Astrophysical Concepts

An Approach to Astrophysics.- The Cosmic Distance Scale.- Dynamics and Masses of Astronomical Bodies.- Random Processes.- Photons and Fast Particles.- Electromagnetic Processes in Space.- Quantum Processes in Astrophysics.- Stars.- Cosmic Gas and Dust.- Formation of Stars and Planetary Systems.- The Universe We Inhabit.- An Astrophysical History of the Universe.- The Formation of Cosmic Structures.- Life in the Universe.

Now in its 4th edition, this classic text for senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students in physics and astronomy presents a wide range of astrophysical concepts in sufficient depth to give the reader a quantitative understanding of the subject. The book outlines cosmic events, emphasizing physical concepts, but does not portray them in detail. Rather, it provides a series of astrophysical sketches exploring the scope of modern astrophysics and elementary problems concerning the scale of cosmic objects and events, and develops the basic physics needed to answer these questions, using specific astronomical processes as examples. The second half of the book enlarges on these topics and shows how we can obtain quantitative insights into the structure and evolution of stars, the dynamics of cosmic gases, the large-scale behavior of the universe, and the origins of life.

FROM REVIEWS OF THE PREVIOUS EDITION
"a clear, solid introduction to astrophysics ... that shows how physics can be applied to astronomical objects ... One of the strong points is the problems (that) give students a real feel for the sort of calculations astronomers must do ... were I teaching a junior/senior astrophysics course, this is the book I would use."
AM.J.PHYS.

"This is a popular book among professional astrophysicists, produced with that meticulous detail and completeness of the house of Springer ... This is indeed a theoretician's book [and] Harwit has made a prodigious effort in organizing all this information in a logical sequence ... A masterly mathematical exposition of a galaxy of astrophysical processes." Astronomy

The great strength of the book lies in the lucidity and elegance with which chosen topics are quantitatively developed using elementary and clever arguments, instructive problems being distributed throughout, and in the skeptical spirit of inquiry that pervades the writing." NATURE

"Astronomer Harwit has finally updated his classic textbook to encompass the exciting developments of the decade since its last edition. It is ideal for those Scientific American readers who are mathematically literate and who want to pursue topics covered in the magazine to greater depth. Harwit takes a thematic approach to the subject, oriented around the guiding physical principles rather than the conventional sequence of planet, star, galaxy and cosmos. The approach rewards readers who just want to flip through the book as well as students who want to derive for themselves some of the basic equations in astronomy." SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN