On 6 June 2012, Venus will again traverse the sun, providing an extraordinary and moving spectacle to people on Earth. In this book, scientists and historians write of the extraordinary impact these cosmic events have had on the exploration and colonisation of our own planet.
SEARCH FOR THE HIDDEN CONTINENT
Hamish Campbell - Zealandia splits from Gondwanaland,
unique bird and plant life develops, and tectonic plates
keep grinding.
THE ROAD TO STONEHENGE Richard Hall - How
astronomical knowledge that developed in antiquity laid
the foundations of modern science and led to Cook's
observations of the transit of Venus - and more recently,
the building of a modern Stonehenge.
SETTING SAIL ON THE PACIFIC Peter Adds - The
astonishing feats of Pacific peoples who navigated
thousands of kilometres across open seas in small craft.
SCIENCE IN COOK'S TIME Duncan Steel - Science in
the age of enlightenment, and the quest to find the
distance from the Earth to the sun.
COOK'S FIRST VOYAGE Anne Salmond - The historic
mission that led to the first encounters between Tahitians,
Maori and Europeans.
JOURNEYS IN TIME AND SPACE Paul Callaghan -
What are the challenges now? The search for dark matter,
new science, and other life and universes.
Published with the support of the Charles Fleming Fund and the Astronomical Committee of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
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