1. Comments to the Reader
PART I: Cosmology From the Beginnings through Newton
2. The Naked-Eye Sky
3. Early Greek Astronomy
4. The Beginnings of Quantitative Astronomy
5. The New Astronomy
6. Newtonian Synthesis
PART II: The Tools of the Astronomer
7. Tools of the Astronomer – Physical Concepts
8. Tools of the Astronomer – Hardware
PART III: The Life and Death of Stars
9. Reading Stellar Spectra
10. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
11. The Structure of Stars
12. The Interstellar Medium – Birthplace of the Stars
13. Stellar Evolution – The Early Phases
14. The Late Phases of Stellar Evolution – Degenerate Corpses
15. Black Holes
PART IV: Cosmology from Herschel to the Present
16. The Discovery of Galaxies
17. The University of Galaxies
18. Active Galaxies
19. The First Cosmological Clues
20. Models of the Universe
21. The Mysterious Universe
Epilogue
22. Life Elsewhere: Are We Alone?
Appendices
Index
R.C. BLESS is from the University of Wisconsin, USA.
'Astronomy is a big subject, spanning the multi-billion light-year extent of the cosmos, and the entirety of human history. It's no easy task to encapsulate all this in a single text. The new edition of Bob Bless's book provides the best all-around treatment of the subject that I've found at the undergraduate level, including a thorough yet concise survey of astronomy's rich history, as well as rigorous but accessible explanations of diverse astrophysical phenomena. It's an admirable achievement.' -John Blakeslee, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Canada 'This new edition of Discovering the Cosmos by R.C. Bless is the best liberal arts introduction to astronomy available. Its emphasis is on understanding rather than memorizing the science. Bless includes a generous historical account in his text. And despite the limited use of explicit mathematics, this book provides excellent coverage of the science. The problem sets, observation projects, and references are excellent. Discovering the Cosmos has been my favorite introductory astronomy text since the first edition hit the market.' -Richard Hilt, Colorado College, USA
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