free,” there is a brief summary of the history of astronomical views on the place of ​humans i​n the cosmos​. The second chapter​, “The origin of the solar system,” is devoted to modern hypotheses concerning the origin of the solar system​. The third​ chapter, “The new astronomy​,” ​is an account of the principles and latest achievements of radio astronomy​. The fourth chapter, “Astronomy and the state​”, describes the ordeals of astronomers who are forced to depend solely on private donations for the acquisition of instruments and the expansion of scientific research. The fifth and sixth chapters are devoted to cosmological problems​. In the fifth chapter, ​”Origin of the universe – I,” he describes Lemaitre’s cosmo​logical hypothesis, and in the sixth​ chapter, “Origin of the universe – II,” he presents the hypothesis of the steady-state universe.
A. Lovell ​was a prominent specialist in the fields of radio astronomy and meteor astronomy, and ​was virtually the founder of the largest radio telescope in the world​ at that time, the 250-ft telescope. His book, ​”The Individual and the Universe,​” is written ​at a high scientific level and, at the same time, is popular and entertaining.