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Placing Outer Space
An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds
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Lisa Messeri
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2016
About this book
Lisa Messeri traces how planetary scientists—whether working in the Utah desert, a Chilean observatory, or the labs of MIT—transform celestial bodies into places in order to understand the universe as densely inhabited by planets, in turn telling us more about Earth, ourselves, and our place in the cosmos.
Author / Editor information
Lisa Messeri is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale University.
Reviews
"To become an exoplanet scientist, Messeri shows (in part by undergoing some training herself), is to learn to see and convey these abstractions as something more relatable — as 'super-Earths' or 'mini-Neptunes' or such. 'To excite the community about a particular visualization,' as Messeri nicely puts it, 'is to convince them that the image contains a world.' And to really excite the community, presumably, is to convince them that a world contains little green men."
-- James Ryerson New York Times Book Review
"Placing Outer Space is a welcome addition to the literature on planetary science. Not only has Messeri achieved what has eluded so many writers—putting humans at the center of the account—she has also succeeded in crafting a compelling narrative of discovery."
-- Matthew Shindell Physics Today
"Messeri’s book is an excellent addition to both the increasing scholarship concerning the cosmos in science and technology studies and the resurgent field of outer space anthropology. Her thorough analysis of place-making practices by an often insulated community is accompanied by her vivid and absorbing ethnographic writing. Placing Outer Space is an excellent example of academic writing that is supremely beneficial and accessible to both the academy and the public"
-- Taylor R. Genovese LSE Review of Books
"Messeri is to be commended for crafting an engaging account that is fully accessible to an outside audience. Her beautiful ethnographic narrative and clear applications of theory make her readers feel comfortable. . . . For anthropologists attempting to pen a scholarly monograph that engages both the broader public and the community they study, this is a worthy example."
-- Janet Vertesi American Anthropologist
"Lisa Messeri's spirit of adventurous ethnographic contact carries the day, delivering new insights into off-Earth explorations by experts and amateurs alike. In bringing us, up close, to those engaged in fashioning new home worlds and remapping the cosmos, Messeri urges us to follow the future making. That enterprise is in good hands."
-- Debbora Battaglia American Ethnologist
"A thoughtful investigation of planetary science. . . . Students of the history of science and astronomy will find many new ideas here that are worth pondering."
-- Maria Lane Journal of Anthropological Research
"A first-rate example of ethnographic research into the epistemological frameworks that shape the work of astronomers engaged in planetary science. Messeri has produced a superb discussion of how scientists move the unfamiliar into the realm of the familiar."
-- John W. Traphagan Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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CONTENTS
v -
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
vii -
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INTRODUCTION. FROM OUTER SPACE TO OUTER PLACE
1 -
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CHAPTER ONE. NARRATING MARS IN UTAH'S DESERT
25 -
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CHAPTER TWO. MAPPING MARS IN SILICON VALLEY
71 -
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CHAPTER THREE. VISUALIZING ALIEN WORLDS
111 -
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CHAPTER FOUR. INHABITING OTHER EARTHS
149 -
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CONCLUSION. NAVIGATING THE INFINITE COSMOS
189 -
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NOTES
197 -
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REFERENCES
211 -
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Index
231
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 22, 2016
eBook ISBN:
9780822373919
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
248
Other:
38 illustrations
eBook ISBN:
9780822373919
Audience(s) for this book
Professional and scholarly;
