First Light, Richard Preston (ISBN 9780679449690, Random House)

I came across a reference to this book while reading The Hot Zone, also from Richard Preston. I wrote another post about The Hot Zone earlier on this blog. Although The Hot Zone is a bit on the sensational side it was definitely well written so I decided to read First Light as well especially as this book is about astronomy which I like reading about. It originally came out in 1987 and had a reprint in 1996 and apparently has a bit of a cult status. I found a second hand hard cover edition in mint condition on Amazon and read the book in the course of a week shortly after it arrived. First Light is the term used for the first observation made with a new telescope. In this book it also refers to the first light from the very young universe. In this book Preston joins a number of astronomers over a period while using following a number of astronomers during their observations at the Palomar Observatory. In the book Preston follows 2 different groups. One are the Shoemakers that come to Palomar to hunt for comets. Carolyn only became a professional and record holding comet hunter at a later age, her husband Eugene was a geologist that turned his attention to impact craters and comets. The sections in the book about the Shoemakers are a highlight of the book but a bit of a deviation from the title of the book. The other group Preston follows in the book is one lead by Maarten Schmidt and they are searching for quasars in the very early universe. Due to the nature of their research topic these sections are a bit more technical and abstract at times but still very enjoyable. The main strength of the book is that it puts the scientist at the center and tries to convey the excitement and adventure of their quest. In my opinion he succeeds very well.