Advances in astronomy : from the big bang to the solar system / editor : J.M.T. Thompson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Thompson, J. M. T.

Royal Society (Great Britain)

Craig M. Merrihue Memorial Fund.

Series:

Royal Society series on advances in science 1793-1827 ; v. 1.

Royal Society series on advances in science, 1793-1827 ; v. 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomy.

Cosmology.

Physical Description:

xvi, 417 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

From the big bang to the solar system

Place of Publication:

London : Imperial College Press ; Hackensack, NJ : distributed by World Scientific Publishing, [2005]

Summary:

In this highly accessible book, leading scientists from around the world give a general overview of research advances in their subject areas within the field of Astronomy. They describe some of their own cutting-edge research and give their visions of the future. Re-written in a popular and well-illustrated style, the articles are mainly derived from scholarly and authoritative papers published in special issues of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions, the world's longest running scientific journal. Carefully selected by the journal's editor, topics include the Big Bang creation of the universe, the formation and evolution of the stars and galaxies, cold dark matter, explosive sun-spot events, and humankind's exploration of the solar system. The book conveys the excitement and enthusiasm of the authors for their work at the frontiers of astronomy. All are definitive reviews for people with a general interest in the future directions of science.

Contents:

Cosmology and the Big Bang 1

1 Thirteen Billion Years in Half an Hour / Bruce A. Bassett 3

2 The Paradigm of Inflation / J. Garcia-Bellido 19

3 Cosmology with Varying Constants / C. J. A. P. Martins 41

4 Small Scales, Big Issues for Cold Dark Matter / Andrew J. Benson 59

5 Violence and Black Holes in the Hearts of Galaxies / Carole G. Mundell 77

Probing the Universe 97

6 First Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Results: Implications for Cosmology and Inflation / Hiranya Peiris 99

7 Quest for Gravitational Waves / B. S. Sathyaprakash 123

8 Strong-Field Tests of Relativistic Gravity with Pulsars / Michael Kramer 143

9 Gamma-Ray Bursts as Cosmological Probes / Nial R. Tanvir 167

10 New Radio Interferometers and Data Access: Investigations of Star Formation / A. M. S. Richards, R. A. Laing 185

Stars and Conditions for Life 207

11 Gamma-Ray Bursts / Davide Lazzati 209

12 Astrophysical Dust / Malcolm Gray 227

13 The Astrophysics of Crowded Places / Melvyn Davies 245

14 Astrochemistry: From Molecular Clouds to Planetary Systems / Andrew Markwick 263

15 Extrasolar Planets / Hugh R. A. Jones, James S. Jenkins 281

Solar System and Climate Change 303

16 Our Solar System / Andrew Coates 305

17 Planetary Upper Atmospheres / Ingo Muller-Wodarg 331

18 The Solar Dynamo / Steven Tobias 355

19 Explosions on the Sun / Louise K. Harra 375

20 Solar Variability, Coupling between Atmospheric Layers and Climate Change / Neil Arnold 391.

Notes:

At head of title: The Royal Society.

"Derived in part from work originally published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, series A (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, 360, 2649-3004, 2002)."

Includes bibliographical reference and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Craig M. Merrihue Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

1860945775

9781860945779

OCLC:

63204512