Astrophysical Concepts (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library)

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This classic text, aimed at senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics and astronomy, presents a wide range of astrophysical concepts in sufficient depth to give the reader a quantitative understanding of the subject. Emphasizing physical concepts, the book outlines cosmic events but does not portray them in detail: It provides a series of astrophysical sketches. For this third edition, nearly every part of the text has been reconsidered and rewritten; new sections have been added to cover recent developments, and most of the rest has been revised and brought up to date.
The book begins with an outline of the scope of modern astrophysics and the elementary problems concerning the scale of cosmic objects and events. The basic physics needed to answer these questions is developed in the next chapters, using specific astronomical processes as examples. The second half of the book enlarges on the topics introduced at the beginning and shows how we can obtain quantitative insights into the structure and evolution of stars, the dynamics of cosmic gases, the large-scale behavior of the universe, and the origins of life.
The emphasis is on astrophysics, so astronomical objects (white dwarfs, supernovae, comets, quasars) are mentioned throughout the text whenever the relevant physics is discussed rather than in individual sections. To compensate, there is an appendix that gives a brief background of astronomical concepts for students unfamiliar with astronomical terminology, as well as a comprehensive index. The extensive bibliography refers to other sources that treat individual topics in detail.

Astrophysical Concepts (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library) Review

I'm currently teaching a topics class on astrophysics to a collection of (mostly) senior level non-physics majors (engineers, math majors, computer scientists, etc) and had a lot of trouble trying to find an appropriate book. There are not many which are both (a) detailed, (b) broad, and (c) at the appropriate level. Most books for undergraduates are either too focused (i.e. on cosmology) or too elementary. Most of the comprehensive books are too advanced.This book strikes a nice balance between mathematical sophistication and generality, but it can be a little difficult to read in places, particularly for someone without a strong physics background. Since my class consists mostly of interested, advanced, non-physics majors I didn't feel that the book meshed well with my class goals. However, the book did suit *me* very well and I'm using it extensively as a source of examples, additional problems and lecture preparation.I selected "Modern Astrophysics" by Carroll and Ostlie as the class text because it was a little more wordy and explanitory and because the "astrophysical sketch" approach taken in Harwitt's book is fine for someone who has a strong background in physics (which is, after all, the intended audience) but not "user friendly" enough for advanced students from other fields.It was a tough choice though - this is an excellent book. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews� Was this review helpful to you?�Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment Comment

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