In this volume readers can rediscover A.S. Eddington's elegant proof of the virial theorem for star clusters, Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky's 1932 proposal for the existence of neutron stars, and Thomas Gold's forecast of collapsed stars as radio sources. They can reread, in the words of the canyons, pulsars, interstellar hydrogen cosmic magnetic fields, quasars, and remnant background radiation of the primeval big bang.

Gingerich Owen:

Owen Gingerich is Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science, Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.