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

<p>“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.”  (<i>The Observatory Magazine</i>, 1 June 2013)</p> <p>“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.”  (<i>BBC Sky at Night Magazine</i>, 1 February 2013)</p> <p>“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.”  (<i>Astronomy Now</i>, 1 February 2013)</p>

<b>Claus Madsen</b> 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.

Authored by ESO senior advisor Claus Madsen, the present book comprises 600 action-packed pages of ESO history and dramatic stories about the people behind the organisation. Produced especially for ESO's 50th anniversary, this is the ultimate historical account about ESO and its telescopes in the southern hemisphere, but also about a truly remarkable European success story in research. Spanning the range from the first telescopes to the future platforms of the next generation, it shows how the improvement of the telescopes leads to a continuously changing view of the Universe.

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