×
Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.
Overview
Astrophysics is the physics of the stars, and more widely the physics of the Universe. It enables us to understand the structure and evolution of planetary systems, stars, galaxies, interstellar gas, and the cosmos as a whole.
In this Very Short Introduction, the leading astrophysicist James Binney shows how the field of astrophysics has expanded rapidly in the past century, with vast quantities of data gathered by telescopes exploiting all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, combined with the rapid advance of computing power, which has allowed increasingly effective mathematical modelling. He illustrates how the application of fundamental principles of physics - the consideration of energy and mass, and momentum - and the two pillars of relativity and quantum mechanics, has provided insights into phenomena ranging from rapidly spinning millisecond pulsars to the collision of giant spiral galaxies. This is a clear, rigorous introduction to astrophysics for those keen to cut their teeth on a conceptual treatment involving some mathematics.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable
In this Very Short Introduction, the leading astrophysicist James Binney shows how the field of astrophysics has expanded rapidly in the past century, with vast quantities of data gathered by telescopes exploiting all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, combined with the rapid advance of computing power, which has allowed increasingly effective mathematical modelling. He illustrates how the application of fundamental principles of physics - the consideration of energy and mass, and momentum - and the two pillars of relativity and quantum mechanics, has provided insights into phenomena ranging from rapidly spinning millisecond pulsars to the collision of giant spiral galaxies. This is a clear, rigorous introduction to astrophysics for those keen to cut their teeth on a conceptual treatment involving some mathematics.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780198752851 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Publication date: | 06/01/2016 |
Series: | Very Short Introductions |
Pages: | 144 |
Sales rank: | 160,261 |
Product dimensions: | 4.20(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.50(d) |
About the Author
James Binney is a highly distinguished astrophysicist at Oxford University. He is head of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, and has been awarded the Maxwell Medal and the Dirac Medal of the Institute of Physics. A specialist in galactic dynamics, he is the author of three widely used graduate textbooks, including The Physics of Quantum Mechanics (OUP, 2013), co-authored with David Skinner.
Table of Contents
PrefaceBig ideas
Gas between the stars
Stars
Accretion
Planetary Systems
Relativistic astrophysics
Galaxies
The big picture
Further reading
Index
Customer Reviews
Related Searches
Explore More Items
Algebra marked the beginning of modern mathematics, moving it beyond arithmetic, which involves calculations featuring ...
Algebra marked the beginning of modern mathematics, moving it beyond arithmetic, which involves calculations featuring
given numbers, to problems where some quantities are unknown. Now, it stands as a pillar of mathematics, underpinning the quantitative sciences, both social and physical.This ...
Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this ...
Assyria was one of the most influential kingdoms of the Ancient Near East. In this
Very Short Introduction, Karen Radner sketches the history of Assyria from city state to empire, from the early 2nd millennium BC to the end of ...
The atmosphere is the thin, diffuse fluid that envelops the Earth's surface. Despite its apparent ...
The atmosphere is the thin, diffuse fluid that envelops the Earth's surface. Despite its apparent
fragility, the existence of this fluid is vital for human and other life on Earth.In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Palmer describes the physical and ...
Exploring the cultural and institutional dimensions of Christianity, and tracing its course over two millennia, ...
Exploring the cultural and institutional dimensions of Christianity, and tracing its course over two millennia,
Linda Woodhead provides a fresh, lively, and candid portrait of Christianity's past and present. Addressing topics including the competition for power between different forms of ...
How many possible sudoku puzzles are there? In the lottery, what is the chance that ...
How many possible sudoku puzzles are there? In the lottery, what is the chance that
two winning balls have consecutive numbers? Who invented Pascal's triangle? (it was not Pascal)Combinatorics, the branch of mathematics concerned with selecting, arranging, and listing or ...
Corruption is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of extreme poverty, unemployment, the rising ...
Corruption is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of extreme poverty, unemployment, the rising
cost of food and energy, climate change, and terrorism. It is thought to be one of the principal causes of poverty around the globe. Its ...
Environmental politics has many faces and operates at multiple scales: it preoccupies individuals as well ...
Environmental politics has many faces and operates at multiple scales: it preoccupies individuals as well
as governments, drives local agreements as well as international treaties, results in minor business changes as well as wholesale business decisions, and fluctuates between a ...
A vast subject that includes a strange vocabulary and an apparent mass of facts, human ...
A vast subject that includes a strange vocabulary and an apparent mass of facts, human
anatomy can at first appear confusing and off-putting. But the basic construction of the human body - the skeleton, the organs of the chest and ...