Voyages to the Planets (with CD-ROM, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and InfoTrac) - Softcover

Fraknoi, Andrew; Morrison, David; Wolff, Sidney C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0534395678 ISBN 13: 9780534395674

Publisher: Brooks Cole, 2003

Synopsis

VOYAGES TO THE PLANETS provides students and professors with the ideal combination of authors and experience. It is written by an award-winning astronomy educator (Fraknoi) and two distinguished research scientists (Morrison at NASA and Wolff at NOAO). This author team combines the latest science with classroom-tested teaching strategies and a student-friendly approach. Through unique group activities and a focus on astronomy as a human endeavor, the authors engage and involve students, helping them both understand and enjoy astronomy. The market-leading technology package includes access to InfoTrac College Edition (free!) and TheSky™ Student Edition CD-ROM (free!), as well as an optional package with the RedShift™ College Edition CD-ROM (including animations) along with an accompanying workbook.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College near San Francisco, where his courses are taken by about 900 students per year. He is also Director of Project ASTRO at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a national program that forms partnerships between volunteer astronomers and school teachers in their communities. From 1978 to 1992 he was Executive Director of the Society, as well as Editor of MERCURY Magazine and the UNIVERSE IN THE CLASSROOM Newsletter. He has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, Canada College, and the University of California Extension Division. He is co-author and editor of THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS and MORE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, two widely used collections of astronomy teaching activities and resources. In the 1980's, he was scientific editor of THE PLANETS and THE UNIVERSE, two collections of science articles and science fiction stories. For five years he was the lead author of a nationally syndicated newspaper column on astronomy, and he appears regularly on radio and television explaining astronomical developments. With Sidney Wolff, he is co-editor of ASTRONOMY EDUCATION REVIEW, a new on-line journal/magazine for those working in space science education. (http://aer.noao.edu) In addition, he has organized three national symposia on teaching introductory astronomy at the college level, and over 20 national workshops on improving the way astronomy is taught in earlier grades. He has received the Annenberg Foundation Prize of the American Astronomical Society and the Klumpke-Roberts Prize of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his contributions to the public understanding of astronomy. Asteroid 4859 was named Asteroid Fraknoi in 1992 in recognition of his work in astronomy education.

Review

Preface for the Student. Preface for the Instructor. Prologue: Science and the Universe: A Brief Tour. 1. Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy. 2. Orbits and Gravity. 3. Earth, Moon, and Sky. 4. Radiation and Spectra. 5. Astronomical Instruments. 6. Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar System. 7. Earth as a Planet. 8. Cratered Worlds: The Moon and Mercury. 9 Earth-like Planets: Venus and Mars. 10. The Giant Planets. 11. Rings, Moons, and Pluto. 12. Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar System. 13. Cosmic Samples and the Origin of Planetary Systems. 14. The Sun: A Garden-Variety Star. 15. Life in the Universe. Appendices: 1. Astronomy on the World Wide Web. 2. Sources of Astronomical Information. 3. Glossary. 4. Powers-of-Ten Notation. 5. Units Used in Science. 6. Some Useful Constants for Astronomy. 7. Data for the Planets. 8. Selected Satellites of the Planets. 9. Upcoming (Total) Eclipses. 10. The Nearest Stars. 11. The Brightest Stars. 12. The Brightest Members of the Local Group of Galaxies. 13. The Chemical Elements. 14. The Constellations. 15. The Messier Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters. Index.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brooks Cole
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0534395678
• ISBN 13: 9780534395674
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 448