Synopses & Reviews
With this newly revised tenth edition of FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY, author Mike Seeds' goal is to help you use astronomy to understand science--and use science to understand what we are. Fascinating and engaging, this text will help you answer two fundamental questions: What are we? How do we know? This edition addresses the newest developments and latest discoveries in the exciting study of astronomy, including new data on Jupiter's ring system; new observations of the shapes of stars; new evidence of dark energy, quasars, and galaxy collisions; and a look inside supernova explosions. And for students looking for an interactive alternative to the print text, the FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Online Version is the ideal solution. The Online Version gives you Web-based access to a digital version of Michael A. Seeds' best-selling astronomy textbook. If your instructor is using the Enhanced WebAssign? online homework management system, the Online Version includes access to your homework assignments as well, allowing you to quickly navigate between your homework and the text. Visit www.webassign.net/seeds to learn more.
Synopsis
With this newly revised Eleventh Edition of FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY, the authors' goals are to help you use astronomy to understand science--and use science to understand what we are. Fascinating, engaging, and visually vibrant, this text will help you answer two fundamental questions: What are we? And how do we know? This edition addresses the newest developments and latest discoveries in the exciting study of astronomy, including information to emphasize observations over the entire electromagnetic spectrum; new data on star formation and stellar structure; new insight on global warming and ozone depletion; updated information on the Kuiper belt and dwarf planets; and much more. For students looking for an interactive alternative to the print text, the FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Online Version delivers the ideal solution.
About the Author
Michael A. Seeds has been Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Franklin and Marshall (F&M) College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 1970. In 1989, he received F&M College's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Seeds' love for the history of astronomy led him to create upper-level courses on Archaeoastronomy and Changing Concepts of the Universe. His research interests focus on variable stars and the automation of astronomical telescopes. Mike is coauthor with Dana Backman and Michele Montgomery of HORIZONS HYBRID: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Thirteenth Edition, and UNIVERSE HYBRID: SOLAR SYSTEM, STARS AND GALAXIES, Eighth Edition, both published by Cengage Learning. He was Senior Consultant in the creation of the twenty-six-episode telecourse accompanying the book HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Twelfth Edition. Dana Backman works for the SETI Institute of Mountain View, California, as director of outreach for the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission at NASA's Ames Research Center. He also teaches introductory astronomy, astrobiology, and cosmology courses in Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. From 1991 to 2003, he taught in the physics and astronomy department at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he invented and taught a Life in the Universe course in the interdisciplinary Foundations program. Dr. Backman's research interests focus on infrared observations of planet formation, models of debris disks around nearby stars, and evolution of the solar system's Kuiper Belt. With Mike Seeds, he also coauthored HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Twelfth Edition (2012); UNIVERSE: SOLAR SYSTEMS, STARS, AND GALAXIES, Seventh Edition (2012); and FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY (2013), all published by Cengage Learning. Dr. Backman earned his bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his doctorate from the University of Hawai'i.
Table of Contents
PART I: EXPLORING THE SKY. 1. Here and Now. 2. The Sky. 3. Cycles of the Moon. 4. The Origin of Modern Astronomy. 5. Gravity. 6. Light and Telescopes. PART II: THE STARS. 7. Atoms and Starlight. 8. The Sun. 9. The Family of Stars. 10. The Interstellar Medium. 11. The Formation and Structure of Stars. 12. Stellar Evolution. 13. The Deaths of Stars. 14. Neutron Stars and Black Holes. PART III: THE UNIVERSE. 15. The Milky Way Galaxy. 16. Galaxies. 17. Active Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes. 18. Modern Cosmology. PART IV: THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 19. The Origin of the Solar System. 20. Earth: The Standard of Comparative Planetology. 21. The Moon and Mercury: Comparing Airless Worlds. 22. Comparative Planetology of Venus and Mars. 23. Comparative Planetology of Jupiter and Saturn. 24. Uranus, Neptune, and the Dwarf Planets. 25. Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. PART V: LIFE. 26. Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds. Afterword. Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data. Appendix B: Observing the Sky. Glossary. Answers to Even-Numbered Problems. Index.