Astrophysics category: 1588 books

Suppose you and I still wondered whether all of the pinpoints of light in the night sky are the same distance from us. Suppose none of our contemporaries could tell us whether the Sun orbits the Earth, or vice versa, or even how large the Earth is. Suppose no one had guessed there are mathematical...

Includes:•Charles River Editors original biography of Johannes Kepler•David Brewsters biography of Kepler from The Martyrs of Science•Kepler by Walter W. BryantWe do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we...

The twentieth century gave us two great theories of physics. The general theory of relativity describes the behavior of very large things, and quantum theory the behavior of very small things. In this landmark book, John Gribbin—one of the best-known science writers of the past thirty years—presents...

In this incredible expedition into the origins, workings, and evolution of our home planet, John Gribbin, bestselling author of In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, The Scientists, and In Search of the Multiverse, does what he does best: taking four and a half billion years of mind-boggling science and...

Doomday, Dinosaurs, and HumankindAn engaging and ominous history of how asteroid and comet collisions with the Earth have shaped the course of human events--and the dangers that may lie ahead.

In the bestselling literary tradition of Lewis Thomas's Lives of a Cell and James Watson's The Double Helix, Poetry of the Universe is a delightful and compelling narrative charting the evolution of mathematical ideas that have helped to illuminate the nature of the observable universe. In a richly...

Black holes are a constant source of fascination to many due to their mysterious nature. In this Very Short Introduction, Katherine Blundell addresses a variety of questions, including what a black hole actually is, how they are characterized and discovered, and what would happen if you came too close...

Stop to think about this one simple little fact. Our species exists only on the Earth - we have all our eggs in the one basket. One simple mishap could wipe out all of humankind, every single moment of our existence would become worthless overnight. Or we could show some intelligence and actually...

Years ago, Burt Rutan told a reporter for Popular Mechanics, “If we make a courageous decision like the goal and program we kicked off for Apollo in 1961, we will see our children or grandchildren in outposts on other planets.” Legendary science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clark would later recall...

"Glorious."—Wall Street Journal Rescued from obscurity, Feynman's Lost Lecture is a blessing for all Feynman followers. Most know Richard Feynman for the hilarious anecdotes and exploits in his best-selling books "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" and "What Do You...

In this splendidly lucid and profusely illustrated book, a Nobel laureate relates the fascinating story of Einstein, the general and special theories of relativity, and the scientists before and since who influenced relativity's genesis and development. Eschewing technical terms in favor of ordinary...

Want to build your own satellite and launch it into space? It’s easier than you may think. The first in a series of four books, this do-it-yourself guide shows you the essential steps needed to design a base picosatellite platform—complete with a solar-powered computer-controlled assembly—tough...

This book is a simple, non-technical introduction to cosmology, explaining what it is and what cosmologists do. Peter Coles discusses the history of the subject, the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern issues like quantum cosmology, superstrings, and dark matter. ABOUT...

Every atom of our bodies has been part of a star. Our very own star, the Sun, is crucial to the development and sustainability of life on Earth. This Very Short Introduction presents a modern, authoritative examination of how stars live, producing all the chemical elements beyond helium, and how they...