The Jewel on the Mountaintop

Claus Madsen is Senior Advisor for International Science Policy. He has devoted his professional life to two strands of activities: International science policy and public science communication. In 1980, he joined ESO. After a few years at the ESO Sky Laboratory, he became more and more involved in organising exhibitions, producing films and giving public lectures on astronomy.

Prologue: The Hinge: The VLT
Part I: Catching Up
Chapter I-1: The Oldest Science
Chapter I-2: Returning from the Abyss
Chapter I-3: A Dramatic Twist
Chapter I-4: In the Most Remote Place God Could Find
Chapter I-5: ESO - Quo Vadis?
Chapter I-6: Towards the 3.6-metre Telescope
Chapter I-7: Sky Mapper
Chapter I-8: Of Heaven and Hell, the Vatican and the Mission
Chapter I-9: Changing of the Guard
Chapter I-10: Garching United
Part II: Years of Experimentation
Chapter II-1: Upping the Ante
Chapter II-2: Inventing a Game Changer
Chapter II-3: EMMI, SUSI, SOFI and the other Darlings
Chapter II-4: Hubble at ESO
Chapter II-5: History in Passing
Chapter II-6: An Annus Mirabilis
Chapter II-7: The Day of Decision
Chapter II-8: A Mountain in the Middle of Nowhere
Chapter II-9: NTT First Light
Part III: The Breakthrough
Chapter III-1: Back to the Drawing Board
Chapter III-2: Aux Instruments, Chercheurs!
Chapter III-3: Breaking the Seeing Barrier
Chapter III-4: From Double-sight to Supersight: Interferometry
Chapter III-5: The Return of the Dalton Brothers
Chapter III-6: Bang for the Buck
Chapter III-7: Paradigm Revisited
Chapter III-8: Upgrading, De-scoping
Chapter III-9: Clouds on the Horizon
Chapter III-10: At the Brink
Chapter III-11: Tranquillity in Chile, Stiff Winds in Europe
Chapter III-12: Tuning a Formidable Science Machine
Chapter III-13: The Countdown
Chapter III-14: Clear Skies, at Last
Chapter III-15: First Fringes of the Phoenix
Chapter III-16: Not Just a Telescope, an Observatory; Not Just an Observatory, a Home
Part IV: Towards New Horizons
Chapter IV-1: ALMA
Chapter IV-2: Into New Territory
Chapter IV-3: Buds at Paranal
Chapter IV-4: Of Eponymous Birds and Euros
Chapter IV-5: The VLT in Retrospect
Chapter IV-6: A Love Affair
Chapter IV-7: A Growing Organisation
Chapter IV-8: The Surge
Chapter IV-9: Born in Europe, at Home in the World
Chapter IV-10: A Window to the Public
Epilogue
Appendix 1 Important Milestones
Appendix 2 List of ESO Council Presidents and Directors General
Appendix 3 List of Interviewees
Appendix 4 Index of Names
Appendix 5 Subject Index
Appendix 6 List of Acronym

"Indeed, anyone who has had any involvement with, or interest in, the incredible astronomical phoenix that sprang out the ashes of WW II, should get a copy." ( The Observatory Magazine , 1 June 2013)

"Anniversary publications can be overly dry or self-puffing, but this one isn't - it's a weighty yet wonderfully written account of the effort to restore the prowess of European astronomy after World War II." ( BBC Sky at Night Magazine , 1 February 2013)

"Rightly, the book is dedicated to the memory of Adriaan Blaauw, ESO's second Director General who initial articles led the author to put together this excellent chronicle." ( Astronomy Now , 1 February 2013)