Astronomy: A Beginner*s Guide to the Universe

Brief Description: The authors incorporate three themes in this briefer version of their two textbooks; process of science (how we know what we know), the size and scale of the universe as well as the evolution of the universe. A Beginner's Guide emphasizes critical thinking and visualization, and a leading-edge technology program. Key Topics: Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy, The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science, Light and Matter: The Inner Workings of the Cosmos, Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy, The Solar System: Interplanetary Matter and the Birth of the Planets, Earth and Its Moon: Our Cosmic Backyard, The Terrestrial Planets: A Study in Contrasts, The Jovian Planets: Giants of the Solar System, Moons, Rings, and Plutoids: Small Worlds Among Giants, The Sun: Our Parent Star, Measuring the Stars: Giants, Dwarfs, and the Main Sequence, The Interstellar Medium: Star Formation in the Milky Way, Stellar Evolution: The Lives and Deaths of Stars, Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter, The Milky Way Galaxy: A Spiral in Space, Normal and Active Galaxies: Building Blocks of the Universe, Hubble's Law and Dark Matter: The Large-Scale Structure of the Cosmos, Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe, Life in the Universe: Are We Alone? Market: Intended for those interested in learning the basics of astronomy

Eric Chaisson

Eric holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Harvard University, where he spent 10 years on the faculty of Arts and Sciences. For several years thereafter, he was a senior scientist and director of educational programs at the Space Telescope Science Institute and adjunct professor of physics at Johns Hopkins University. For the past decade, Eric has been at Tufts University, where he is a

research professor in the Department of Physics and in the School of Education, and director of the Wright Center for Innovative Science Education. He has written 12 books on astronomy, which have received such literary awards as the Phi Beta Kappa Prize, two American Institute of Physics Awards, and Harvard’s Smith-Weld Prize for Literary Merit. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in professional journals and has also received Harvard’s Bok Prize for original contributions to astrophysics.

  Steve McMillan

Steve holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from Cambridge University and a doctorate in astronomy

from Harvard University. He held post-doctoral positions  at the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, where he continued his research in theoretical astrophysics, star clusters, and numerical modeling. Steve is currently Distinguished Professor of Physics at Drexel University and a frequent visiting researcher at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Amsterdam. He has published more than 70 scientific papers in professional journals.