The conference Chaos in Astronomy was held in Athens from 17 to 20 September 2007 and was dedicated to the memory of Nikos Voglis, who was directoroftheResearchCenterforAstronomyoftheAcademyofAthensuntil his death on 9 February 2007. It was attended by 73 registered participants coming from 18 di?erent countries. A total of 40 oral papers were delivered including a conference summary. Furthermore 16 posters were presented. The conference was the main event in a series of talks, public lectures and d- cussion meetings about "Chaos in Astronomy" that have taken place at the Research Center for Astronomy. We underline three special talks that have been given by D. Kazanas (NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center), D. Lynden- Bell (Cambridge, UK) and C. Tsallis (Brazilian Academy of Science). The main sponsor of the conference was the "Alexander S. Onassis" Fo- dation. In addition the conference has been supported by the General S- retariat for Research and Technology, the National Observatory of Athens, and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. We are grateful to all sponsors for their generosity. We also express our gratitude to the Academy of Athens and to the - rectorship of the Biomedical Research Foundation, where the conference took place.

This book reviews the current state of knowledge of the atmospheres of the giant gaseous planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The current theories of their formation are reviewed and their recently observed temperature, composition and cloud structures are contrasted and compared with simple thermodynamic, radiative transfer and dynamical models. The instruments and techniques that have been used to remotely measure their atmospheric properties are also reviewed, and the likely development of outer planet observations over the next two decades is outlined.
This second edition has been extensively updated following the Cassini mission results for Jupiter/Saturn and the newest ground-based measurements for Uranus/Neptune as well as on the latest development in the theories on planet formation.

Based on a wide variety of previously unstudied sources, these articles explain how science was applied to three aspects of Islamic ritual in the Middle Ages: the regulation of the lunar calendar; the organisation of the times of the five daily prayers; and the determination of the sacred direction (qibla) towards the Kaaba in Mecca. Simple procedures of folk astronomy were used by the scholars of religious law who determined popular practice; more complicated mathematical methods were provided by the scientists - and this proved a powerful incentive for the development of scientific analysis and research. Some of these procedures were to have far-reaching consequences. For example, the astronomical alignment of the Kaaba - known to various medieval writers, but long forgotten - led to the adoption of similar alignments for the qibla, and the final articles show how these were calculated, whether from astronomical observation or geographical computation, and their impact on the orientation of religious and secular architecture across the Islamic world. C'est A partir d'une grande diversite de sources inexplorees que ces articles expliquent comment la science avait ete appliquee a trois aspects du rituel islamique au Moyen Age: la regulation du calendrier lunaire; l'organisation des heures assignees aux cinq prieres quotidiennes; et l'etablissement de la direction sacree (qibla) vers la Kaaba de la Mecque. Des procedes simples d'astronomie populaire etaient utilises par les erudits en droit religieux qui decidaient de la pratique populaire; des methodes mathematiques plus complexes etaient offertes par les hommes de science - ce qui, en effet, s'avera Atre une motivation puissante dans le developpement de l'analyse et de la recherche scientifique. Certains de ces procedes eurent des consequences d'une grande portee par la suite. L'alignement astronomique de la Kaaba - pour ne reprendre qu'un exemple connu

In their latest book, Edmund O'Sullivan and Marilyn Taylor highlight the pedagogical practices that foster transformation from our current way of thinking about our place in the world to an underlying ecological way of seeing and acting. Learning Towards Ecological Consciousness offers the reader a selection of transformative practices that demonstrate, in specific contexts, the complex journey and contextual conditions that move us forward towards a deeper realization that we are part of the world around us, holding a greater promise for deeper ecological awareness. To this end, thirteen chapters offer a rich array of practices in diverse life settings--educational environments, communities and workplaces and personal relationships. Contributors and their material represent a range of cultures, work setting and professions. The aspect of O'Sullivan and Taylor's new book that distinguishes it from other books in the field is its exploration of how consciousness can be transformed through practices, experience and action.

Challenges of Astronomy in a unique collection of thirty astronomy experiments ranging from ancient astronomy to cosmology. Each of the experiments contains one or more challenges for the reader. The progression is from the Earth outward through the solar system to the stellar and galactic realm. Topics include the shape of the sky, Stonehenge as a stoneage abacus, determination of the size of the Earth, the distance of the Moon and planets, Kepler's laws, planetary mass and density, the temperatures and atmospheres of planets, the speed of light, the distances of stars, the nature of the quiet and active Sun, photometry and spectroscopy, stars clusters and variable stars, fundamental properties of stars, and Olber's paradox.
Challenges of Astronomy is a translation and extensive revision of a German-language resource book for secondary school teachers of science. Physical science teachers will find this edition too a rich resource of experiments to their own milieus, but it is suitable for many other English-language readers too, from northern and southern hemisphere locations. The beginning experiments are suitable for bright high school and non-science major university students while the later experiments which offer increasingly difficult challenges are more suitable for sciences majors. Amateurs with a variety of skills will find this hands-on book entertaining, informative, and useful.

Since humans first looked up at the stars, astronomy has had a particular ability to stir the imagination and challenge the thinking of scientists and non-scientists alike. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding is an introductory astronomy textbook specifically designed to relate to non-science majors across a wide variety of disciplines, nurture their curiosity, and develop vital science-based critical-thinking skills. This textbook provides an introduction to how science operates in practice and what makes it so successful in uncovering nature's secrets. Given that the study of astronomy dates back thousands of years, it is the ideal subject for tracing the development of the physical sciences and how our evolving understanding of nature has influenced, and been influenced by, mathematics, philosophy, religion, geography, politics, and more. This historical approach also illustrates how wrong turns have been taken, and how the inherent self-correcting nature of science through constant verification and the falsifiability of truly scientific theories ultimately leads us back to a more productive path in our quest for understanding. This approach also points out why, as a broadly educated citizenry, students of all disciplines must understand how scientists arrive at conclusions, and how science and technology have become central features of modern society. In discussing this fascinating and beautiful universe of which we are a part, it is necessary to illustrate the fundamental role that mathematics plays in decoding nature's mysteries. Unlike other similar textbooks, some basic mathematics is integrated naturally into the text, together with interpretive language, and supplemented with numerous examples; additional tutorials are provided on the book's companion website. Astronomy: The Human Quest for Understanding leads the reader down the path to our present-day understanding of our Solar System, stars, galaxies, and the beginning and evolution of our universe, along with profound questions still to be answered in this ancient, yet rapidly changing field.

We are living in a golden age of astronomy and space exploration, with more discoveries about the universe every day. With so many possibilities now open to us, revered science writers Michael E. Bakich and David J. Eicher will take young readers on a journey to the throughout the universe in this latest edition of A Child's Introduction series. Perfect for budding explorers aged 8-12, Bakich and Eicher explore the history of space exploration from the very first rocket in China, to the moon landing, to the latest missions to Mars (and beyond). They also include profiles of noteworthy scientists, engineers, and astronauts including Isaac Newton, Neil Armstrong, Mae Carol Jemison; fun sections on space food, UFOs, a timeline of space suits, and how to go to the bathroom in space; and STEM experiments like how to build your own rocket and how to tell time using the sun. Packed with dozens of NASA photos and charming original illustrations, and a pull-out poster, this fascinating book reveals the wonders of space exploration-past, present and future!

Research on extrasolar planets is one of the most exciting fields of activity in astrophysics. In a decade only, a huge step forward has been made from the early speculations on the existence of planets orbiting "other stars" to the first discoveries and to the characterization of extrasolar planets. This breakthrough is the result of a growing interest of a large community of researchers as well as the development of a wide range of new observational techniques and facilities.

Based on their lectures given at the 31st Saas-Fee Advanced Course, Andreas Quirrenbach, Tristan Guillot and Pat Cassen have written up up-to-date comprehensive lecture notes on the "Detection and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets," "Physics of Substellar Objects Interiors, Atmospheres, Evolution" and "Protostellar Disks and Planet Formation." This book will serve graduate students, lecturers and scientists entering the field of extrasolar planets as detailed and comprehensive introduction.

The influence of Arabic-Islamic science on European astronomy is still evident in the number of terms and star names which derive from the Arabic. These articles examine what the Arabs - and other peoples of the Islamic world - knew about the fixed stars and the constellations, and the astrological traditions they associated with them. Professor Kunitzsch shows how the early folk astronomy of the Arabs was radically altered, without being swept away, by the discovery of ancient Greek, also Indian and Persian, sources; by far the most important of these was the Almagest of Ptolemy. This knowledge was then transmitted to medieval Europe, to Byzantium and, especially, to Spain, as the articles go on to describe, and was a vital factor in stimulating the development of scientific thought in the West.

A comprehensive guide to data analysis techniques for physical scientists, providing a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as seasoned researchers. The book begins with an extensive discussion of the foundational concepts and methods of probability and statistics under both the frequentist and Bayesian interpretations of probability. It next presents basic concepts and techniques used for measurements of particle production cross-sections, correlation functions, and particle identification. Much attention is devoted to notions of statistical and systematic errors, beginning with intuitive discussions and progressively introducing the more formal concepts of confidence intervals, credible range, and hypothesis testing. The book also includes an in-depth discussion of the methods used to unfold or correct data for instrumental effects associated with measurement and process noise as well as particle and event losses, before ending with a presentation of elementary Monte Carlo techniques.

With Astronomy Today, Eighth Edition, trusted authors Eric Chaisson and Steve McMillan communicate their excitement about astronomy, delivering current and thorough science with insightful pedagogy. The text emphasizes critical thinking and visualization, and it focuses on the process of scientific discovery, teaching students how we know what we know. Alternate Versions *Astronomy Today, Volume 1: The Solar System, Eighth Edition-Focuses primarily on planetary coverage for a 1-term course. Includes Chapters 1-16, 28. *Astronomy Today, Volume 2: Stars and Galaxies, Eighth Edition-Focuses primarily on stars and stellar evolution for a 1-term course. Includes Chapters 1-5 and 16-28.

In order to analyze the light of cosmic objects, particularly at extremely great distances, spectroscopy is the workhorse of astronomy. In the era of very large telescopes, long-term investigations are mainly performed with small professional instruments. Today they can be done using self-designed spectrographs and highly efficient CCD cameras, without the need for large financial investments. This book explains the basic principles of spectroscopy, including the fundamental optical constraints and all mathematical aspects needed to understand the working principles in detail. It covers the complete theoretical and practical design of standard and Echelle spectrographs. Readers are guided through all necessary calculations, enabling them to engage in spectrograph design. The book also examines data acquisition with CCD cameras and fiber optics, as well as the constraints of specific data reduction and possible sources of error. In closing it briefly highlights some main aspects of the research on massive stars and spectropolarimetry as an extension of spectroscopy. The book offers a comprehensive introduction to spectroscopy for students of physics and astronomy, as well as a valuable resource for amateur astronomers interested in learning the principles of spectroscopy and spectrograph design.

Knowledge about the outer heliosphere and the interstellar medium, which were long treated as two separate fields, has improved dramatically over the past 25 years as a consequence of recent developments: The discovery of interstellar pickup ions and neutral helium inside the heliosphere, the determination of the interstellar hydrogen distribution in the heliosphere obtained using backscattered solar Lyman-alpha radiation, the prediction and subsequent detection of the hydrogen wall just outside of the heliopause, the development of detailed global models for the interaction of solar wind plasma with the interstellar medium, and most recently, direct in-situ plasma and field measurements inside of the heliosheath. At the same time, our understanding of the nearby galactic environment, including the composition and dynamics of the warm gas clouds and hot gas in the local bubble, has benefited greatly from absorption-line spectroscopy using nearby stars as background sources and dynamic modeling. The present volume provides a synopsis of these developments organised into seven sections: Dominant physical processes in the termination shock and heliosheath, three-dimensional shape and structure of the dynamic heliosphere, relation of the plasmas and dust inside and outside of the heliosphere, origin and properties of the very local interstellar medium, energy and pressure equilibria in the local bubble, physical processes in the multiphase interstellar medium inside of the local bubble, and the roles that magnetic fields play in the outer heliosphere and the local bubble. The last theme is probably the most basic of all as magnetic fields play important roles in most of the phenomena discussed here. The volume concludes with four papers providing the "big picture" by looking at the time evolution of both the heliosphere and the local bubble, looking beyond the local bubble, and finally addressing the challenges in modeling the interface between the two media.

Introduction. Phase Transitions in the Early Universe and Defect Formation; T.W.B. Kibble. The Topological Classification of Defects; M. Kleman. Introduction to Growth Kinetics Problems; G.F. Mazenko. Dynamics of Cosmological Phase Transitions: What Can We Learn from Condensed Matter Physics? N. Goldenfeld. Topological Defects and Phase Ordering Dynamics; A.J. Bray. The Production of Strings and Monopoles at Phase Transitions; R.J Rivers, T.S. Evans. Geometry of Defect Scattering; N.S. Manton. Theory of Fluctuating Nonholonomic Fields and Applications: Statistical Mechanics of Vortices and Defects and New Physical Laws in Spaces with Curvature and Torsion; H. Kleinert. String Network Evolution; E.P.S. Shellard. Global Field Dynamics and Cosmological Structure Formation; R. Durrer. Electroweak Baryogenesis; N.G. Turok. Dynamics of Cosmic Strings and Other Brane Models; B. Carter. Cosmological Experiments in Superfluids and Superconductors; W. Zurek. Cosmological Experiments in Liquid 4He-Problems and Prospects; P.C. Hendry et al. Index.

This volume gives an overview of knowledge about the light nuclei created in the Hot Early Universe: H, D, 3He, 4He, and 7Li. It combines observational and theoretical results on the early Universe, the distant galaxies, our Milky Way, the local interstellar cloud, and the solar nebula. The implications for cosmology, galactic and stellar evolution, dark matter research etc. are outlined and directions of future research are indicated.

Unified General Relativity and Quantum Theory: Unified Symmetry: In the Small and in the Large; B.N. Kursunogammalu. Results from Quantum Cosmological Gravity; R.P. Woodard. The Very Early Universe: Baryogenesis from Electroweak Strings; M. Barriola. Reconstructing the Inflation Potential; E.W. Kolb, et al. Beyond Potential Dominated Inflation; K. Freese, J. Levin. Axitons; E.W. Kolb, I. Tkachev. Power Spectrum of Cosmic String Perturbations on the Microwave Background; L. Perivolaropoulos. Progress in New and Old Ideas: Time Reversal for Spacetime and Internal Symmetry; E.C.G. Sudarshan. Superstring Fermion Vertex and Gauge Symmetry in Four Dimensions; L. Dolan. Massive String Status as Extreme; M.J. Duff, J. Rahmfeld. Z' Diagnostics at Future Colliders; M. Cvetic. Aspects of Particle Physics: Siberian Snakes and Polarized Beams; L.G. Ratner. Polarized Lepton Experiments; D.G. Crabb. Progress in Neutrino Physics: A Survey of Experiments and Theory; S.L. Mintz, M. Pourkaviani. Further Inspirations from the Electroweak Theory, Supersymmetry, Supergravity: Implications of Supersymmetric Grand Unification; V. Barger, et al. Realistic Superstring Models; A.E. Faraggi. Flavor Mixing and the Generation of Mass; H. Fritzsch. Unification of Fundamental Interactions in Supersymmetry; P. Nath, R. Arnowitt. Dynamical Problems of Baryogenesis; J.M. Cornwall. Conference Program. Index.

Since 1967, the most prominent events of a General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union have been published in a separate volume. The "Highlight of Astronomy" (Volume 9) reports on the major scientific presentations made at the XXIst General Assembly July 23 August 1, 1991, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The present volume contains the text of the three invited Discourses and of the papers presented during seven Joint Discussion Meetings and eight Joint Commission Meetings.

It is now clear that a binary evolutionary pathway is responsible for a significant fraction of all planetary nebulae, with some authors even going so far as to claim that binarity may be a near requirement for the formation of an observable nebula. This has led to the requirement that textbooks most likely need to be rewritten. Building upon the review of Jones and Boffin in Nature Astronomy (2017), this Springer Brief takes a first step in this direction. It offers the first expanded presentation of all the theoretical and observational support for the importance of binarity in the formation of planetary nebulae, initially focusing on common envelope evolution but also covering wider binaries. This book emphasises the wider impact of the field, highlighting the critical role binary central stars of planetary nebulae have in understanding a plethora of astrophysical phenomena, including type Ia supernovae, chemically peculiar stars and circumbinary exoplanets.

Launching of the Coral Gables Conferences on High Energy Physics and Cosmology: The Launching of the Coral Gables Conferences on High Energy Physics and Cosmology and the Establishment of the Center for Theoretical Studies at the University of Miami; B.N. Kursunoglu. Neutrino Physics: Neutrino Oscillations at Accelerators; F. Vannucci. KARMEN: Present Neutrino Oscillation Limits and Perspectives after the Upgrade; G. Drexlin. Progress on New and Old Ideas: Exotic Hadrons; D.B. Lichtenberg. Orthogonal Mixing and CP Violation; P.H. Frampton. Round Trip Between Cosmology and Elementary Particles: Physics of Mass; B.N. Kursunoglu. Progress and Prospects in the Direct Search for Supersymmetric and Dark Matter Particles; D.B. Cline. Gauge Symmetries, Gravity and Srings: Gauge Symmetry in Fivebrane Conformal Field Theory; L. Dolan. Exact Local Supersymmetry Absence of Superpartners and Noncommutative; F. Mansouri. Light Cone Quantization: Adjoint QCD2 in Large N; S. Pinsky. Nonperturbative Renormalization in Light-Cone Quantization; J.R.Hiller. Current Experiments in High Energy Physics: Search for New Particles with DELPHI at LEP2; W. Adam. W Physics Results from DELPHI; H.T. Phillips. 8 Additional Articles. Index.

Astronomer, planetary scientist, astrophysicist, exobiologist, educator, public figure, skeptic--all these hats represent important parts of Carl Sagan's complex, multifaceted career. Perhaps best known as the host of the popular television series Cosmos, Sagan offered to the world his extraordinary gift for cross-disciplinary research, his deep well of integrated visions and fruitful ideas, his vivid imagination, and his wealth of nonstop enthusiasm.
This concise, lively biography examines Carl Sagan's steady growth as a man, as a scientist, and as a communicator--a man who had both odd quirks and great charisma, who had an immensely eclectic knowledge base and a unique understanding of the central place of science in the human experience, all of which dovetailed smoothly with his phenomenal ability to communicate.
Separate chapters are devoted to Sagan's interest in the origin of life, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), and his work on Cosmos, where he collaborated with Ann Druyan, whom he eventually married and who remained his wife to the end of his life. There are also sections on Sagan's public advocacy for science and critical stance toward pseudoscience and his role as an activist for the environment and the safe use of atomic power.
This updated, paperback edition of Carl Sagan: A Biography contains many new photos as well as textual additions by Ann Druyan. Veteran science writers Spangenburg and Moser have captured much of the enthusiasm, gift for effective communication, and unflinching honesty that characterized Carl Sagan's life and career.