The ALMA Telescope
The Story of a Science Mega-Project
Author(s): Paul A. Vanden Bout, Robert L. Dickman, Adele L. Plunkett
🚚 Free UK delivery on books (excluding sale). T&Cs apply.
Free click & collect on all orders.
ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, situated high in the Chilean desert, is the largest ground-based telescope on Earth. This is an insiders' account of how this complex mega-project came to fruition from authors with intimate knowledge of its past and present. The separate roots of ALMA in the United States, Europe, and Japan are traced to their merger into an international partnership involving more than 20 countries. The book relates the search for a suitable telescope site, challenges encountered in organization, funding, and construction, and lessons learned along the way. It closes with a review of the most significant results from ALMA, now one of the most productive telescopes in the world. Written for a broad spectrum of readers, including astronomers, engineers, project managers, science historians, government officials, and the general public, the eBook edition is available to download as an Open Access publication on Cambridge Core.
- Presents the history of ALMA from initial concepts to completion, conveying the length and difficulty of bringing a major scientific project to completion
- Discusses the lessons learned in forming and managing an international project, including the key issues presented by cultural and institutional differences
- Describes the major discoveries made by ALMA in everyday language, suitable for educated general readers interested in astronomy
- The eBook edition is available to download as an Open Access publication on the Cambridge Core website