The revised edition of this book has been prompted by explosive growth in the quantity and quality of astrophysical data and theory since the first edition was published. This streamlined new edition serves as the primary text for a one-semester astronomy survey course on stars and galaxies. It describes the leading ideas and concepts of modern astronomy and covers how astronomy in particular and science in general have developed.
- Comments to the Reader
- The Naked Eye Sky
- Early Greek Astronomy
- Quantitative Greek Astronomy
- The New Astronomy
- The Newtonian Synthesis
- Tools of the Astronomer - Physical Concepts
- Tools of the Astronomer - Hardware
- Reading Stellar Spectra
- The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
- The Structure of Stars
- The Interstellar Medium - Birthplace of the Stars
- Stellar Evolution - The Early Phases
- The Late Phases of Stellar Evolution - Degenerate Corpses
- Black Holes
- The Discovery of Galaxies
- The Universe of Galaxies
- Violence in Galaxies
- The First Cosmological Clues
- Models of the Universe
- The Mysterious Universe
- Life Elsewhere - Are We Alone?
"The text is an excellent synthesis of an enormous topic that is presented in a clear, very readable fashion and provides interesting reading along the way."
- Book Reviewer, Meteoritics & Planetary Society