Synopses & Reviews
With his best-selling astronomy textbook, HORIZONS, author Mike Seeds helps you understand your place in the universe-not just your location in space, but your role in the unfolding history of the physical universe. To achieve this goal, he focuses on two central questions: "What Are We?," which highlights your place as a planet dweller in an evolving universe, guiding you to better understand where we came from and how we formed, and "How Do We Know?," which provides insights into how the process of science can teach us more about what we are. Each new copy of the text includes access to CengageNOW, an online personalized learning system that will save you time in studying and help you prepare for exams through a series of diagnostic tests and personalized study plans.
Synopsis
This newly revised and updated Ninth Edition of HORIZONS shows students their place in the universe ? not just their location, but also their role as planet dwellers in an evolving universe. Fascinating and engaging, the book illustrates how science works, and how scientists depend on evidence to test hypotheses. Students will learn to focus on the scientific method through the strong central questioning themes of "What are we?" and "How do we know?" Students are also provided with an assessment tool, AceAstronomy, to help test their knowledge of the concepts through assessment, tutorials, and post-tests.
About the Author
Mike Seeds is Professor, Emeritus of Astronomy at Franklin and Marshall College, where he has taught since 1970. His research interests have focused on peculiar variable stars and the automation of astronomical telescopes. He extended his research by serving as the principal astronomer in charge of the Phoenix 10, the first fully robotic telescope, located in southern Arizona. In 1989, he received the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. In addition to teaching, writing, and doing research, Mike has published educational systems for use in computer-smart classrooms. His interest in the history of astronomy led him to offer the upper-level courses Archaeoastronomy and Changing Concepts of the Universe, which is a history of cosmology from ancient times to Newton. He also has published educational software for preliterate toddlers. Mike was Senior Consultant in the creation of the 26-episode telecourse UNIVERSE: THE INFINITE FRONTIER. He is the author of several introductory astronomy textbooks, including HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, 10e (2008) and PERSPECTIVES OF ASTRONOMY (2008).
Table of Contents
Part I: THE SKY. 1. The Scale of the Cosmos. 2. The Sky. 3. The Cycles of the Sky. 4. The Origin of Modern Astronomy. 5. Astronomical Tools. Part II: THE STARS. 6. Starlight and Atoms. 7. The Sun-Our Star. 8. The Family of Stars. 9. The Formation and Structure of Stars. 10. The Deaths of Stars. 11. Neutron Stars and Black Holes. Part III: THE UNIVERSE OF GALAXIES. 12. The Milky Way Galaxy. 13. Galaxies. 14. Galaxies with Active Nuclei. 15. Cosmology in the 21st Century. Part IV: THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 16. The Origin of the Solar System. 17. Comparative Planetology of the Terrestrial Planets. 18. Comparative Planetology of the Outer Planets. 19. Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Part V: LIFE. 20. Life on Other Worlds. Afterword. Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data. Appendix B: Observing the Sky. Glossary. Answers to Even-Numbered Problems. Index.