Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology - Tapa dura

Acerca del autor

Ian Morison began his love of astronomy when, at the age of 12, he made a telescope out of lenses given to him by his optician. He went on to study Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at Oxford and in 1970 was appointed to the staff of the University of Manchester where he now teaches astronomy, computing and electronics.

He is a past president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, one of the UK's largest astronomical societies. He remains on the society's council and holds the post of instrument advisor helping members with their choice and use of Telescopes.

He lectures widely on astronomy, has co-authored for books for amateur astronomers and writes regularly for the two UK astronomy magazines. He also writes a monthly sky guide for the Jodrell Bank Observatory's web site and produces an audio version as part of the Jodrell Bank Podcast. He has contributed to many television programmes and is a regular astronomy commentator on local and national radio. Another activity he greatly enjoys is to take amateur astronomers on observing trips such as those to Lapland to see the Aurora Borealis and on expeditions to Turkey and China to observe total eclipses of the Sun.

In 2003 the Minor Planets Committee of the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 15,727 in his honour, citing his work with MERLIN, the world's largest linked array of radio telescopes, and that in searching for intelligent life beyond our Solar System in Project Phoenix. In 2007 he was appointed tot the post of Gresham Professor of Astronomy. Dating from 1597, this is the oldest astronomy professorship in the world and was once held by Christopher Wren.

De la contraportada

Introduction to Astronomy & Cosmology is based on a successful course given by the author to give first year university students a thorough grounding in modern astronomy and to describe the techniques that have given rise to many exciting discoveries. The book also aims to show that astronomy is a wonderful showcase for fundamental physics and how it determines the fabric of the Universe.

The Chapters are Organised as Follows:

• Astronomy, an observational science
• Our Solar System I - the Sun
• Our Solar System II - the Planets
• Extra-solar planets
• Observing the Universe
• The Properties of Stars
• Stellar Evolution - the life and death of stars
• galaxies and the Large Scale Structure of the Universe
• Cosmology - the origin and evolution of the universe

Every concept is accompanied by worked examples including problems at the end of each chapter. Complex mathematics are not required to use this book.

This highly illustrated textbook, including numerous colour images, though primarily written for undergraduates, will also be of interest to amateur astronomers and students studying astronomy in senior school.