Synopses & Reviews
Addressing the newest developments and latest discoveries in the exciting study of astronomy, this revised seventh edition of STARS AND GALAXIES helps students use astronomy to understand science and use science to understand what we are. Fascinating and engaging, STARS AND GALAXIES illustrates the scientific method and guides students to answer these fundamental questions: What are we? How do we know? In discussing the interplay between evidence and hypothesis, author Michael Seeds provides not only facts but also a conceptual framework for understanding the logic of science. Coverage includes observations of the shapes of stars; evidence of dark energy, quasars, and galaxy collisions; and a look inside supernova explosions. And whether you choose to assign homework in an online environment, give your students access to an affordable and interactive online text, or do both, FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY Online Version (which contains the complete text of STARS AND GALAXIES) is the ideal solution for your course needs. The Online Version gives your students Web-based access to a digital version of Michael A. Seeds' best-selling astronomy textbook as well as the online Enhanced WebAssign? homework management system so you can assign and manage homework online. Visit academic.cengage.com/astronomy/seeds for an interactive demonstration today!
Synopsis
With this newly revised Eighth Edition of STARS AND GALAXIES, 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?
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. Where Are You? When Is Now? Why Study Astronomy? 2. A User's Guide to the Sky. The Stars. The Sky and Celestial Motion. The Cycles of the Sun. Astronomical Influences on Earth's Climate. 3. Cycles of the Moon. The Changeable Moon. Lunar Eclipses. Solar Eclipses. Predicting Eclipses. 4. The Origin of Modern Astronomy. The Roots of Astronomy. The Copernican Revolution. Planetary Motion. Galileo Galilei. Modern Astronomy. 5. Gravity. Galileo and Newton. Orbital Motion and Tides. Einstein and Relativity. 6. Light and Telescopes. Radiation: Information from Space. Telescopes. Observations on Earth: Optical and Radio. Airborne and Space Observatories. Astronomical Instruments and Techniques. Nonelectromagnetic Astronomy. PART II: THE STARS. 7. Atoms and Spectra. Atoms. Interactions of Light and Matter. Understanding Spectra. 8. The Sun. The Solar Atmosphere. Solar Activity. Nuclear Fusion in the Sun. 9. The Family of Stars. Star Distances. Apparent Brightness, Intrinsic Brightness, and Luminosity. Stellar Spectra. Star Sizes. Star Masses--Binary Stars. A Census of the Stars. 10. The Interstellar Medium. Studying the Interstellar Medium. Components of the Interstellar Medium. The Gas-Stars-Gas Cycle. 11. The Formation and Structure of Stars. Making Stars from the Interstellar Medium. The Orion Nebula: Evidence of Star Formation. Young Stellar Objects and Protostellar Disks. Stellar Structure. The Source of Stellar Energy. 12. Stellar Evolution. Main-Sequence Stars. Post-Main-Sequence Evolution. Star Clusters: Evidence of Evolution. Variable Stars: Evidence of Evolution. 13. The Deaths of Stars. Lower-Main-Sequence Stars. The Evolution of Binary Stars. 14. Neutron Stars and Black Holes. Neutron Stars. Black Holes. Compact Objects with Disks and Jets. PART III: THE UNIVERSE. 15. The Milky Way Galaxy. Discovery of the Galaxy. Structure of the Galaxy. Spiral Arms and Star Formation. The Nucleus of the Galaxy. Origin and History of the Milky Way Galaxy. 16. Galaxies. The Family of Galaxies. Measuring the Properties of Galaxies. The Evolution of Galaxies. 17. Active Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes. Active Galactic Nuclei. Supermassive Black Holes. 18. Modern Cosmology. Introduction to the Universe. The Big Bang Theory. Space and Time; Matter and Energy. Twenty-First-Century Cosmology. PART IV: LIFE. 19. Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds. The Nature of Life. Life in the Universe. Intelligent Life in the Universe. Afterword. Appendix A: Units and Astronomical Data. Introduction. Fundamental and Derived SI Units. Appendix B. Observing the Sky.