Among the most influential, world-renowned scientists during the early decades of the twentieth century was the Dutch astronomer Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851-1922). Kapteyn's influence resulted from and contributed to the golden age of Dutch science. In the words of the brilliant English astrophysicist, Arthur S. Eddington: Holland has given many scientific leaders to the world: it is doubtful whether any other nation in proportion to its size can show so fine a record. J.C. Kapteyn was among the most distinguished of its sons -- a truly great astronomer'. The present text is an English translation of Kapteyn's 1928 (Dutch) biography by his daughter Henrietta Hertzsprung-Kapteyn. While the original biography suffers from -- but in many ways is also enriched by -- the emotional excesses of a loving daughter writing of her famous father, this new translation provides an annotated assessment of Kapteyn as family man, scientist and world leader. This new volume also opens up to a much wider reading public many of the enormously rich contributions, not only of Kapteyn the man but also of the Dutch, to the emergence of astronomy as a major intellectual force in the world. Perhaps equally important, the translated biography reproduces many biographical and technical details from Kapteyn's correspondence with numerous other scientists and scholars. Access to the Kapteyn biography becomes an archival treasure for future studies dealing with Kapteyn himself, as well as with the history of both modern and Dutch astronomy and with the rise of international astronomy.

The last major conference on infrared astronomy was the IAU Symposium No. 96 in June 1980. Since then, the discipline has continued to mature and to contribute to all branches of astrophysics. One particular area of growth has been in spectroscopic capabilities at all infrared wavelengths. The purpose of the Symposium in Toledo was to review the scientific questions to be addressed via infrared spectroscopy and to provide, in the proceedings, a useful summary of the field. The sensitivity of infrared spectroscopic observations is still generally limited by detector characteristics or by thermal background radiation. However in recent years improvements in detector technology together with developments in spectroscopic instrumentation have made possible both quite detailed spectroscopy of the brighter members of many classes of galactic sources and also begun to open up some infrared spectroscopy of extragalactic sources. The potential of the field in the next decade or two is clear. The lRAS mission has completed one of the pre-requisites, namely an all-sky photometric survey. Major space missions utilising cryogenic infrared telescopes have been approved in Europe (ISO) and seem likely in the USA (SIRTF); plans for space submillimeter telescopes are firming up. On the ground large telescopes optimized for infrared observations are now in operation at high altitude sites and specialized submillimeter facilities are under construction. The particular advantages of planned, very large telescopes for infrared observations are widely accepted.

Although recent works on Galileo's trial have reached new heights of erudition, documentation, and sophistication, they often exhibit inflated complexities, neglect 400 years of historiography, or make little effort to learn from Galileo. This book strives to avoid such lacunae by judiciously comparing and contrasting the two Galileo affairs, that is, the original controversy over the earth's motion ending with his condemnation by the Inquisition in 1633, and the subsequent controversy over the rightness of that condemnation continuing to our day. The book argues that the Copernican Revolution required that the hypothesis of the earth's motion be not only constructively supported with new reasons and evidence, but also critically defended from numerous old and new objections. This defense in turn required not only the destructive refutation, but also the appreciative understanding of those objections in all their strength. A major Galilean accomplishment was to elaborate such a reasoned, critical, and fair-minded defense of Copernicanism. Galileo's trial can be interpreted as a series of ecclesiastic attempts to stop him from so defending Copernicus. And an essential thread of the subsequent controversy has been the emergence of many arguments claiming that his condemnation was right, as well as defenses of Galileo from such criticisms. The book's particular yet overarching thesis is that today the proper defense of Galileo can and should have the reasoned, critical, and fair-minded character which his own defense of Copernicus had.

The studies brought together in this second collection of articles by Paul Kunitzsch continue the lines of research evident in his previous volume (The Arabs and the Stars). The Arabic materials discussed stem mostly from the early period of the development of Arabic-Islamic astronomy up to about 1000AD, while the Latin materials belong to the first stage of Western contact with Arabic science at the end of the 10th century, and to the peak of Arabic-Latin translation activity in 12th century Spain. The first set of articles focuses upon Ptolemy in the Arabic-Latin tradition, followed by further ones on Arabic astronomy and its reception in the West; the final group looks at details of the transmission of Euclid's Elements.

After three decades of intense research in X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy, the time was ripe to summarize basic knowledge on X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy for interested students and researchers ready to become involved in new high-energy missions. This volume exposes both the scientific basics and modern methods of high-energy spectroscopic astrophysics. The emphasis is on physical principles and observing methods rather than a discussion of particular classes of high-energy objects, but many examples and new results are included in the three chapters as well.

The hydrogen Lyman-alpha line is of utmost importance to many fields of astrophysics. This UV line being conveniently redshifted with distance to the visible and even near infrared wavelength ranges, it is observable from the ground, and provides the main observational window on the formation and evolution of high redshift galaxies. Absorbing systems that would otherwise go unnoticed are revealed through the Lyman-alpha forest, Lyman-limit, and damped Lyman-alpha systems, tracing the distribution of baryonic matter on large scales, and its chemical enrichment. We are living an exciting epoch with the advent of new instruments and facilities, on board of satellites and on the ground. Wide field and very sensitive integral field spectrographs are becoming available on the ground, such as MUSE at the ESO VLT. The giant E-ELT and TMT telescopes will foster a quantum leap in sensitivity and both spatial and spectroscopic resolution, to the point of being able, perhaps, to measure directly the acceleration of the Hubble flow. In space, the JWST will open new possibilities to study the Lyman-alpha emission of primordial galaxies in the near infrared. As long as the Hubble Space Telescope will remain available, the UV-restframe properties of nearby galaxies will be accessible to our knowledge. Therefore, this Saas-Fee course appears very timely and should meet the interest of many young researchers.

This is a revealing account of the family life and achievements of the Third Earl of Rosse, a hereditary peer and resident landlord at Birr Castle, County Offaly, in nineteenth-century Ireland, before, during and after the devastating famine of the 1840s. He was a remarkable engineer, who built enormous telescopes in the cloudy middle of Ireland. The book gives details, in an attractive non-technical style which requires no previous scientific knowledge, of his engineering initiatives and the astronomical results, but also reveals much more about the man and his contributions - locally in the town and county around Birr, in political and other functions in an Ireland administered by the Protestant Ascendancy, in the development and activities of the Royal Society, of which he was President from 1848-54, and the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The Countess of Rosse, who receives full acknowledgement in the book, was a woman of many talents, among which was her pioneering work in photography, and the book includes reproductions of her artistic exposures, and many other attractive illustrations. -- .

This book characterizes the kinematic and chemical structures of disk-forming regions around low-mass protostellar sources and their interplay based on Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations. It describes the chemical evolution of molecules formed in an interstellar gas using the ALMA observations of 5 Sun-like protostars at a spatial resolution of a few tens au scale, which unveils the physical mechanism of star and planetary formation. The book reviews the author's successful works, focusing on two key findings: (i) A drastic change in the chemical composition of the gas around the centrifugal barrier of the infalling-rotating envelopes, and (ii) the chemical composition in the disk-forming regions, which varies from source to source depending on the chemical characteristics of the parent molecular cloud. These findings are based on the fine characterization of physical structures based on careful kinematic analyses. An additional attraction is the inclusion of the skillful reviews of ALMA observatory and its observation and physical models to describe the observed gas structure.

Stars are the fundamental observable constituents of the Universe. They are the first objects we see in the night sky, they dominate the light produced in our own and other galaxies, and nucleosynthesis in stars produces all the elements heavier than helium. A knowledge of stars and their evolution is vital to understand other astrophysical objects from accreting black holes and galaxies to the Universe itself.The structure of a star can be described mathematically by differential equations derived from the principles of hydrodynamics, electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics. The basic equations of a spherical star are derived in detail at an accessible level. The topics discussed include modes of energy transport, the equation of state, the physics of the opacity sources and the nuclear reactions. Attention is also given to the virial theorem, polytropic gas spheres and homology principles and the procedure for numerical solution of the equations is outlined. This book tracks the evolution of stars from their main-sequence evolution through the exhaustion of various nuclear fuels to the end points of evolution and also introduces the topic of interacting binary stars. The aim is to take the reader from the essential underlying physical principles to the doors to current research on stellar interiors.

Is the Earth the right model and the only universal key to understand habitability, the origin and maintenance of life? Are we able to detect life elsewhere in the universe by the existing techniques and by the upcoming space missions? This book tries to give answers by focusing on environmental properties, which are playing a major role in influencing planetary surfaces or the interior of planets and satellites. The book gives insights into the nature of planets or satellites and their potential to harbor life. Different scientific disciplines are searching for the clues to classify planetary bodies as a habitable object and what kind of instruments and what kind of space exploration missions are necessary to detect life. Results from model calculations, field studies and from laboratory studies in planetary simulation facilities will help to elucidate if some of the planets and satellites in our solar system as well as in extra-solar systems are potentially habitable for life.

'The whole text is written in a clear and light scientific style. It is fully referenced to scientific publications and supported by numerous figures, mainly in full colour ... The present book can be recommended to any interested reader with a background in physics and/or astronomy, in particular to undergraduate and graduate students within astronomy and related fields, possibly being also of interest to scientists in (evolutionary) biology.'Contemporary PhysicsThe search for exoplanets and habitable objects in general is one of the fastest growing and most prominent fields in modern astrophysics. This book provides an overview on habitability on exoplanets. Habitability is strongly dependent on stellar activity. Therefore, space weather effects on objects in the solar system as well as on exoplanets are discussed.The concept of the book is to introduce the topics and then discuss actual scientific papers so that the interested reader has access to most recent research. Therefore the book is valuable to undergraduate students as well as to graduate students and researchers.

'The content is presented in a colloquial style that is easy to understand and interesting to read. It is supported by numerous colour figures and pictures. Thanks to the excellent quality of the paper and the print, the pictures are indeed pleasing to look at ... The text is self-contained as much as possible. It can be recommended to any scientifically interested reader who wants an overview of the universe, what is in it, and of the methods and instruments in use for the investigations science undertakes to acquire this knowledge.'Contemporary PhysicsThis popular science book offers a glimpse into a plethora of extreme cosmic phenomena in which the theories of modern physics, particularly quantum mechanics and general relativity, play a key role. Despite their vastly different appearances, these cosmic phenomena have much in common: they are all powered by exotic stars - black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs - collectively called compact objects.The book describes, in accessible language, the physics underlying these phenomena, the historical background that led to their discovery, and the various observational techniques used by astronomers for their exposure. The book contains many spectacular photographs taken with modern telescopes around the world and satellites of different space agencies, as well as illustrations specially prepared by the author to enhance the reading experience.

Astronomy isthemostancientsciencehumanshavepracticedonEarth. Itisascienceofextremesandoflargenumbers:extremesoftime-fromthe big bang to in?nity -, of distances, of temperatures, of density and masses, ofmagnetic?eld,etc.Itisasciencewhichishighlyvisible,notonlybecause stars and planets are accessible in the sky to the multitude, but also - cause the telescopes themselves are easily distinguishable, usually on top of scenic mountains, and also because their cost usually represent a subst- tialproportionofthenation'sbudgetandofthetaxpayerscontributionsto that budget. As such, astronomy cannot pass unnoticed. It touches on the origins of matter, of the Universe where we live, on life and on our destiny. It touches on philosophy as well as on religion. Astronomy is the direct c- tactofhumankindwithitsoriginsandtheimmensityofuniversalnature.It is indeed a science of observation where experimentation is practically - possible and which is ruled by mathematics, physics, chemistry, statistical analysis and modelling, while o?ering the largest number of veri?cations of the most advanced theories of fundamental physics such as general r- st ativity and gravitation. At the beginning of the 21 century astronomy is clearly a multidisciplinary activity touching on all aspects of science. It is therefore logical that in the past and still now, astronomy has attracted the most famous scientists, be they pure observers, mathematicians, physicists, biologists, experimentalists, and even politicians.