ix
The author of this book, Professor Francisco Sánchez, affectionately known as
‘Paco’ to those of us who are fortunate to know him well, is a pioneer, a tireless
warrior for science, and the acknowledged father of astrophysical research
in Spain.
I first met Professor Sánchez in 1971, as a young undergraduate student.
Pursuing my chosen subject of the study of the zodiacal light by spectroscopy,
I arrived in Tenerife with a vanload of homemade electronic gear, a custombuilt Fabry–Perot spectrometer, and the component parts of an ‘assemble-ityourself ’ tin hut, which was to be my ‘observatory’. I was well out of my
depth and in need of assistance.
My PhD supervisor, Professor James Ring, head of Astrophysics at Imperial
College London, had set me on a course of investigating the motions of interplanetary dust, looking at Doppler shifts in the sunlight reflected from it, seen
in the night sky as the beautiful phenomenon of the zodiacal light. Although
at its best this diffuse band of light in the night sky can actually outshine the
Milky Way, it’s still seen by only a few humans—even astronomers—because,
to see it, you have to be there at the right time, with dark skies and clear horizons, and you have to be close to the tropics. No chance in London, then,
where I was based, so Jim Ring packed me off to Tenerife, acting on a kind
offer from Professor Sánchez, who was to keep me under his watchful eye
while I set up my gear and attempted to make the observations I needed. So,
thanks to Paco, I had the back-up of the University of La Laguna, where
Professor Sánchez had recently founded his Astrophysics Department. In
those days, of course, I would never have dreamed of calling the professor
‘Paco’. His office was at the end of a long echoey corridor in the old University
building, and I seldom dared to go knocking on his door. He was already the
Foreword
The author of this book, Professor Francisco Sánchez, affectionately known as
‘Paco’ to those of us who are fortunate to know him well, is a pioneer, a tireless
warrior for science, and the acknowledged father of astrophysical research
in Spain.
I first met Professor Sánchez in 1971, as a young undergraduate student.
Pursuing my chosen subject of the study of the zodiacal light by spectroscopy,
I arrived in Tenerife with a vanload of homemade electronic gear, a custombuilt Fabry–Perot spectrometer, and the component parts of an ‘assemble-ityourself ’ tin hut, which was to be my ‘observatory’. I was well out of my
depth and in need of assistance.
My PhD supervisor, Professor James Ring, head of Astrophysics at Imperial
College London, had set me on a course of investigating the motions of interplanetary dust, looking at Doppler shifts in the sunlight reflected from it, seen
in the night sky as the beautiful phenomenon of the zodiacal light. Although
at its best this diffuse band of light in the night sky can actually outshine the
Milky Way, it’s still seen by only a few humans—even astronomers—because,
to see it, you have to be there at the right time, with dark skies and clear horizons, and you have to be close to the tropics. No chance in London, then,
where I was based, so Jim Ring packed me off to Tenerife, acting on a kind
offer from Professor Sánchez, who was to keep me under his watchful eye
while I set up my gear and attempted to make the observations I needed. So,
thanks to Paco, I had the back-up of the University of La Laguna, where
Professor Sánchez had recently founded his Astrophysics Department. In
those days, of course, I would never have dreamed of calling the professor
‘Paco’. His office was at the end of a long echoey corridor in the old University
building, and I seldom dared to go knocking on his door. He was already the
Foreword