21st Century Astronomy - Softcover

Hester, Jeff; Smith, Bradford; Blumenthal, George; Kay, Laura; Voss, Howard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393931986 ISBN 13: 9780393931983

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010

Synopsis

With 21st Century Astronomy, students see the universe through the eyes of a scientist.

21st Century Astronomy’s distinctive writing style, superior art, and supporting media package all work together to teach students how science works, help students visualize basic concepts and physical processes, and keep students focused on the “big picture.”

For the Third Edition, the entire text has been reread from a student’s perspective and rewritten to eliminate jargon and ensure that the book’s hallmark tone resounds throughout every chapter. New Visual Analogy icons help students connect the textual analogies used to describe physical processes with the figures that illustrate them, and new AstroTour animations and simulations developed at the University of Nebraska provide students with opportunities for interactive learning.

About this title

About the Authors

Jeff Hester is professor of physics and astronomy at Arizona State University. He studies the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and external galaxies, the structure of the diffuse ISM, and supernova remnants.


Brad Smith is a retired professor of planetary science. He has served as an associate professor of astronomy at New Mexico State University, a professor of planetary sciences and astronomy at the University of Arizona, and as a research astronomer at the University of Hawaii. Through his interest in Solar System astronomy, he has participated as a team member or imaging team leader on several U.S. and international space missions, including Mars Mariners 6, 7, and 9; Viking; Voyagers 1 and 2; and the Soviet Vega and Phobos missions. He later turned his interest to extrasolar planetary systems, investigating circumstellar debris disks as a member of the Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS experiment team. Brad has four times been awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement. He is a member of the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature and is Chair of the Task Group for Mars Nomenclature.

George Blumenthal is the director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California, Berkeley. From 2006 to 2019 he was chancellor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He joined the UC Santa Cruz faculty as a professor of astronomy and astrophysics in 1972. Chancellor Blumenthal received his BS degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and his PhD in physics from the University of California, San Diego. As a theoretical astrophysicist, Blumenthal's research encompasses several broad areas, including the nature of the dark matter that constitutes most of the mass in the universe, the origin of galaxies and other large structures in the universe, the earliest moments in the universe, astrophysical radiation processes, and the structure of active galactic nuclei such as quasars.

Laura Kay is Ann Whitney Olin professor and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College, where she has taught since 1991. She received a BS degree in physics and an AB degree in feminist studies from Stanford University, and MS and PhD degrees in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California–Santa Cruz. As a graduate student she spent 13 months at the Amundsen Scott station at the South Pole in Antarctica, and has had fellowships in Chile and Brazil. She studies active galactic nuclei using optical and X-ray telescopes. At Barnard she teaches courses on astronomy, astrobiology, women and science, and polar exploration.


Howard Voss is professor of physics emeritus at Arizona State University and has been active in the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393931986
• ISBN 13: 9780393931983
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 651