Working physicists, and especially astrophysicists, value a good `back-of-the-envelope' calculation, meaning a short, elegant computation or argument that starts from general principles and leads to an interesting result. This book guides students on how to understand astrophysics using general principles and concise calculations - endeavouring to be elegant where possible and using short computer programs where necessary. The material proceeds in approximate historical order. The book begins with the Enlightenment-era insight that the orbits of the planets is easy, but the orbit of the Moon is a real headache, and continues to deterministic chaos. This is followed by a chapter on spacetime and black holes. Four chapters reveal how microphysics, especially quantum mechanics, allow us to understand how stars work. The last two chapters are about cosmology, bringing us to 21st-century developments on the microwave background and gravitational waves.

Since its inception, general relativity has been unreceptive to a marriage with the quantum aspects of our universe. Following the ideas of Einstein, one may pursue an approach that allows spacetime itself to take centre stage. The quantum properties of matter are then carried by the dynamics of spacetime shape and connectivity. This monograph introduces the reader to the foundations of quantum spacetime in a manner accessible to researchers and students. Likewise, interested laymen that lack a strong background in quantum mechanics or spacetime studies but are keen to learn would find this information worthwhile. It can be shown from the first principles how spacetime is globally built up by paths which constitute entire histories in four dimensions. The central physical idea is that the collective existence of observers and observed derives from one mimicking the other unremittingly, thereby inducing tangible reality. This world of identity by mimicry creates a multitude of interacting histories. Throughout the text, experiments are used to derive physical principles. Obtained results are therefore intuitive and accessible to non-experts. This monograph also discusses consequences of quantum spacetime for black holes, dark energy, inflation, the Higgs boson, and the multiverse.

This textbook on the nature of space and time explains the new theory of Space Dynamics, which describes the dynamics of gravity as the evolution of conformal 3-dimensional geometry. Shape Dynamics is equivalent to Einstein's General Relativity in those situations in which the latter has been tested experimentally, but the theory is based on different first principles. It differs from General Relativity in certain extreme conditions. Shape Dynamics allows us to describe situations in which the spacetime picture is no longer adequate, such as in the presence of singularities, when the idealization of infinitesimal rods measuring scales and infinitesimal clocks measuring proper time fails. This tutorial book contains both a quick introduction for readers curious about Shape Dynamics, and a detailed walk-through of the historical and conceptual motivations for the theory, its logical development from first principles and a description of its present status. It includes an explanation of the origin of the theory, starting from problems posed first by Newton more than 300 years ago. The book will interest scientists from a large community including all foundational fields of physics, from quantum gravity to cosmology and quantum foundations, as well as researchers interested in foundations. The tutorial is sufficiently self-contained for students with some basic background in Lagrangian/Hamiltonian mechanics and General Relativity.

"The Virtue of Heresy - Confessions of a Dissident Astronomer" is a narrative account of the 30-year struggle by the author to put the "physical" back into "physics". With sporadic assistance from a fictional alter-ego character named Haquar, the author traces the history of astronomy and physics to the point of their confluence with meta-mathematics. From there on, the fundamental hypotheses of cosmology, and indeed of physical science generally, became increasingly detached from observed reality and more like psychedelic mind games than works of empirical science. Hilton Ratcliffe guilelessly confronts these issues head-on, spicing the tale with humour and fascinating anecdotes of his association with some of the finest scientific minds of our era. His passion for true science and child-like awe at the wonders of the Universe are infused in every line. A classic.

Fred Hoyle was one of the most widely acclaimed and colourful scientists of the twentieth century, a down-to-earth Yorkshireman who combined a brilliant scientific mind with a relish for communication and controversy. Best known for his steady-state theory of cosmology, he described a universe with both an infinite past and an infinite future. He coined the phrase 'big bang' to describe the main competing theory, and sustained a long-running, sometimes ill-tempered, and typically public debate with his scientific rivals. He showed how the elements are formed by nuclear reactions inside stars, and explained how we are therefore all formed from stardust. He also claimed that diseases fall from the sky, attacked Darwinism, and branded the famous fossil of the feathered Archaeopteryx a fake. Throughout his career, Hoyle played a major role in the popularization of science. Through his radio broadcasts and his highly successful science fiction novels he became a household name, though his outspokenness and support for increasingly outlandish causes later in life at times antagonized the scientific community. Jane Gregory builds up a vivid picture of Hoyle's role in the ideas, the organization, and the popularization of astronomy in post-war Britain, and provides a fascinating examination of the relationship between a maverick scientist, the scientific establishment, and the public. Through the life of Hoyle, this book chronicles the triumphs, jealousies, rewards, and feuds of a rapidly developing scientific field, in a narrative animated by a cast of colourful astronomers, keeping secrets, losing their tempers, and building their careers here on Earth while contemplating the nature of the stars.

The two-volume book Gravitational Waves provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the physics of gravitational waves. While Volume 1 is devoted to the theory and experiments, Volume 2 discusses what can be learned from gravitational waves in astrophysics and in cosmology, by systematizing a large body of theoretical developments that have taken place over the last decades. The second volume also includes a detailed discussion of the first direct detections of gravitational waves. In the author's typical style, the theoretical results are generally derived afresh, clarifying or streamlining the existing derivations whenever possible, and providing a coherent and consistent picture of the field. The first volume of Gravitational Waves, which appeared in 2007, has established itself as the standard reference in the field. The scientific community has eagerly awaited this second volume. The recent direct detection of gravitational waves makes the topics in this book particularly timely.

"Ptolemy's Universe" is a modern examination of the cosmological and philosophical dimensions of Ptolemy's thought as presented in his astronomical works. Claudius Ptolemy (second century AD) ranks as one of the most important figures in the history of science, especially renowned for his contribution to mathematical astronomy. Within astronomical works such as "The Mathematical Syntaxis", Ptolemy presented some of his views on natural philosophy, epistemology and ethics, and explained their pertinence to his astronomy. While much has been written about Ptolemy's mathematical work, few attempts have been made to understand his philosophical and cosmological ideas. In this book, Dr Taub shows how Ptolemy's conception of the celestial bodies as divine beings shaped his philosophical thinking, and how this in turn influenced his study of the heavens. Dr Taub's examination of the place of Ptolemy's ideas within the broader context of Greek philosophy, mathematics and culture, provides insights into the nature of Greek scientific thought.

Through the lens of Chinese food, the authors address recent theories in social science concerning cultural identity, ethnicity, boundary formation, consumerism and globalization, and the invention of local cuisine in the context of rapid culture change in East and Southeast Asia.

Viele Zweige der Physik wie Gravitation, Thermodynamik, Atomphysik und Kernphysik tragen zur Bestimmung des inneren Aufbaus der Sterne bei. Die physikalischen Bedingungen sind in Sternen extremer als auf der Erde. Eine erfolgreiche Erforschung ihres Aufbaus sollte zeigen, in- wieweit man die auf der Erde erprobten physikalischen Gesetze auf diese Bedingungen extrapolieren kann. Ein beachtlicher Fortschritt konnte bei der Erklarung der beobachteten Eigenschaften der Sterne bereits erzielt werden, viele Beobachtungen kannen aber noch nicht vollstandig gedeutet werden. Ein Hauptanliegen dieses Buches ist es, den Leser in ein sich entwickelndes Gebiet einzu- fuhren und dabei die Unsicherheiten gegenwartiger Theorien ent- sprechend herauszustellen. AuBer in einigen Sonderfallen, wie beispielsweise bei den Einheiten Parsec und Elektronenvolt, werden alle numerischen GraBen in SI- Einheiten angegeben. Eine Liste der wichtigeren in diesem Buch be- nutzten Symbole und ein Verzeichnis der numerischen Werte physika- lischer Konstanten (mit der benatigten Genauigkeit) findet man auf den nachfolgenden Seiten. Da dies vermutlich das erste astronomische Buch ist, das SI-Einheiten benutzt, muB sich der Leser darauf einstellen, in anderer Literatur c.g.s.-Einheiten anzutreffen. Viele Autoren haben zu unserem gegenwartigen Wissensstand in der Sternentwicklung, beigetragen, es erscheinen aber nur wenige Namen im Text, da es unmaglich ist, entsprechende Erwahnungen bei jedem Beitrag zum Gegenstand in einem Buch dieses Umfangs anzubringen.

Die Funktechnik ermoeglicht die Ausweitung der astronomischen Beobachtungen uber das Licht hinaus auf andere Frequenzbereiche. Dies fuhrte zur Entdeckung zahlreicher kosmischer Radioquellen, deren physikalische Ursachen erlautert werden, ebenso die Funktionsweise eines Radioteleskops. Schon mit kleinen Radioteleskopen kann die Strahlung der Sonne und anderer Radioquellen sowie die 21-cm-Strahlung aus der Milchstrasse beobachtet werden. Durch Interferometrie kann eine wesentlich hoehere Aufloesung als mit einzelnen Radioteleskopen erzielt werden. Dadurch kann die radioastronomische Forschung zu vielen aktuellen Fragen der Astronomie, Kosmologie und Physik beitragen.

Jonas Pohl liefert eine didaktisch aufbereitete Einfuhrung in die Gedankenwelt der Allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie. Er gibt einen Einblick in die Grundlagen von 100 Jahren Relativitatstheorie und spannt dabei den Bogen von der Speziellen Relativitatstheorie im Jahr 1905 bis hin zum aktuellsten Ereignis, der Entdeckung der Gravitationswellen im Fruhjahr 2015. Der Autor bietet damit besonders Studierenden des Lehramts die Moeglichkeit, die Essenz der Allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie in verstandlicher und nachvollziehbarer Weise zu erfassen.

Laboratory astrophysics is the Rosetta Stone that enables astronomers to understand and interpret the distant cosmos. It provides the tools to interpret and guide astronomical observations and delivers the numbers needed to quantitatively model the processes taking place in space, providing a bridge between observers and modelers. IAU Symposium 350 was organized by the International Astronomical Union's Laboratory Astrophysics Commission (B5), and was the first topical symposium on laboratory astrophysics sponsored by the IAU. Active researchers in observational astronomy, space missions, experimental and theoretical laboratory astrophysics, and astrochemistry discuss the topics and challenges facing astronomy today. Five major topics are covered, spanning from star- and planet-formation through stellar populations to extragalactic chemistry and dark matter. Within each topic, the main themes of laboratory studies, astronomical observations, and theoretical modeling are explored, demonstrating the breadth and the plurality of disciplines engaged in the growing field of laboratory astrophysics.

Jurgen Beetz zeigt zuerst den Ursprung der erdachten Geschichten der Physik aus der Steinzeit, denn vieles ist so einfach, dass es schon Steinzeitmenschen hatten verstehen koennen. Im Anschluss daran untersucht der Autor das Weltall auf seine Bestandteile: Monde, Planeten, Sterne, Galaxien usw. Daraus ergibt sich die Frage nach dessen Struktur und Dynamik: Ist das Universum ewig, endlos, konstant? Nichts davon: Es hat eine Entstehungsgeschichte, es expandiert und verandert sich - zum Teil aus noch ungeklarten Ursachen. Besonderes Augenmerk richtet er auf die Expansion des Weltalls und die sich daraus ergebenden Folgen.

Auf den Spuren der NASA: Zu den faszinierendsten Moglichkeiten fur Sternfreunde zahlt die eigene Erkundung des Sonnensystems. WOlkenwirbel aiuf Jupter, Jahrszeitenwechsel auf Mars oder Sonnenaufgange auf dem Mond werden im Fernrohr zum personlichen Erlebnis. Mit Zeichnungen, Fotos und hochauflosender CCD-Technik kann der Amateur kosmische Landschaften dokumentieren. Das praxisnahe Mehrautorenbuch 'Plaeten beobachten', herausgegeben von Gunter D. Roth in der 5.Auflage vermittelt unentbehrliche Tipps und Tricks fur perfekte Weltraumerlebnisse."

Si ripercorre la storia della cosmologia moderna, dal XVIII secolo fino alle piu recenti scoperte (l'opera e aggiornata fino alla fine 2010). La cosmologia fa uso di concetti complessi, che vengono spesso fraintesi, o che non vengono compresi del tutto, da chi non e specialista del campo. Lo scopo del volume e di trattare esaustivamente tali concetti, entrando nel dettaglio per far cogliere intuitivamente il loro significato autentico anche ai non addetti: a questo scopo, si fa uso di metafore calzanti, di analogie newtoniane, di trattazioni quantitative che richiedono solo le conoscenze di fisica e di matematica di uno studente di scuola media superiore. Vengono discusse le idee piu importanti e controverse che sono attualmente al centro del dibattito cosmologico, come la materia oscura e l'energia oscura. Vengono sviluppati i concetti di base della Relativita Generale e del Modello Standard delle particelle elementari.

Scopo del testo e' introdurre i concetti base della fisica stellare, della fisica delle galassie e della cosmologia con approccio essenzialmente fisico. La prima parte presenta le tecniche osservative sia nella banda ottica, sia nelle alte frequenze e nella banda radio. La parte dedicata alle stelle discute modelli di struttura e l evoluzione. La terza parte e dedicata alle galassie, morfologia, formazione ed evoluzione, per giungere allo studio della distribuzione sulle grandi scale. La sezione di cosmologia presenta i modelli cosmologici relativistici, con la discussione del big-bang, inflazione, materia oscura, energia oscura. Il testo rappresenta la raccolta delle lezioni tenute dall autore per i corsi introduttivi di astrofisica delle lauree specialistiche in Fisica e Astrofisica nei passati 30 anni, ma include elementi avanzati utili per corsi introduttivi di astrofisica nel dottorato in Fisica. Il testo e' anche stato utilizzato in forma preliminare da colleghi di altre sedi.

The aim of this book is to become a major reference text for gravitational-wave physics, covering in detail both the experimental and the theoretical aspects. It is the only existing book on gravitational waves to date, and it will likely remain unique for its broadness and scope. It brings the reader to the forefront of present-day research, both theoretical and experimental, assuming no previous knowledge of gravitational-wave physics. Part I of Volume 1 is devoted to the theory of gravitational waves. Here we have re-derived - in a coherent way - most of the results that we present, clarifying or streamlining existing derivations. Part II of Volume 1 is devoted to a description of experimental gravitational-wave physics. We discuss in great detail existing and planned experiments, as well as data analysis techniques.

In diesem kompetent geschriebenen Lehrbuch wird, ausgehend von der Beschreibung unserer Milchstrasse, die Astronomie der Galaxien und ihrergrossraumigen Verteilungeingehend dargestellt und schliesslich im kosmologischen Kontext diskutiert. Aufbauend auf eine Einfuhrung in die moderne beobachtende und theoretische Kosmologie wird die Entstehung von Strukturen und astronomischen Objekten im fruhen Universum besprochen.

Peter Schneiders Einfuhrung in die extragalaktische Astronomie und Kosmologie fullt eine Lucke im Angebotastronomischer Lehrbucher, indem es Studenten mit Grundkenntnissen in Astronomie und Astrophysik die Moglichkeit bietet, sich umfassend in diese faszinierenden und aktuellen Gebiete der Astronomie einzuarbeiten."

This concise textbook, the first volume in the Ohio State Astrophysics Series, covers all aspects of the interstellar and intergalactic medium for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. This series aims to impart the essential knowledge on a topic that every astrophysics graduate student should know, without going into encyclopedic depth. This text includes a full discussion of the circumgalactic medium, which bridges the space between the interstellar and intergalactic gas, and the hot intracluster gas that fills clusters of galaxies. Its breadth of coverage is innovative, as most current textbooks treat the interstellar medium in isolation. The authors emphasise an order-of-magnitude understanding of the physical processes that heat and cool the low-density gas in the universe, as well as the processes of ionization, recombination, and molecule formation. Problems at the end of each chapter are supplemented by online projects, data sets and other resources.

Black holes present one of the most fascinating predictions of Einstein's general theory of relativity. There is strong evidence of their existence through observation of active galactic nuclei, including the centre of our galaxy, observations of gravitational waves, and others. There exists a large scientific literature on black holes, including many excellent textbooks at various levels. However, most of these steer clear from the mathematical niceties needed to make the theory of black holes a mathematical theory. Those which maintain a high mathematical standard are either focused on specific topics, or skip many details. The objective of this book is to fill this gap and present a detailed, mathematically oriented, extended introduction to the subject. The book provides a wide background to the current research on all mathematical aspects of the geometry of black hole spacetimes.

Accounting for the astonishing developments in the field of "Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology," this second edition has been updated and substantially expanded. Starting with the description of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, this cogently written textbook introduces the reader to the astronomy of galaxies, their structure, active galactic nuclei, evolution and large scale distribution in the Universe. After an extensive and thorough introduction to modern observational and theoretical cosmology, the focus turns to the formation of structures and astronomical objects in the early Universe. The basics of classical astronomy and stellar astrophysics needed for extragalactic astronomy are provided in the appendix.

The new edition incorporates some of the most spectacular results from new observatories like the Galaxy Evolution Explorer, Herschel, ALMA, WMAP and Planck, as well as new instruments and multi-wavelength campaigns which have expanded our understanding of the Universe and the objects populating it. This includes new views on the galaxy population in the nearby Universe, on elliptical galaxies, as well as a deeper view of the distant Universe approaching the dark ages, and an unprecedented view of the distant dusty Universe. Schneider also discusses the impressive support for the standard model of the Universe, which has been substantially strengthened by recent results, including baryon acoustic oscillations (an approach which has significantly matured over the years), results from the completed WMAP mission and from the first Planck results, which have confirmed and greatly improved on these findings, not least by measuring the gravitational lensing effect on the microwave background. Further, a new chapter focusing on galaxy evolution illustrates how well the observations of distant galaxies and their central supermassive black holes can be understood in a general framework of theoretical ideas, models, and numerical simulations.

Peter Schneider s "Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology" offers fundamental information on this fascinating subfield of astronomy, while leading readers to the forefront of astronomical research. But it seeks to accomplish this not only with extensive textual information and insights; the author s own passion for exploring the workings of the Universe, which can be seen in the text and the many supporting color illustrations, will further inspire the reader.
While this book has grown out of introductory university courses on astronomy and astrophysics and includes a set of problems and solutions, it will not only benefit undergraduate students and lecturers; thanks to the comprehensive coverage of the field, even graduate students and researchers specializing in related fields will appreciate it as a valuable reference work.

From the reviews of the first edition:

..".Masterful blending of observation and theory; lucid exposition... (D. E. Hogg, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (10), June, 2007)"

"Through the richness of the color illustrations and through the deep insight of the content, the book will most certainly lead the reader to the forefront of astronomical research in this very interesting and fascinating domain of astronomy. will not only be highly appreciated by undergraduate students in astronomy but also by graduate students and researchers involved in the field who will certainly appreciate its comprehensive coverage. (Emile Biemont, Physicalia Magazine, Vol. 29 (4), 2007)"
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In this fascinating work, Jean Dietz Moss shows how the scientific revolution begun by Copernicus brought about another revolution as well--one in which rhetoric, previously used simply to explain scientific thought, became a tool for persuading a skeptical public of the superiority of the Copernican system.
Moss describes the nature of dialectical and rhetorical discourse in the period of the Copernican debate to shed new light on the argumentative strategies used by the participants. Against the background of Ptolemy's "Almagest," she analyzes the gradual increase of rhetoric beginning with Copernicus's "De Revolutionibus" and Galileo's "Siderius nuncius," through Galileo's debates with the Jesuits Scheiner and Grassi, to the most persuasive work of all, Galileo's "Dialogue," The arguments of the Dominicans Bruno and Campanella, the testimony of Johannes Kepler, and the pleas of Scriptural exegetes and the speculations of John Wilkins furnish a counterpoint to the writings of Galileo, the centerpiece of this study.
The author places the controversy within its historical frame, creating a coherent narrative movement. She illuminates the reactions of key ecclesiastical and academic figures figures and the general public to the issues.
Blending history and rhetorical analysis, this first study to look at rhetoric as defined by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century participants is an original contribution to our understanding of the use of persuasion as an instrument of scientific debate.