Product Description

Jay Pasachoff and Alex Filippenko combine extensive research experience, teaching experience, and textbook-writing experience to offer a book that is unparalleled in its ability to present the latest science in a way that students can understand. This brief, beautifully illustrated text – one of the briefest available for the course – offers concise coverage of a wide range of astronomical topics. The authors have struck a balance between the fundamental concepts and the exciting topics at the forefront of astronomy, conveying the spirit of contemporary astronomy within a big picture context. The authors emphasize the central theme of origins in this text, first by singling out specifics in the headings of each chapter and then by dealing with a variety of relevant material in the text itself. An early discussion of the scientific method stresses an importance on the verification of observations, and sets the stage for the text's consistent focus on astronomy as a science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31437 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
"Pasachoff and Filippenko is an excellent text--certainly one of the better brief astronomy texts, and arguably the best. It reads well, it is engaging, it is clear, and it is concise."



"The authors seem to have taken great pains to be accurate and to keep the reader informed of assumptions and limitations... It tells why a particular topic is important... It anticipates and clears up possible points of confusion... Brief historical notes help establish the perspective that astronomy is an ongoing, exciting, human adventure."



"The level is good. The average introductory astronomy student can read it, but it has not been really ’dumbed down.’ Because the authors have chosen their words with great care, it is one of the most accurate books on the market."

"I like the idea of having a short book which allows the students to focus on the key ideas. I like very much [the authors’] efforts to debunk pseudo-science and distinguish such nonsense from real science."



"The authors have done a good job in covering the emerging areas of astronomy."



"The way that your authors integrate the physics concepts into the book is appropriate for this course. For example, I like the way they introduced general relativity by relating it to solar studies. These are difficult concepts but they were presented in such a way that they should not overwhelm the students."

"Love the starparties! These might be the best ’lab’ of all. The little lightbulbs for highlighting core ideas, and especially dealing with misconceptions, are great. This is clearly a student-friendly text."



"No problems with the writing style, or pace--I’ve got one of Pasachoff’s field guides on my desk...He’s a pro! And widely regarded for his science, and for his writing."

Weaknesses: "None that I can see."



Specific Errors: "Couldn’t find any!"

On Chapter 16 (A Universe of Galaxies): "This chapter is superbly done. The discussion on dark matter and the sections on ’The search for distant galaxies’ and ’The Evolution of Galaxies’ are exceptional. On Chapter 17 (Quasars and Active Galaxies): "Entire chapter is excellent. Discussion on quasars is excellent. Figure 17-28 on the appearance from Earth of an active galaxy--excellent."

About the Author
Jay M. Pasachoff is Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams College, where he teaches the astronomy survey course and works with undergraduate students. He is also Director of the Hopkins Observatory there. Pasachoff has observed 35 solar eclipses and is Chair of the Working Group on Solar Eclipses of the International Astronomical Union. He is part of a group of scientists observing the atmosphere of Pluto through stellar occultations. He also works in radio astronomy, concentrating on cosmic deuterium and its consequences for cosmology. Further, he collaborates with an art historian on images of comets, the Moon, and eclipses. Pasachoff is U.S. National Liaison to the Commission on Astronomical Education and Development of the International Astronomical Union and is also Vice-President of the Commission. He has twice been Chair of the Astronomy Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has been on the astronomy education committees of the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is on the Council of Advisors of the Astronomy Education Review, the on-line journal sponsored by the American Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In addition to his college astronomy texts, Pasachoff has written the PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO THE STARS AND PLANETS, and is author or co-author of textbooks in calculus and in physics as well as several junior-high-school textbooks. Pasachoff received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard and was at Caltech before going to Williams College. His sabbaticals and other leaves have been taken at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, the Institut d'Astrophysique in Paris, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Pasachoff has been awarded the 2003 Education Prize of the American Astronomical Society.

Alex Filippenko was recently awarded the 2006 Professor of the Year award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education for his introductory astronomy course. He is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, having joined the faculty in 1986. He received his bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1979), and his doctorate in Astronomy from the California Institute of Technology (1984). An observational astronomer who makes frequent use of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck 10-meter telescopes, Filippenko has also developed a completely robotic telescope that obtains data while he sleeps. He also made major contributions to the discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is speeding up with time, driven by a mysterious form of dark energy--the top "Science Breakthrough of 1998," according to the editors of Science magazine. Filippenko's research accomplishments have been recognized with several major awards, including the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize of the American Astronomical Society (1992) and the Robert M. Petrie Prize of the Canadian Astronomical Society (1997). A Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, he has also been a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow (2001) and a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar (2002). In 1991 he won the two most coveted teaching awards at Berkeley. He has played a prominent role in science newscasts and television documentaries such as "Mysteries of Deep Space," "Stephen Hawking's Universe," and "Runaway Universe."

Customer Reviews

The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium
This is a five-star book! Designed as a textbook for basic astronomy courses, it also serves as a stand-alone book for the average person who wants seriously to find out more about the universe. The content is clear and easy to follow, moving from the earth through the solar system, stars, galaxies, black holes, quasars, and finally issues of cosmology. Pages are well laid-out for easy reading, and enhanced with beautiful four-color photos and diagrams. Each chapter concludes with a concept review and questions for reflection. Help in learning terminology is provided by boldfaced vocabulary throughout the book and a glossary at the end.
Special features that are set apart in the text, either on separate pages or in boxes, include interviews with people in astronomy (excellent diversity of persons), exercises in calculation, expanded "closer looks" at topics, biographies of scientific figures, and exercises in finding things in the sky.
Web-enhanced features for students that go with the book include www sites for more information using the Internet, web-links, chapter maps, quizzes, and even a source on popular misconceptions. Instructors' ancillary materials include photo resource catalog, overhead transparencies/slides, and a computerized test bank.
You don't have to be a scientist to read this book! Anyone can learn a great deal about the universe from these 395 pages. Pasachoff and Filippenko have produced a winner. Enjoy!

Great - Simply Great
As I look at a beautiful new astronomy book like this one, I am reminded of Galileo who was sentenced to be shown the implements of torture and then confined under house arrest for the remainder of his life for publishing that the sun went around the earth rather than the other way around. Galileo's first telescope was probably about eight power, about standard these days for binoculars.

Today with the advanced state of even inexpensive commercial telescopes, CCDs and advanced software which can be processed quite easily on the very powerful home computers fo today, the home astronomer is up to about where the pros were a dozen or so years ago.

If you are a student using this book as a text, you are lucky.

If you are just interested in astronomy, this is a highly recommended book. It's writing quality, and the quality of its printed pictures is supurb. It's up to date with as good a discussion on recent findings such as the accelerating expansion of the Universe (one of the authors AF, was on one of the teams that discovered this), dark energy, dark matter, and of course the eleven dimensions that make up superstring theory as you will find in any book. They even make these subjects clear without having to go into deep mathematics. (Then again, going into deep mathematics may well not make these subjects more understandable at all.)

Now updated in its third edition this book accurately reflects the current state of astronomy. It would make a great present to an amateur astronomer.

Great Astronomy Text
This is a great introductory Astronomy text. It is easy to understand and learn the material presented. There are magnificent photos and easy to understand illustrations for those who are visual learners. I recommend it to anyone wanting to just have an understanding of the subject, whether in an educatinal setting or just wanting to learn it on their own.