For over a quarter of a century, gamma-ray bursts were the outstanding mystery in astronomy. No one knew where they were or how they worked. The Biggest Bangs tells how the mystery was unravelled, from the discovery of gamma-ray bursts by a Cold War satellite system monitoring the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to the localization of bursts in distant galaxies.

PREFACE ; INTRODUCTION ; Vela ; Detectors ; Where are they? ; What are they? ; Compactness ; The Large Magellanic Cloud ; False Light ; False Lines ; The Copernican Dilemma ; Soft Gamma Repeaters ; BATSE ; The Great Debate ; The Theorists' Turn ; Afterglows ; The Supernova Connection? ; The Holy Grail ; The End of the Beginning ; AFTERWORD ; APPENDIX: DID A GAMMA-RAY BURST KILL THE DINOSAURS ; GLOSSARY ; SOURCES ; INDEX

"Delightful and informative, in a style reminiscent of Richard Rhodes. Katz combines history with physical insight to make the unfolding story of gamma ray bursts read like a novel. He shows forefront astrophysics being done by humans, in an illuminating way that only a true expert and insider could." --Richard A. Muller, Professor of Physics at Berkeley, author of Ice Ages and their Astronomical Origins "A wonderful book for the intellectually curious of all ages: from high school to high table. Katz takes us through the history and the mystery of the biggest bangs of all, the gamma-ray bursts. He also manages to explain the essence of some of the other major puzzles in modern astronomy. All of this Katz accomplishes with a style that is simple and easy to read. Because he has such a mastery of the technical aspects of the subject, Katz is able to distill the main points of the argument into non-mathematical prose that is fun and informative. I would recommend this book highly to young people thinking of entering a career into science and to senior citizens seeking intellectual excitement, and everyone in between." --John Bahcall, author of Neutrino Astrophysics "This unusual and stimulating book on Gamma Ray Bursts describes theory and observations in laymen's language, mixed with history, science politics, controversy and personalities. Beyond the single topic of Gamma Ray Bursts it illustrates the chaotic way which science usually follows, by showing not only the successes but the many false starts which nevertheless help the process." --Edwin E. Salpeter, J.G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences, Emeritus, Cornell University "The Biggest Bangs details the early measurements, achievements, false trails, and problems that scientists faced before afterglows were discovered. Katz is a theoretician who has worked in the GRB field, and he turns a physicist's eye on the main astrophysical problems using non-mathematical yet rigorous prose. Often, he widens the problems encountered in the GRB field to touch on other major riddles in modern astronomy. His explanations are enriched with informative historical links."--Luigi Piro, Nature "Delightful and informative, in a style reminiscent of Richard Rhodes. Katz combines history with physical insight to make the unfolding story of gamma ray bursts read like a novel. He shows forefront astrophysics being done by humans, in an illuminating way that only a true expert and insider could." --Richard A. Muller, Professor of Physics at Berkeley, author of Ice Ages and their Astronomical Origins "An intricate story of scientific trial and error, personal feuding, and ultimate triumph.... The value of Katz's fascinating book is the way it highlights the many wrong turns astronomers took, for reasons that were all too human, before finding the answer."--Scotland on Sunday "A cogently clear presentation of a complex topic."--Booklist "A wonderful book for the intellectually curious of all ages: from high school to high table. Katz takes us through the history and the mystery of the biggest bangs of all, the gamma-ray bursts. He also manages to explain the essence of some of the other major puzzles in modern astronomy. All of this Katz accomplishes with a style that is simple and easy to read. Because he has such a mastery of the technical aspects of the subject, Katz is able to distill the main points of the argument into non-mathematical prose that is fun and informative. I would recommend this book highly to young people thinking of entering a career into science and to senior citizens seeking intellectual excitement, and everyone in between." --John Bahcall, author of Neutrino Astrophysics "This unusual and stimulating book on Gamma Ray Bursts describes theory and observations in laymen's language, mixed with history, science politics, controversy and personalities. Beyond the single topic of Gamma Ray Bursts it illustrates the chaotic way which science usually follows, by showing not only the successes but the many false starts which nevertheless help the process." --Edwin E. Salpeter, J.G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences, Emeritus, Cornell University

Jonathan Katz earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University at the age of twenty-two. A Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis, he has worked on problems as diverse as X-ray stars, earthquakes, the fracture of glass, and gamma-ray bursts.