I'm interested in putting together an anthology at some point in the future. I've got a proposal into the National Science Foundation to pay for it. More immediately, I'm presenting a poster at the American Astronomical Soceity meeting in San Diego next month.
DIAMONDS IN THE SKY is intended to be a hard science fiction anthology of reprints and new stories designed to support an introductory astronomy course. It will ideally be print on demand or electronic to keep the price down and to keep it available indefinitely. I'd like it to help students understand the key concepts that cause the most trouble. As I see it, these are:
Size scales of the universe (planetary to extragalactic)
Celestial Sphere (understanding the motions of objects in the sky based on the motions of Earth itself)
Phases of the Moon
Seasons
Tidal Forces
The Hertsprung-Russel Diagram, stellar main sequence, stellar evolution
Nuclear power in stars
Newtonian Gravity/Kepler's Laws
Black holes
Galactic structure
Dark matter
Quasars and other active galactic nuclei
Cosmology and related concepts (e.g., no center of the universe, expansion, etc)
Gravitational lensing
Extrasolar planets (ideally in comparison with the solar system)
Terrestrial planets vs. gas giants
Anyway, this is my list. I'm investigating stories and making queries. Please let me know of suggestions for key concepts and/or stories to illustrate the concepts. The only story I am sure is perfect so far is "Neutron Star" by Larry Niven for tidal forces (and also supports neutron stars, duh). I plan to have prefaces/afterwords with guides to the relevent physics. Please feel free to forward to other parties who may be interested and able to help me.
Posted by Mike at December 20, 2004 04:03 PM