Updated 14 December 2025 As I complete this post from my home in Manchester, England, it is 4:30 pm and already dark outside. Many people think that it will continue to get dark earlier each day in the afternoon until we reach the winter solstice , which in 2025 occurs on 21 December in the… Continue reading The darker mornings.
Author: Steve Hurley
Hi I am Steve Hurley. Although I work in the IT industry. I studied for a PhD in astronomy in the 1980s. My real passion is explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientific audience. My blog (explainingscience.org) covers various scientific topics, but primarily astronomy. It is written in a style that it is easily understandable to the non scientist.
Publications and videos
For links to my books and videos please visit www.explainingscience.org
A Christmas gift from Explaining Science 2017
Christmas is almost upon us. Once again I'm offering my e-books for free during the first five days of December! Just call me Father Christmas :-). "Is Anyone Out There?" is about the likelihood of there being extraterrestrial intelligent life. It is based on a number of posts from my blog. For readers based in the UK the… Continue reading A Christmas gift from Explaining Science 2017
The Impact of Copernicus on Astronomy
Updated January 19 2026 The move away from the prevailing Earth-centred theory of the Universe to the heliocentric theory published in 1543 by Nicolas Copernicus, represents one of the greatest advances in astronomy ever made. Nicolas Copernicus - Image from Wikimedia Commons Problems with the Geocentric Theory The Geocentric theory of the Universe was the… Continue reading The Impact of Copernicus on Astronomy
Geocentric Cosmology
Revised March 2026 Today it is generally accepted fact that the Earth is one of eight planets which revolve around the Sun, that the Sun is one of 400 billion or so stars in our Milky Way galaxy and that the Milky Way is one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the observable Universe.… Continue reading Geocentric Cosmology
The early days of the space race
In my previous post I talked about two significant successes for the Soviet Union in 1957: the first artificial satellite in orbit in October and the first living creature, a dog named Laika, in orbit in November. In December of that year the Americans had a humiliating failure when the Vanguard spacecraft exploded in a… Continue reading The early days of the space race
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