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How Did We Find Out #19
How Did We Find Out About Outer Space?
Traces the history of mankind's venture into outer space from the first attempts at flight to the sending of human beings to the moon.
64 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 1981
62 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,665 books27.2k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 12, 2019
Very short and concise facts (interesting references and dates - lots of research in this very short book)! I was very skeptical at first to read this book but when I started, finished in an hour. Worth it. Going for more by Isaac Asimov!
August 30, 2015
বাংলা অনুবাদ খারাপ হয়নি। আবার খুব একটা ভালোও হয়নি। চলে।
January 23, 2023
As always in the How did we find out series Asimov manages to give some essentiell information about the chosen topic in his unique style. I must have read the story about men’s way to the moon a million times but I really enjoyed this. And of course, he adds his little idiosyncrasies, like telling us about Herman Ganswindt or insisting that Cyrano de Bergerac was a Science Fiction writer or using the short space available to include some remarks about the American Anthem.
Now, I said unique style. But actually ever since the Asimov died, in 1992 I was hoping to live long enough to see AI advance enough to produce new books in the Asimov style. So today I asked ChatGPT to write a few chapters of How did we find out about Artificial Intelligence
It started like this:
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Artificial Intelligence
It is difficult to say exactly when the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) began. The concept of creating machines that can think and learn like humans has fascinated scientists and thinkers for centuries. The ancient Greek myths of automatons and robots, for example, describe machines that could move and perform tasks without human intervention.
However, the modern field of AI can be traced back to the 1950s, when a group of scientists and engineers began to explore the possibility of creating machines that could simulate human intelligence. These early pioneers, including Alan Turing, John McCarthy, and Marvin Minsky, laid the foundation for the field of AI as we know it today.
Turing, considered the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, proposed the "Turing test" in 1950 as a way to measure a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from that of a human. He proposed that a machine should be considered "intelligent" if a human evaluator could not distinguish its responses from those of a human being.
McCarthy coined the term "artificial intelligence" in 1955 and organized the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, which brought together a group of researchers to discuss the possibilities and challenges of creating intelligent machines. This conference is often considered the birth of the modern field of AI.
In the years that followed, AI researchers focused on developing programs that could perform specific tasks, such as playing chess or solving mathematical problems. These early AI programs were based on rule-based systems and were limited in their capabilities. But as computers became more powerful, researchers began to explore new techniques, such as machine learning, which allowed machines to learn from data and improve their performance over time.
This was the beginning of Artificial Intelligence as a field. As we progressed, we started to understand the complex nature of intelligence and the various approaches that can be used to create intelligent machines. Today, AI is an ever-evolving field with a wide range of applications, from self-driving cars to natural language processing.
In the next chapter, we will explore some of the early milestones and achievements in the field of AI. We will look at how scientists and engineers have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with AI, and we will see how their work has laid the foundation for the many exciting developments that are taking place today.
---
Quite impressive. Surely humour is missing and the idiosyncrasies I mentioned.
The following chapters were:
Chapter 2: Early Milestones and Achievements
Chapter 3: The Rise of Machine Learning
Chapter 4: Deep Learning
Chapter 5: Deep Learning in Computer Vision
Chapter 6: Deep Learning and AlphaGo
Chapter 7: The Future of Artificial Intelligence
There was nothing spectacular and certainly it is not really close to Asimov’s style but I am now confident that I will get new Asimov-like books in the future.
Now, I said unique style. But actually ever since the Asimov died, in 1992 I was hoping to live long enough to see AI advance enough to produce new books in the Asimov style. So today I asked ChatGPT to write a few chapters of How did we find out about Artificial Intelligence
It started like this:
Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Artificial Intelligence
It is difficult to say exactly when the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) began. The concept of creating machines that can think and learn like humans has fascinated scientists and thinkers for centuries. The ancient Greek myths of automatons and robots, for example, describe machines that could move and perform tasks without human intervention.
However, the modern field of AI can be traced back to the 1950s, when a group of scientists and engineers began to explore the possibility of creating machines that could simulate human intelligence. These early pioneers, including Alan Turing, John McCarthy, and Marvin Minsky, laid the foundation for the field of AI as we know it today.
Turing, considered the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, proposed the "Turing test" in 1950 as a way to measure a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior that is indistinguishable from that of a human. He proposed that a machine should be considered "intelligent" if a human evaluator could not distinguish its responses from those of a human being.
McCarthy coined the term "artificial intelligence" in 1955 and organized the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, which brought together a group of researchers to discuss the possibilities and challenges of creating intelligent machines. This conference is often considered the birth of the modern field of AI.
In the years that followed, AI researchers focused on developing programs that could perform specific tasks, such as playing chess or solving mathematical problems. These early AI programs were based on rule-based systems and were limited in their capabilities. But as computers became more powerful, researchers began to explore new techniques, such as machine learning, which allowed machines to learn from data and improve their performance over time.
This was the beginning of Artificial Intelligence as a field. As we progressed, we started to understand the complex nature of intelligence and the various approaches that can be used to create intelligent machines. Today, AI is an ever-evolving field with a wide range of applications, from self-driving cars to natural language processing.
In the next chapter, we will explore some of the early milestones and achievements in the field of AI. We will look at how scientists and engineers have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with AI, and we will see how their work has laid the foundation for the many exciting developments that are taking place today.
---
Quite impressive. Surely humour is missing and the idiosyncrasies I mentioned.
The following chapters were:
Chapter 2: Early Milestones and Achievements
Chapter 3: The Rise of Machine Learning
Chapter 4: Deep Learning
Chapter 5: Deep Learning in Computer Vision
Chapter 6: Deep Learning and AlphaGo
Chapter 7: The Future of Artificial Intelligence
There was nothing spectacular and certainly it is not really close to Asimov’s style but I am now confident that I will get new Asimov-like books in the future.
November 26, 2021
নাম: অ্যাবাউট আউটার স্পেস (How Did We Find Out About Outer Space?)
লেখক: আইজ্যাক আজিমভ
রূপান্তর: আসমার ওসমান
ধরন: বিজ্ঞান, ইতিহাস
প্রকাশনী: জাগৃতি প্রকাশনী
প্রকাশকাল: ১৯৭৭ (মূল)
ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০০৭ (অনুবাদ)
পৃষ্ঠা সংখ্যা: ৬৪
মলাট মূল্য: ৬৫
আইজ্যাক আসিমভের নন-ফিকশন বই অনেক। এর অধিকাংশই বিজ্ঞানের বই। এ-সব নন-ফিকশন বইয়ের একটি সিরিজের নাম "How Did We Find Out About Series"। অ্যাবাউট আউটার স্পেস বইটি মূলত এই সিরিজের "How Did We Find Out About Outer Space?" বইয়ের অনুবাদ। এই সিরিজের বইগুলোর ঢঙ প্রায় এক।
তো, আউটার স্পেস বইটায় আলোচনা হয়েছে একদম প্রথম থেকে মানুষের ওড়ার ইতিহাস নিয়ে৷ সেই পৌরাণিক গল্প থেকে বাস্তবে বেলুন দিয়ে ওড়া, অতঃপর বেলুন থেকে গ্লাইডার, গ্লাইডার থেকে উড়োজাহাজ, উড়োজাহাজ থেকে রকেট এবং পরিশেষে মহাকাশযান!
সেই হাওয়ায় হাল্কা ভেসে থাকা থেকে চন্দ্রবিজয় পর্যন্ত ইতিহাসের সাদামাটা ও সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ পাওয়া যাবে এ বইতে৷ পাওয়া যাবে কিভাবে উড়োজাহাজ বা রকেট ব্যবহার হয়েছে যুদ্ধে ও পরবর্তীতে কৃত্রিম উপগ্রহের ধারণা যোগাতে! প্রতি ধাপের সাথে সংযুক্ত ও গুরুত্বপূর্ণ এই বৃহৎ ইতিহাস বা এর বিবর্তন এভাবে সংক্ষেপে উপস্থাপন করা সত্যিই প্রশংসনীয়!
অনুবাদ খারাপ না। বোধগম্য।
এই সিরিজের আরো দু-তিনটি বইয়ের বাংলা অনুবাদ আছে৷ আমার মতে এখানকার প্রতিটি বই-ই অনুবাদযোগ্য।
হৃদয় হক
২৬/১১/২০২১
চট্টগ্রাম
লেখক: আইজ্যাক আজিমভ
রূপান্তর: আসমার ওসমান
ধরন: বিজ্ঞান, ইতিহাস
প্রকাশনী: জাগৃতি প্রকাশনী
প্রকাশকাল: ১৯৭৭ (মূল)
ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০০৭ (অনুবাদ)
পৃষ্ঠা সংখ্যা: ৬৪
মলাট মূল্য: ৬৫
আইজ্যাক আসিমভের নন-ফিকশন বই অনেক। এর অধিকাংশই বিজ্ঞানের বই। এ-সব নন-ফিকশন বইয়ের একটি সিরিজের নাম "How Did We Find Out About Series"। অ্যাবাউট আউটার স্পেস বইটি মূলত এই সিরিজের "How Did We Find Out About Outer Space?" বইয়ের অনুবাদ। এই সিরিজের বইগুলোর ঢঙ প্রায় এক।
তো, আউটার স্পেস বইটায় আলোচনা হয়েছে একদম প্রথম থেকে মানুষের ওড়ার ইতিহাস নিয়ে৷ সেই পৌরাণিক গল্প থেকে বাস্তবে বেলুন দিয়ে ওড়া, অতঃপর বেলুন থেকে গ্লাইডার, গ্লাইডার থেকে উড়োজাহাজ, উড়োজাহাজ থেকে রকেট এবং পরিশেষে মহাকাশযান!
সেই হাওয়ায় হাল্কা ভেসে থাকা থেকে চন্দ্রবিজয় পর্যন্ত ইতিহাসের সাদামাটা ও সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ পাওয়া যাবে এ বইতে৷ পাওয়া যাবে কিভাবে উড়োজাহাজ বা রকেট ব্যবহার হয়েছে যুদ্ধে ও পরবর্তীতে কৃত্রিম উপগ্রহের ধারণা যোগাতে! প্রতি ধাপের সাথে সংযুক্ত ও গুরুত্বপূর্ণ এই বৃহৎ ইতিহাস বা এর বিবর্তন এভাবে সংক্ষেপে উপস্থাপন করা সত্যিই প্রশংসনীয়!
অনুবাদ খারাপ না। বোধগম্য।
এই সিরিজের আরো দু-তিনটি বইয়ের বাংলা অনুবাদ আছে৷ আমার মতে এখানকার প্রতিটি বই-ই অনুবাদযোগ্য।
হৃদয় হক
২৬/১১/২০২১
চট্টগ্রাম
January 2, 2025
This was very well explained as to how we discovered that there was outer space - originally people assumed the sky went on forever - and how we managed to reach it. Asimov also explained that machines like balloons and airplanes are dependent on air, with oxygen, to fly and wouldn’t work in outer space. He also added one little detail that had always bothered me: I thought that the Soviets had sent a dog up in a rocket and just left it there to die but Asimov clarified it was painlessly poisoned which makes me feel much better. But I don’t feel we should use animals in experiments like this!
This was thorough and went through the end of the Apollo series of rockets. Recommended!
This was thorough and went through the end of the Apollo series of rockets. Recommended!
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