Book excerpt: This volume collects the personal reflections of 20 of the world's foremost astronomers. These original, vibrant and sometimes controversial lectures provide a unique record of trends in astrophysics during the last two decades. Accessible to the general reader, they cover topics ranging from comets to cosmic rays, from astrology to eclipses, from the origins of life to the age of the universe. As an overview of the most dazzling accomplishments of modern science, these writings offer an unprecedented opportunity to hear Nobel Prize winners and world-famous cosmologists tell about their insights and discoveries in their own words.