The Solar System (with InfoTrac and CD-ROM)

by Seeds, Michael A.

• ISBN13: 9780534394493
• ISBN10: 0534394493
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-11
• Publisher: Brooks Cole

Table of Contents

Part 1: Exploring the Sky
The Scale of the Cosmos	1	(9)
The Sky	10	(21)
The Stars	11	(4)
The Sky and Its Motion	15	(4)
The Sky Around Us	16	(2)
Frameworks for Thinking About Nature: Scientific Models	18	(1)
Understanding Versus Naming: The True Goal of Science	19	(1)
The Cycles of the Sun	19	(2)
The Motion of the Planets	21	(5)
The Cycle of the Seasons	22	(3)
Astrology and Pseudoscience	25	(1)
Astronomical Influences on Earth's Climate	26	(5)
The Foundation of Science: Evidence	28	(3)
The Cycles of the Moon	31	(21)
The Changeable Moon	33	(3)
Gravity: The Universal Force	33	(1)
The Phases of the Moon	34	(2)
The Tides	36	(2)
Lunar Eclipses	38	(3)
3-D Relationships	39	(2)
Solar Eclipses	41	(5)
Predicting Eclipses	46	(6)
The Origin of Modern Astronomy	52	(26)
The Roots of Astronomy	53	(6)
The Copernican Revolution	59	(9)
The Ancient Universe	60	(4)
Creating New Ways to See Nature: Scientific Revolutions	64	(4)
The Puzzle of Planetary Motion	68	(6)
Hypothesis, Theory, and Law: Levels of Confidence	73	(1)
Modern Astronomy	74	(4)
Newton, Einstein, and Gravity	78	(22)
Galileo and Newton	79	(6)
Mass	83	(1)
The Unstated Assumption of Science: Cause and Effect	84	(1)
Orbital Motion	85	(7)
Orbiting Earth	86	(3)
Energy	89	(1)
Testing a Theory by Prediction	90	(2)
Einstein and Relativity	92	(8)
Light and Telescopes	100	(25)
Radiation: Information from Space	101	(3)
Optical Telescopes	104	(9)
Resolving Power and the Resolution of a Measurement	108	(2)
Modern Astronomical Telescopes	110	(3)
Special Instruments	113	(2)
Radio Telescopes	115	(3)
Space Astronomy	118	(7)
Part 2: The Stars
Starlight and Atoms	125	(23)
Starlight	126	(3)
Thermal Energy and Heat	127	(2)
Atoms	129	(3)
Quantum Mechanics: The World of the Very Small	131	(1)
The Interaction of Light and Matter	132	(4)
Atomic Spectra	134-135	(136)
Stellar Spectra	136	(12)
Density	145	(3)
The Sun---Our Star	148	(25)
The Solar Atmosphere	149	(7)
Data File One The Sun	149	(7)
Solar Activity	156	(10)
Building Confidence by Confirmation and Consolidation	162	(2)
Magnetic Solar Phenomena	164	(2)
Nuclear Fusion in the Sun	166	(7)
Avoiding Hasty Judgments: Scientific Faith	169	(4)
Perspective: Origins	173	(438)
The Birth and Death of Stars	174	(2)
Understanding Science: Separating Facts from Theories	175	(1)
The Universe of Galaxies	176	(1)
The Origin of the Universe	177	(2)
The Story of Matter	179	(226)
The Impossibility of Proof in Science	180	(225)
Part 4: The Solar System
The Origin of the Solar System	405	(27)
The Great Chain of Origins	406	(9)
Two Kinds of Theories: Evolution and Catastrophe	408	(6)
Scientists: Courteous Skeptics	414	(1)
A Survey of the Solar System	415	(7)
Reconstructing the Past from Evidence and Hypothesis	415	(3)
Terrestrial and Jovian Planets	418	(4)
The Story of Planet Building	422	(10)
Planet Earth	432	(16)
The Early History of Earth	433	(2)
Data File Two Earth	433	(2)
The Solid Earth	435	(7)
Scientific Imagination: Seeing the Unseen	438	(2)
The Active Earth	440	(2)
The Atmosphere	442	(6)
The Moon and Mercury: Airless Worlds	448	(23)
The Moon	449	(14)
Data File Three The Moon	449	(3)
Impact Cratering	452	(2)
How Hypotheses and Theories Unify the Details	454	(4)
Understanding Natural Processes: Follow the Energy	458	(5)
Mercury	463	(8)
Data File Four Mercury	464	(7)
Venus and Mars	471	(31)
Venus	472	(12)
Data File Five Venus	472	(6)
Graphical Manipulation of Scientific Data	478
Volcanoes	480	(484)
Mars	484	(13)
Data File Six Mars	485	(5)
The Present Is the Key to the Past	490	(7)
The Moons of Mars	497	(5)
Jupiter and Saturn	502	(33)
Jupiter	503	(11)
Data File Seven Jupiter	504	(6)
Science, Technology, and Engineering	510	(4)
Jupiter's Family of Moons	514	(7)
Saturn	521	(6)
Data File Eight Saturn	521	(3)
The Ice Rings of Saturn	524	(2)
Who Pays for Science?	526	(1)
Saturn's Moons	527	(8)
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto	535	(26)
Uranus	536	(13)
Data File Nine Uranus	538	(6)
The Rings of Uranus and Neptune	544	(5)
Neptune	549	(5)
Data File Ten Neptune	550	(4)
Pluto	554	(7)
Scientific Discoveries	555	(1)
Data File Eleven Pluto	556	(5)
Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets	561	(29)
Meteorites	562	(8)
Enjoying the Natural World	564	(3)
Selection Effects in Science	567	(3)
Asteroids	570	(7)
Comets	577	(7)
Comet Observations	578	(6)
Impacts on Earth	584	(6)
Part 5: Life
Life on Other Worlds	590	(21)
The Nature of Scientific Explanation	591	(1)
The Nature of Life	591	(5)
DNA: The Code of Life	594	(2)
The Origin of Life	596	(9)
Communication with Distant Civilizations	605	(6)
UFOs and Space Aliens	605	(6)
Afterword	611	(2)
Appendix A Units and Astronomical Data	613	(11)
Appendix B Observing the Sky	624	(14)
Glossary	638	(9)
Answers to Even-Numbered Problems	647	(2)
Credits	649	(2)
Index	651