A complete and comprehensive history of Australia's best known scientific facility, up to and including the devastating fire that destroyed it.
Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra and its sister establishment at Siding Spring, near Coonabarabran, form one of the leading astronomical observatories in the world. Astronomers there have made some the major astronomical discoveries and breakthroughs of the twentieth century. The Observatory is also one of Australia's best-known and most frequently visited scientific facilities and heritage sites. This commissioned history gives a fascinating account of the contribution Mt Stromlo has made to our understanding of the universe.
Tom Frame and Don Faulkner describe the Observatory's foundation in 1924 as the Commonwealth Solar Observatory and its subsequent evolution into Australia's premier optical astronomical institution. In addition to recounting its incorporation into the Australian National University (ANU), its elevation to become the ANU's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the more recent creation of public education programs designed to encourage general interest in astronomy, the authors detail the Observatory's principal scientific achievements in understanding the cosmic backdrop against which our Earth was formed and human life developed.
