Astronomy The Solar System and Beyond

by Seeds, Michael A.; Backman, Dana

• ISBN13: 9780495562030
• ISBN10: 0495562033
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-05
• Publisher: Brooks Cole

Summary

With this newly revised 6th edition of ASTRONOMY: THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND, Mike Seeds and Dana Backman's goal is to help students use astronomy to understand science and use science to understand what we are. Fascinating and engaging, this text illustrates the scientific method and guides students to these fundamental questions: "What are we?" and "How do we know?" In discussing the interplay between evidence and hypothesis, The authors provide not just facts, but a conceptual framework for understanding the logic of science. The book vividly conveys their love of astronomy, and illustrates how students can comprehend their place in the universe by grasping a small set of physical laws. Crafting a story about astronomy, The authors show students how to ask questions to gradually puzzle out the beautiful secrets of the physical world. With the use of mathematics set off in boxes, the book's presentation is flexible and allows instructors to teach to differing student levels. This is the only Seeds/Backman text to be written using a traditional planets-first approach. The revision addresses new developments in astrophysics and cosmology, plus the latest discoveries, from Mars' buried water to proto-galaxies at the limits of the observable universe.

Table of Contents

The Sky

Here and Now

The Sky

Cycles of the Sky

The Origin of Modern Astronomy

Light and Telescopes

Atoms and Starlight

The Solar System

The Solar System: An Overview

Terrestrial Planets

Jovian Planets, Pluto, and the Kuiper Belt

Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets

The Sun

The Stars

The Family of Stars

The Formation and Structure of Stars

The Deaths of Stars

Neutron Stars and Black Holes

The Universe of Galaxies

The Milky Way Galaxy

Galaxies

Active Galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes

Modern Cosmology

Life

Life on Other Worlds

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.