Synopses & Reviews
VOYAGES THROUGH THE UNIVERSE provides students and professors with the ideal combination of authors and experience. It is written by an award-winning astronomy educator (Fraknoi) and two distinguished research scientists (Morrison at NASA and Wolff at NOAO). This author team combines the latest science with classroom-tested teaching strategies and a student-friendly approach. Through unique group activities and a focus on astronomy as a human endeavor, the authors engage and involve students, helping them both understand and enjoy astronomy. The Media Update features the latest research and most recent discoveries since the original publication of the third edition, including the first pictures from the Huygens landing on Titan, the latest results from the Mars Exploration Rovers, and an updated section about extra solar planets. Automatically packaged at no additional cost with every new copy of the text, AceAstronomy, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and TheSky™ Planetarium Software CD-ROM, the Media Update provides the strongest package of interactive learning tools available for students of astronomy today.
Review
"I think the strength of this text is that it is very well-written in a voice that is non-intimidating, which is very good when trying to teach, especially students without much background in science or math (like ours)."
Review
"This text is rather unique. The authors have written in a manner that is very accessible. The typical student of today is significantly different from those of 15 or 20 years ago, and this text is a significant step toward addressing the needs of those students."
About the Author
Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College near San Francisco, where his courses are taken by about 900 students per year. He is also Director of Project ASTRO at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a national program that forms partnerships between volunteer astronomers and school teachers in their communities. From 1978 to 1992 he was Executive Director of the Society, as well as Editor of MERCURY Magazine and the UNIVERSE IN THE CLASSROOM Newsletter. He has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, Cañada College, and the University of California Extension Division. He is co-author and editor of THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS and MORE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, two widely used collections of astronomy teaching activities and resources. In the 1980's, he was scientific editor of THE PLANETS and THE UNIVERSE, two collections of science articles and science fiction stories. For five years he was David Morrison is the Senior Scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, where he participates in a variety of research programs in astrobiology -- the study of the living universe. From 1996-2001 he was the Director of Space at NASA Ames Research Center, managing basic and applied research programs in the space, life, and Earth sciences. Dr. Morrison received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University, and until he joined NASA he was Professor of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. Internationally known for his research on small bodies in the solar system, Dr. Morrison is the author of more than 120 technical papers and has published a dozen books. He chaired the official NASA study of impact hazards that recommended that a Spaceguard Survey be carried out to search for potentially threatening asteroids and comets and in 1995 received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for this work. He is also the recipient of the Dryden Medal for research from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and of the Klumpke-Roberts award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for contributions to science education. He has served as President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Chair of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and President of the Planetary Commission of the International Astronomical Union. He was awarded the Presidential Meritorious Rank in 1999, and asteroid 2410 Morrison is named in his honor.Sidney C. Wolff received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and then joined the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. During the 17 years she spent in Hawaii, the Institute for Astronomy developed Mauna Kea into the world's premier international observatory. She became Associate Director of the Institute for Astronomy in 1976 and Acting Director in 1983. During that period, she earned international recognition for her research, particularly on stellar atmospheres and how they can help us understand the evolution, formation, and composition of stars. In 1984, she was named Director of the Kitt Peak National Observatory and in 1987 became Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. She was the first woman to head a major observatory in the United States. As Director of NOAO, she and her staff oversaw facilities used annually by nearly 1000 visiting scientists. During its early phases, she was Director of the Gemini Project, which is an international program to build two state-of-the-art 8m telescopes. She is currently on the scientific staff of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories where she is serving as project scientist for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. She has served as President of the American Astronomical Society. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Carleton College, a liberal arts school that excels in science education. With Andrew Fraknoi, she is founding editor of the Astronomy Education Review, an electronic journal devoted to education in astronomy and space science. The author of more than 70 professional articles, she has written a monograph, The A-Type Stars: Problems and Perspectives, as well as several astronomy textbooks.
Table of Contents
Preface for the Student. Preface for the Instructor. Prologue: Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour. 1. Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy. 2. Orbits and Gravity. 3. Earth, Moon, and Sky. 4. Radiation and Spectra. 5. Astronomical Instruments. 6. Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System. 7. Earth as a Planet. 8. Cratered Worlds: The Moon and Mercury. 9. Earth-like Planets: Venus and Mars. 10. The Giant Planets. 11. Rings, Moons, and Pluto. 12. Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System. 13. Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar System. 14. The Sun: Our Star. 15. The Sun: A Nuclear Powerhouse. 16. Analyzing Starlight. 17. The Stars: A Celestial Census. 18. Celestial Distances. 19. Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space. 20. The Birth of Stars and the Search for Planets. 21. Stars: From Adolescence to Old Age. 22. The Death of Stars. 23. Black Holes and Curved Spacetime. Interlude: Stellar Corpses in Action: Gamma-ray Bursts. 24. The Milky Way Galaxy. 25. Galaxies. 26. Quasars and Active Galaxies. 27. Mapping the Universe. 28. The Big Bang. 29. Astrobiology and the Search for Life Elsewhere. Appendix 1: Astronomy on the World Wide Web. Appendix 2: Sources of Astronomical Information. Appendix 3: Glossary. Appendix 4: Powers-of-Ten Notation. Appendix 5: Units Used in Science. Appendix 6: Some Useful Constants for Astronomy. Appendix 7: Data for the Planets. Appendix 8: Satellites of the Planets. Appendix 9: Upcoming (Total) Eclipses. Appendix 10: The Nearest Stars. Appendix 11: The Brightest Stars. Appendix 12: The Brightest Members of the Local Group. Appendix 13: The Chemical Elements. Appendix 14: The Constellations. Appendix 15: The Messier Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters. Index. Star Maps.