From White Dwarfs to Black Holes: The Legacy of S. Chandrasekhar

by G. Srinivasan

Overview

From White Dwarfs to Black Holes chronicles the extraordinarily productive scientific career of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, one of the twentieth century's most distinguished astrophysicists. Among Chandrasekhar's many discoveries were the critical mass that makes a star too massive to become a white dwarf and the mathematical theory of black holes. In 1983 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics for these and other achievements.

Over the course of more than six decades of active research Chandrasekhar investigated a dizzying array of subjects. G. Srinivasan notes in the preface to this book that "the range of Chandra's contributions is so vast that no one person in the physics or astronomy community can undertake the task of commenting on his achievements." Thus, in this collection, ten eminent scientists evaluate Chandrasekhar's contributions to their own fields of specialization. Donald E. Osterbrock closes the volume with a historical discussion of Chandrasekhar's interactions with graduate students during his more than quarter century at Yerkes Observatory.

Contributors are James Binney, John L. Friedman, Norman R. Lebovitz, Donald E. Osterbrock, E. N. Parker, Roger Penrose, A. R. P. Rau, George B. Rybicki, E. E. Salpeter, Bernard F. Schutz, and G. Srinivasan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226769967
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/01/1999
Edition description:	1
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

G. Srinivasan is a member of the Raman Research Institute. He is also the editor of the Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, published by the Indian Academy of Sciences.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Stars: Their Structure and Evolution
G. Srinivasan
2. Neutron Stars Before 1967 and My Debt to Chandra
E. E. Salpeter
3. The Stellar-Dynamical Oeuvre
James Binney
4. Radiative Transfer
George B. Rybicki
5. The Negative Ion of Hydrogen
A. R. P. Rau
6. S. Chandrasekhar and Magnetohydrodynamics
E. N. Parker
7. The Virial Method and the Classical Ellipsoids
Norman R. Lebovitz
8. Making the Transition from Newton to Einstein: Chandrasekhar's Work on the Post-Newtonian Approximation and Radiation Reaction
Bernard F. Schutz
9. Stability Theory of Relativistic Stars
John L. Friedman
10. Chandrasekhar, Black Holes, and Singularities
Roger Penrose
11. Chandra and His Students at Yerkes Observatory
Donald E. Osterbrock
Contributors

What People are Saying About This

Jeremiah P. Ostriker

Written by some of the world's leading astrophysicists, the essays included [here] not only give excellent accounts of most of S. Chandrasekhar's work but also, in putting that work into context, provide a very high-level assessment of an extraordinarily productive half-century of astrophysics. This book will make an imporant contribution to the history of twentieth-century science.
—Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Princeton University

Editorial Reviews

Collects essays originally published in a 1996 issue of the , in which scientists evaluate Chandrasekhar's contribution to their own fields of specialization. Topics include the structure and evolution of stars; radiative transfer; magnetohydrodynamics; the virial method and the classical ellipsoids; stability theory of relativistic stars; and black holes and singularities. The volume closes with a discussion of Chandrasekhar's interactions with graduate students at Yerkes Observatory. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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