Astrophysics: A New Approach

Astronomy and Astrophysics Library

by Wolfgang Kundt

For a quantitative understanding of the physics of the universe - from the solar system through the milky way to clusters of galaxies all the way to cosmology - these edited lecture notes are perhaps among the most concise and also among the most critical ones: Astrophysics has not yet stood the redundancy test of laboratory physics, hence should be aware of early interpretations. Special chapters are devoted to magnetic and radiation processes, supernovae, disks, black-hole candidacy, bipolar flows, cosmic rays, gamma-ray bursts, image distortions, and special sources. At the same time, planet earth is viewed as the arena for life, with plants and animals having evolved to homo sapiens during cosmic time. -- This text is unique in covering the basic qualitative and quantitative tools, formulae as well as numbers, needed for the precise interpretation of frontline phenomena. The author compares mainstream interpretations with new and even controversial ones he wishes to emphasize.

183 pages, Hardcover

First published November 9, 2001

Reviews

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nearly useless. Author treats all existing theory as fact. And explanation is nothing but algebra and models. If the author wasn't given a calculation for an effect then it was either assumed or ignored in what limited discussion exists. So, forget about Understanding accretion disks and the virial theory of star formation; you'll hear that the forces involved are like a centrifuge Except the forces make matter condense Instead of Spread! Arrrgh!