Description

Searching African Skies – Sarah Wild

What, exactly, is the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)? How did South Africa end up bidding against Australia to host the largest scientific instrument on Earth? What does it hope to find in outer space? Are we alone in the universe? Will we be able to see as far back as the big bang? And can a developing country justify building a massive radio telescope at the expense of housing, healthcare and meeting basic needs?

Searching African Skies answers these questions, and tells you why you should care about an arcane, although very big, telescope.

Searching African Skies is the story of South African radio astronomy: from the first telescope built in the country by NASA in the 1960s, to Africa challenging one of radio astronomy’s world leaders, Australia. Interspersed with IXam Bushmen stories rewritten from original manuscripts and Xhosa starlore, Sarah Wild takes you on a journey, in her inimitable style, from the bare sandy Karoo into the hearts of distant galaxies