Product Description

Product Description
A black hole is a point of extreme mass in space-time with a radius, or event horizon, inside of which all electromagnetic radiation (including light) is trapped by gravity. A black hole is an extremely compact object, collapsed by gravity which has overcome electric and nuclear forces. It is believed that stars appreciably larger than the Sun, once they have exhausted all their nuclear fuel, collapse to form black holes: they are "black" because no light escapes their intense gravity. Material attracted to a black hole, though, gains enormous energy and can radiate part of it before being swallowed up. Some astronomers believe that enormously massive black holes exist in the centre of our galaxy and of other galaxies. This book brings together leading research from throughout the world. ... Read more

Product Description
The sun is the source of energy for life on earth and is the strongest modulator of the human physical environment. In fact, the Sun's influence extends throughout the solar system, both through photons, which provide heat, light, and ionization, and through the continuous outflow of a magnetized, supersonic ionized gas known as the solar wind. While the accomplishments of the past decade have answered important questions about the physics of the Sun, the interplanetary medium, and the space environments of Earth and other solar system bodies, they have also highlighted other questions, some of which are long-standing and fundamental. "The Sun to the Earth - and Beyond" organizes these questions in terms of five challenges that are expected to be the focus of scientific investigations in solar and space physics during the coming decade and beyond. ... Read more

Product Description
Plasma science is the study of ionized states of matter. This book discusses the field's potential contributions to society and recommends actions that would optimize those contributions. It includes an assessment of the field's scientific and technological status, as well as a discussion of broad themes such as fundamental plasma experiments, theoretical and computational plasma research, and plasma science education. ... Read more

Product Description
From Library JournalThis four-volume set contains over 3000 articles covering a broad range of topics in astronomy and astrophysics, making it one of the largest reference sources available on the topic. Murdin (End of Fire: The Supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud) and his editorial board have assembled more than 800 astronomers and astrophysicists, who produced both lengthy main articles tackling main themes in astronomy and briefer, unsigned entries. The 600-plus main articles range from 2500 to 5000 words and offer illustrations and bibliographic references, which sometimes include web sites. The shorter, unsigned articles are descriptions of space vehicles and missions, messier objects, observatories, definitions, and biographies. Most of the 2000 illustrations are black and white, with a few color-plate inserts grouped in the middle of each volume. DESCRIPTION: 4 v. (xx, 3670 p., [32] p. of plates) : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.CONTENTS: v.1. A-gel --v.2. Gem-n --v.3. O-sol --v.4. Sol-z index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must have for any student, scholor or fan of Astronomy
This is literally an encyclopedic work containing articles on every topic relating to Astronomy and Astrophysics. With contributions from over 8,000 astronomers and astrophysicists, this title is a must have for any serious collection of Astronomy materials.

Master Piece
It is the greattest collection on astronomical sciences I have ever seen. These 4 volumes contains 3670 pages, thousands of articles,written by lots of contributors. You can find handly information about astronomy and astrophysics in this encyclopedia. It is a really master piece of astronomical work, covers 30 subject areas. If it could contain information on recent developments in cosmology would be excellent. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The Quantum Challenge, Second Edition is an engaging and thorough treatment of the extraordinary phenomena of quantum mechanics, and of the enormous challenge they present to our conception of the physical world.Traditionally, the thrill of grappling with such issues is reserved for practicing scientists, while physical science, mathematics, and engineering students are often isolated from these inspiring questions.This book was written to remove this isolation.Greenstein and Zajonc present the puzzles of quantum mechanics using vivid references to contemporary experiments.The authors focus on the most striking and conceptually significant quantum phenomena, together with a clear theoretical treatment of each.The depth and extent of the challenge of quantum mechanics becomes increasingly compelling as they move from the simplest experiments involving single photons or particles, to the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen and Bell's Theorem, and then to macroscopic quantum phenomena. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Fantastic book for gaining real understanding of many key QM experimental results
As others have said, this is by far the best book for gaining a solid understanding of many key experimental results in QM until about 2002.

I am using this book for self-study and have found that it complements standard undergraduate textbooks on quantum mechanics very well. The level of the book is between (typically misleading) popular accounts and highly technical textbook or journal article accounts.As such, it assumes you have some background in calculus and modern physics.[The only textbook I am aware of that deals with more recent experiments is Auletta, Fortunato and Parisis, Quantum Mechanics, 2009.ISBN978-0-521-86963-8. This is a very fine textbook but assumes the reader is fairly sophisticated in terms of mathematics and physics background.]

excellent for first year grad students
This book is great for understanding QM conceptually. You should have studied QM at least at the undergraduate level already - the authors assume you already know the math. I'm a first year grad student in electrical engineering and the level is perfect for me (that is, challenging and slow to read, but very rewarding and not too frustrating). The authors go over a lot of spiffy experiments that have taken place in the last 50 years. They give you the experimental schematic, tell you the "expected result", give you charts of the actual result, and discuss what it means. As an engineer, this style of learning is great for me, because there's a lot of pretty diagrams and plots.

The authors also teach you how to apply the math you learned in your undergrad to actually analyze real world situations. For example, they analyze scattering events inside a fission reactor using the uncertainty principle and conclude *warning: spoilers* that the uncertainty in the position of a particle in a fission reactor is one hundred times bigger than the cross section of the nucleus it is to strike. (This is a fundamental uncertainty due to the Heisenberg Principle, not due to faulty measuring equipment). This means that we cannot visualize a fission chain reaction as these neat little balls that bounce around, splitting nuclei apart. It means that we cannot be sure what is going on inside at all. I thought that was neat.

The Foundations of Quantum Mechanics made accessible
Even after taking an advanced-level quantun mechanics course my junior year of college, I had only heard vague reference to Bell's Inequalities, and certainly had not heard of delayed-choice experiments or Bohm's formulation of quantum mechanics.I knew nothing about quantum computation, hidden variable theories, or really anything at all beyond the Copenhagen Interpretation.

Quantum mechanics tends to bring up philosophical questions in first-time students.I have a friend who after taking his first quantum course, was adamant, to near the point of hysteria, that quantum mechanics must be wrong because to him the collapse of the wave function simply did notmake sense.For him, and for myself, The Quantum Challenge was exactly what we needed.It takes questions about the meaning of quantum mechanics and answers them firmly and concretely (to the extent that the answers are known) in light of experimental results.These are the sort of things they don't teach you in physics class, where you diagnolize matrices, solve Schrodinger Equations, and learn approximation methods for months without understanding how everything you're doing works in application.

I was a teaching assistant for an intensive, 4-week quantum mechanics course for high school students this summer.The Quantum Challenge was our text.At first, I was skeptical of using this route to introduce students to quantum physics, but now I realize that it is much more successful than a traditional approach towards the mathematics of quantum.After working with Quantum Challenge, my students had a better understanding of quantum physics than they would have if we had spent four weeks trying to teach differential equations and linear algebra to them.

The book does include some math and is not for a complete beginner in quantum mechanics.Before reading it, you should understand bra-ket notation and have enough quantum mechanics to do simple one-dimensional problems, but after that, dive into the arcane and fascinating world of the quantum.

An honest presentation of the puzzles in Quantum Mechanics
This is the only pedagogical book I have seen that tries to explain the issues in interpreting Quantum Mechanics without trying to sell the reader on a philosophical direction first. The authors just try to explain the implications and rationale behind QM as it is today, without promoting a "new direction". I think this is extremely useful - even if you want to go somewhere else, it helps to know where you are, to start.

There is a lot of discussion of the relevant experiments and the issues they settle (and raise). This is rather grounding.

The reader will need a good undergraduate-level capability in mathematics and previous exposure to quantum physics, in order to make real progress with this book. I think this is unavoidable, as QM is inherently mathematical. Given this background, the reader should find this book clear and well filled-out.

(I am writing about the 1st edition - I'm not sure how the 2nd edition differs.)

Great book.
I had Professor Zajonc for my Modern Physics class. He assigned some readings from his book; I don't think anyone read it. They should have because this book is immensely readable and it was a LOT better than his lectures. I think I learned more reading this book than going to class, which admittedly I didn't do very often.

This book is an excellent bridge between popular accounts of quantum mechanics, which focus on the consequences but have no math in them at all, and technical accounts, which are all math. This book is a good medium. If you have knowledge of undergraduate math and physics you should be able to get through this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Paperback. This publication contains 46 papers presented at four symposia during the Thirty-first COSPAR Scientific Assembly, held in Birmingham, UK, in July 1996. The symposia themes reflected in the papers included: calibration and performance of the Long Wavelength Spectrometer (LWS) and Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS),ISOPHOT observations of dust around main sequence and evolved stars,AGN variability, particularly double-peaked emission lines as signatures of accretion disks in AGN, the "AGN Watch" and variability in blazars. An overview of the radio studies of pulsars was also given. ... Read more

Product Description
How would you like to get started today in the fascinating hobby of astronomy?

Let Be A Stargazer take you by the hand and guide you on your memorable journey through the universe around us.

From our small world we have gazed upon the cosmic ocean for thousands of years. Ancient astronomers observed points of light that appeared to move among the stars. They called these objects planets, meaning wanderers, and named them after Roman deities - Jupiter, king of the gods; Mars, the god of war; Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the god of love and beauty, and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture.

The stargazers also observed comets with sparkling tails, and meteors or shooting stars apparently falling from the sky. Since the invention of the telescope, three more planets have been discovered in our solar system. The science of astronomy is ever expanding.
Be A Stargazer will provide you with an understanding of astronomy and the universe around us. From our closest neighbors, the moon, sun and planets to the distant reaches of the universe, the stars and constellations, Be A Stargazer is your ultimate guide.

Be A Stargazer begins with a basic understanding of light and color. In the first three chapters you will learn the important role these forces play in astronomy and an understanding of the universe. Exciting experiments will help you in your learning.

Next we will examine the instruments used in astronomy and you will learn how to build a simple spectroscope from low cost materials.

Then it's on to our sun, moon and planets, where you will learn there distance from us and amazing facts about each of these bodies, and then beyond to study the meteoroids, asteroids and comets and ending up at the stars and constellations with star maps for observing the night sky. Be A Stargazer is the complete manual for beginning this exciting new hobby.
Astronomy is a hobby that will give you years of enjoyment and learning. Order Be A Stargazer - A Guide To Astronomy for you and your family now and get immediate delivery! ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description

These historical narratives of scientific behavior reveal the often irrational way scientists arrive at and assess their theories. There are stories of Einstein’s stubbornness leading him to reject a correct interpretation of an experiment and miss an important deduction from his own theory, and Newton missing the important deduction from one of his most celebrated discoveries. This enlightening book clearly demonstrates that the greatest minds throughout history arrived at their famous scientific theories in very unorganized ways and they often did not fully grasp the significance and implications of their own work.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good book, bad title
This is a fascinating little book that has 12 self-contained chapters that cover topics including measurements of the Sun and Moon, planetary motion, projectile motion and the expanding universe. Neat stuff about Newton and him linking colour with musical tones. We read about the historical context of work by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Einstein. The emphasis is on the discovery process, with detail and wit and understanding from a physics major turned professor of history. This is a good book to supplement history of science texts. And it's a great book to read after Kuhn's classics. It's well illustrated, well researched and has plenty of notes and references to allow further study of the ideas presented.

While there are details of the scientists, I'm really not sure how or why the title of the book came about. But for a fun, idiosyncratic -- yet serious and thought-provoking -- look at science revolutions from a slightly different perspective, I feel good about recommending you give this book a spin. ... Read more

Product Description

Many readers will doubtless be astonished to learn that animals were being fired aloft in U.S. and Soviet research rockets in the late 1940s. In fact most people not only believe that the Russian space dog Laika was the first canine to be launched into space, but also that the high-profile, precursory Mercury flights of chimps Ham and Enos were the only primate flights conducted by the United States. In fact, both countries had sent literally dozens of animals aloft for many years prior to these events and continued to do so for many years after. Other latter-day space nations, such as France and China, would also begin to use animals in their own space research.

Animals in Space will explain why dogs, primates, mice and other rodents were chosen and tested, at a time when dedicated scientists from both space nations were determined to establish the survivability of human subjects on both ballistic and orbital space flights. It will also recount the way this happened; the secrecy involved and the methods employed, and offer an objective analysis of how the role of animals as spaceflight test subjects not only evolved, but subsequently changed over the years in response to a public outcry led by animal activists. It will explore the ways in which animal high-altitude and space flight research impacted on space flight biomedicine and technology, and how the results - both successful and disappointing - allowed human beings to then undertake that same hazardous journey with far greater understanding and confidence.

This book is intended as a detailed yet highly readable and balanced account of the history of animal space flights, and the resultant application of hard-won research to space technology and astrobiology.  It will undoubtedly become the ultimate authority on animal space flights.

Customer Reviews (2)

Perfect bedtime book
This book caught my eye at the library, so I took it home.It's strange how some things never cross one's mind... did you know that fruit flies were actually our first fellow creatures to go for a ride into space?Cool book.Thanks to the authors for putting the time into this - an enjoyable read!

A "Must-Have" Reference Book
This book belongs in the library of anyone interested in Space Memorabilia or anyone who wants an understanding of how man finally reached space.
There is a fantastic wealth of information as regards the US portion of the Race but, to some degree, anyone knowledgeable in the US program has come across at least some of this before. What is really mind blowing, at least to this reader, is the wealth of information regarding the Russian portion of the Race. Most of us have heard of Belka and Strelka, the dogs sent by the Russians into space prior to Gagarin's first flight. What we don't know is that they were only two of about 100 dogs who were actively involved in the Program.
The book is filled with photos, charts and tables that make for handy reverence and ease of use.
I would strongly recommend adding this book to any space reference library - or just for a good afternoon's read. You are sure to both learn and enjoy.
Michael Orenstein ... Read more

Product Description
This book chronicles the remarkable resurgence in small telescope astronomical research sparked by three technical breakthroughs: compact Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, personal computers, and affordable CCD cameras. Every night, cosmic mysteries are being probed by thousands of "backyard Galileos." Increasingly, professionals and amateurs as well as college and even high school students are engaging in original research and preparing papers for publication. The Galilean tradition of small telescope astronomical research continues-you are invited to join in.Small Telescope and Astronomical ResearchEdited by Russell M. Genet, Jolyon M. Johnson, and Vera WallenForeword by Alex Filippenko ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics; Juvenile Nonfiction / Science ... Read more