Discovering the Essential Universe by Neil F. Comins - Sixth Edition, 2015 from Macmillan Student Store

Discovering the Essential Universe

Sixth  Edition©2015 Neil F. Comins

About

Discovering the Essential Universe uses astronomy to guide you through the process of science. Pique your curiosity about the cosmos through the vivid writing and spectacular images as you learn how to think past common misconceptions in this area of science.

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Table of Contents

1. Discovering the Night Sky
2. Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
3. Light and Telescopes
4. Formation of the Solar System
5. Exoplanets
6. The Terrestrial Planets and Their Moons
7. The Outer Planets and their Moons
8. Vagabonds of the Solar System
9. The Sun. Our Extraordinary, Ordinary Star
10. Characterizing Stars
11. The Lives of Stars from Birth Through Middle Age
12. The Deaths and Remnants of Stars
13. The Galaxies
14. Cosmology
15. Astrobiology

Neil F. Comins

Professor Neil F. Comins is on the faculty of the University of Maine. Born in 1951 in New York City, he grew up in New York and New England. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering physics at Cornell University, a master's degree in physics at the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from University College, Cardiff, Wales, under the guidance of Bernard F. Schutz. Dr. Comins's work for his doctorate, on general relativity, was cited in Subramanyan Chandrasekhar's Nobel laureate speech. He has done theoretical and experimental research in general relativity, optical and radio observational astronomy, computer simulations of galaxy evolution, and science education. He is also the author of five trade books, What if the Moon Didn't Exist?, Heavenly Errors, The Hazards of Space Travel, What if the Earth Had Two Moons?, and The Traveler’s Guide to Space. What if the Moon Didn't Exist? has been made into planetarium shows, been excerpted for television and radio, translated into several languages, and was the theme for the Mitsubishi Pavilion at the World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Dr. Comins has appeared on numerous television and radio shows and gives many public talks. Although he has jumped out of airplanes while in the military, today his activities are a little more sedate: he is a licensed pilot and avid sailor, having once competed against Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.