Scientific American Book of Astronomy : The Best Writing on Black Holes, Gamma-Ray Bursters, Galactic Explosions, Extraterrestrial Life and Much More

by Editors of Scientific American Magazine; Introduction by Timothy Ferris

• ISBN13: 9781585742844
• ISBN10: 1585742848
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2001-06-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

The Scientific American Book of Astronomy presents an astonishing array of knowledge that has shaped our understanding of space thus far, and which continues to stimulate and drive our collective imagination. As Timothy Ferris so eloquently writes in his introduction, "Consider some of the cosmic wonders explored in the book, and ask yourself what poet or artist ever imagined anything so strange." Book jacket.

Author Biography

Timothy Ferris is emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Timothy Ferris
I Rays, Waves, and Particles	1	(30)
Gamma-Ray Bursters	3	(10)
Bradley E. Schaefer
Cosmic Rays at the Energy Frontier	13	(8)
James W. Cronin
Thomas K. Gaisser
Simon P. Swordy
Gamma-Ray Bursts	21	(10)
Gerald J. Fishman
Dieter H. Hartmann
II Comets, Asteroids, and Meteorites	31	(42)
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Meets Jupiter	33	(10)
David H. Levy
Eugene M. Shoemaker
Carolyn S. Shoemaker
Collisions with Comets and Asteroids	43	(10)
Tom Gehrels
The Kuiper Belt	53	(10)
Jane X. Luu
David C. Jewitt
The Oort Cloud	63	(10)
Paul R. Weissman
III Planets	73	(56)
The Pioneer Mission to Venus	75	(12)
Janet G. Luhmann
James B. Pollack
Lawrence Colin
The Case for Relic Life on Mars	87	(12)
Everett K. Gibson, Jr.
David S. McKay
Kathie Thomas-Keprta
Christopher S. Romanek
Global Climatic Change on Mars	99	(10)
Jeffrey S. Kargel
Robert G. Strom
Searching for Life in Our Solar System	109	(8)
Bruce M. Jakosky
Worlds around Other Stars	117	(12)
David C. Black
IV Stars	129	(48)
Collapse and Formation of Stars	131	(10)
Alan P. Boss
Binary Neutron Stars	141	(12)
Tsvi Piran
SOHO Reveals the Secrets of the Sun	153	(10)
Kenneth R. Lang
Accretion Disks in Interacting Binary Stars	163	(14)
John K. Cannizzo
Ronald H. Kaitchuck
V Galaxies	177	(62)
How the Milky Way Formed	179	(12)
Sidney van den Bergh
James E. Hesser
The Evolution of Galaxy Clusters	191	(8)
J. Patrick Henry
Ulrich G. Briel
Hans Bohringer
Colossal Galactic Explosions	199	(8)
Sylvain Veilleux
Gerald Cecil
Jonathan Bland-Hawthorn
Dark Matter in Spiral Galaxies	207	(14)
Vera Rubin
A New Look at Quasars	221	(8)
Michael Disney
Galaxies in the Young Universe	229	(10)
F. Duccio Macchetto
Mark Dickinson
VI The Universe	239	(80)
The Evolution of the Universe	241	(10)
P. James E. Peebles
David N. Schramm
Edwin L. Turner
Richard G. Kron
Primordial Deuterium and the Big Bang	251	(8)
Craig J. Hogan
Dark Matter in the Universe	259	(8)
Vera Rubin
The Inflationary Universe	267	(18)
Alan H. Guth
Paul J. Steinhardt
The Self-Reproducing Inflationary Universe	285	(12)
Andrei Linde
Black Holes and the Information Paradox	297	(12)
Leonard Susskind
The Expansion Rate and Size of the Universe	309	(10)
Wendy L. Freedman
VII Technology	319	(34)
Early Results from the Hubble Space Telescope	321	(12)
Eric J. Chaisson
The International Space Station	333	(8)
Tim Beardsley
Six Months on Mir	341	(12)
Shannon W. Lucid
About the Authors	353	(10)
Index	363