The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium

On Chapter 16 (A Universe of Galaxies): "This chapter is superbly done. The discussion on dark matter and the sections on 'The search for distant galaxies' and 'The Evolution of Galaxies' are exceptional. On Chapter 17 (Quasars and Active Galaxies): "Entire chapter is excellent. Discussion on quasars is excellent. Figure 17-28 on the appearance from Earth of an active galaxy--excellent." Weaknesses: "None that I can see." Specific Errors: "Couldn't find any!" "Love the starparties! These might be the best 'lab' of all. The little lightbulbs for highlighting core ideas, and especially dealing with misconceptions, are great. This is clearly a student-friendly text." "No problems with the writing style, or pace--I've got one of Pasachoff's field guides on my desk...He's a pro! And widely regarded for his science, and for his writing." "Pasachoff and Filippenko is an excellent text--certainly one of the better brief astronomy texts, and arguably the best. It reads well, it is engaging, it is clear, and it is concise." "The authors seem to have taken great pains to be accurate and to keep the reader informed of assumptions and limitations... It tells why a particular topic is important... It anticipates and clears up possible points of confusion... Brief historical notes help establish the perspective that astronomy is an ongoing, exciting, human adventure." "The level is good. The average introductory astronomy student can read it, but it has not been really 'dumbed down.' Because the authors have chosen their words with great care, it is one of the most accurate books on the market." "I like the idea of having a short book which allows the students to focus on the key ideas. I like very much [the authors'] efforts to debunk pseudo-science and distinguish such nonsense from real science." "The authors have done a good job in covering the emerging areas of astronomy." "The way that your authors integrate the physics concepts into the book is appropriate for this course. For example, I like the way they introduced general relativity by relating it to solar studies. These are difficult concepts but they were presented in such a way that they should not overwhelm the students." Weaknesses: "None that I can see." Specific Errors: "Couldn?t find any!" "Love the starparties! These might be the best ?lab? of all. The little lightbulbs for highlighting core ideas, and especially dealing with misconceptions, are great. This is clearly a student-friendly text." "No problems with the writing style, or pace--I?ve got one of Pasachoff's field guides on my desk...He's a pro! And widely regarded for his science, and for his writing." "Love the starparties! These might be the best alaba of all. The little lightbulbs for highlighting core ideas, and especially dealing with misconceptions, are great. This is clearly a student-friendly text." "No problems with the writing style, or pace--Iave got one of Pasachoffas field guides on my desk...Heas a pro! And widely regarded for his science, and for his writing."

Jay Pasachoff and Alex Filippenko combine extensive research experience (including years of research in such areas as radio astronomy, solar eclipses, supernovae, active galaxies, black holes and cosmology), teaching experience, and textbook-writing experience to offer a book that presents contemporary science in a way that students can understand. This brief and illustrated text, offers concise coverage of a wide range of astronomical topics. An early discussion of the scientific method stresses its importance in the verification of observations. The authors emphasize the study of origins in this text, first by singling out specifics in the headings of each chapter and then by dealing with a variety of relevant material in the text itself. This edition includes a chapter on the dozens of exoplanets that are being discovered around other stars.