A Concise History of Solar and Stellar PhysicsPrinceton University Press, 2014 M11 28 - 304 pages This book provides a comprehensive overview of the history of ideas about the sun and the stars, from antiquity to modern times. Two theoretical astrophysicists who have been active in the field since the early 1960s tell the story in fluent prose. About half of the book covers most of the theoretical research done from 1940 to the close of the twentieth century, a large body of work that has to date been little explored by historians. |
From inside the book
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... motion around the polar star. This structure was often linked to the ancient Chinese chariot—square with an umbrella canopy. The central pole, corresponding to P'an-ku's body, linked heaven and earth. Of greater interest to the western ...
... motion of the universe, and the existence of an infinite universe populated with an infinity of worlds. The times were not ripe for the general acceptance of these ideas, however, since it was not until late into the seventeenth century ...
... motions. Indeed, these celestial bodies were not thought to be objects but holes in rotating hoops filled with fire. To be specific, Anaximander's stars are compressed portions of air, in the shape of rotating hoops filled with fire ...
... motion, whereas the stars, which are also composed of fire, fail to give warmth because they are too far off. It is also assumed that the stars are fastened on a crystal sphere, like nails or studs. Obviously, a definite improvement on ...
... motion of all celestial objects. What evidence motivated Philolaus to include a counterearth is not clear, however, but it could have been invented for the purpose of explaining the frequency of eclipses of the moon. Arguably, it could ...
Contents
1 | |
16101910 | 29 |
18401910 | 66 |
19101940 | 94 |
19401970 | 133 |
1970 | 192 |
Epilogue | 247 |
Appendix A Lanes Fully Convective Gas Spheres | 250 |
Appendix C Ritters Theory of Pulsating Stars | 252 |
Appendix D Radial and Nonradial Stellar Pulsations | 254 |
Appendix E Bohrs Model of the Atom | 257 |
Appendix F Einsteins MassEnergy Relation | 260 |
Appendix G Three Important Nuclear Reactions | 263 |
General Bibliography | 265 |
Index of Names | 269 |
Index of Subjects | 277 |
Other editions - View all
A Concise History of Solar and Stellar Physics Jean-Louis Tassoul,Monique Tassoul Limited preview - 2014 |
A Concise History of Solar and Stellar Physics Jean Louis Tassoul,Monique Tassoul Limited preview - 2004 |