Product Description

The Sun is our powerhouse, sustaining life on Earth, energizing our planet, and fueling the engine of life. Its warmth drives our weather, lifting water from the seas, and producing winds that drive clouds over the continents. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Sun is the fundamental, up-to-date reference source of information about this life-enhancing star, covering everything from basic facts to detailed concepts. Organized thematically, chapters feature: -the properties of the Sun as a star -the Sun's place in the Galaxy and the Universe -the science of the Sun's interior -the sun's visible disk -what makes the sun shine. Kenneth Lang also explains solar flares and the solar wind, and their impact on the Earth. Many full-color figures and photographs throughout the book make all the information highly accessible. Kenneth R. Lang is a professor of astronomy in the Physics and Astronomy Department at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He is the author of several astrophysics books including Wanderers in Space (Cambridge, 1991), Sun, Earth and Sky (Copernicus, 1997), and The Sun from Space (Springer Verlag, 2000).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #973910 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 268 pages

Amazon.com Review
Everything you ever wanted to know about the sun, the powerhouse of our galaxy, sustaining life on earth, driving the weather, providing warmth and light--and, directly or indirectly, almost all the energy that plants and animals use.

Less a classic encyclopedia than a topic-by-topic textbook introducing readers to all things solar, astronomer Lang's compendium offers the very latest scientific views on a range of matters, from fundamental constants to the composition of sunlight, from the role of sunspots in terrestrial weather and human history to the methods scientists use to forecast such phenomena today, from the origins of the universe to days to come--when, 7 billion years from now, the "aging Sun will swell up to become a giant star," one that will spread to occupy the space the earth now occupies, and far beyond. Abundant photographs, charts, and line drawings, all very well made, accompany the text, which also includes a recent bibliography and a glossary of current terms.

Highly useful for students of astronomy and space science, this attractive volume will require little updating for years to come, and it serves as the best single general reference work on the subject. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Armed with abundant data amassed via the Very Large Array radio telescope and "modern spacecraft," Lang (Astrophysical Data) of Tufts University embarked solo on this dense resource volume. Geared toward "anyone with a scientific interest in the Sun," the book is thick with equations, conversion tables, charts of spectral flux, etc. Answers to questions like "Why does the human eye respond just to visible light?" quickly depart the lay realm. Photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The purpose of this volume is to provide a thorough, up-to-date reference on all aspects of our home star, from basic physical data to detailed concepts. Written by an astronomer and award-winning author of numerous books and articles, the work is intended for both the specialist and the interested layperson. It is written in a clear style with a minimum of equations. Focus boxes provide added information without interrupting the flow of the narrative. Tables of fundamental data complement the text.

Each of the nine chapters addresses a different theme. These themes include physical properties, the magnetic solar atmosphere, solar winds and explosions, solar observations, and the Sun-Earth connection. The volume is well illustrated with figures and photographs in both color and black and white. A 35-page glossary provides definitions of terms and acronyms as well as information on telescopes, satellites, and instruments. A short annotated bibliography and an unannotated directory of Web sites are appended. Indexing is crucial in an encyclopedia that is thematically arranged; fortunately, the index that concludes the volume is quite detailed.

Most astronomy-related reference books provide some basic information on the Sun. This encyclopedia is particularly suited to academic and special libraries with a need for more comprehensive information. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

What you should know about the nearest star
This is a very nice book that will be of interest both to amateur astronomers and people with good physics background. The author separated descriptive text from text with mathematical content and as a result one can choose to read in a depth appropriate to their background. The book is also very well illustrated with informative captions below each picture. It is clear that the author is enthusiastic about the subject. However, what I did not like was that almost 100 from the 250 pages are devoted to general astronomical concepts and a glossary. This material is good but I would prefer to read more details about the sun. If the introduction explained solar physics (such as magnetism, spectra) in much more detail then subsequent chapters would be understood even better. I recommend the book to all people with a serious interest in the physics of our star.