Title: Fundamental Astronomy Author(s): Hannu Karttunen, Pekka Kroger, Heikki Oja et al. Pages: 568 Publisher: Springer; 3 edition Publication date: 1996 Language: English Format: DJVU ISBN-10: 3540609369 ISBN-13: Description: Fundamental Astronomy gives a well-balanced and comprehensive introduction to the various fields of classical and modern astronomy. While emphasizing both the astronomical concepts and the underlying physical principles, the text provides a sound basis for more profound studies in the astronomical sciences.
The present corrected printing of the revised and enlarged third edition of this successful textbook includes a host of new knowledge acquired in recent years. In particular the chapters on observations and on the physics of the Sun have been thoroughly revised.
Review
REVIEWS OF FIRST EDITION
"unique among available texts and has so much to offer ... no one involved in astronomy teaching will want to be without a copy."
THE PHYSICS TEACHER
"a welcome addition to the 'introductory' textbooks available for astronomy courses."
AMERICAN SCIENTIST
"the wide range of expertise gives the book an authority that would be almost impossible for a single-author text ... there are other aids to the reader: worked examples ... starred sections in small print take the inquisitive reader beyond the general level of the book."
NATURE
Contemporary Physics, 1995, on a previous edition
"...very clearly aimed at the science student market, and would make an excellent undergraduate or starting post-graduate textbook.... This book represents excellent value for the serious student of astronomy and astrophysics, and I would highly recommend it as a general undergraduate text. It covers the whole field of modern astronomy in a clear and concise way that is rare in modern introductory-level textbooks."
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Spherical Astronomy
3 Observations and Instruments
4 Photometric Concepts and Magnitudes
5 Radiation Mechanisms
6 Temperatures
7 Celestial Mechanics
8 The Solar System
9 Stellar Spectra
10 Binary Stars and Stellar Masses
11 Stellar Structure
12 Stellar Evolution
13 The Sun
14 Variable Stars
15 Compact Stars
16 The Interstellar Medium
17 Star Clusters and Associations
18 The Milky Way
19 Galaxies
20 Cosmology
App. A Mathematics
App. B Quantum Mechanics
App. C Theory of Relativity
App. D Radio Astronomy Fundamentals
App. E. Tables
Answers to Exercises
Further Reading
Photograph Credits
Name and Subject Index
Colour Supplement