The Stars of Heaven
Oxford University Press (Verlag)
978-0-19-517159-4 (ISBN)
Do a little armchair space travel, rub elbows with alien life forms, and stretch your mind to the furthest corners of our uncharted universe. With this astonishing guide book, you need not be an astronomer to explore the mysteries of stars and their profound meaning for human existence.
Stars have fascinated humankind since the dawn of history and have allowed us to transcend ordinary lives in our literature, art, and religions. In fact, humans have always looked to the stars as a source of inspiration and transcendence that lifts us beyond the boundaries of ordinary intuition. In the tradition of One Two Three...Infinity, Pickover tackles a range of topics from stellar evolution to the fundamental and awe-inspiring reasons why the universe permits life to flourish. Where did we come from? What is the universe's ultimate fate? Pickover alternates sections that explain the mysteries of the cosmos with sections that dramatise mind-expanding concepts through a fictional dialogue between futuristic humans and their alien peers who embark on a journey beyond the reader's wildest imagination. This highly accessible and entertaining approach turns an intimidating subject into a scientific game open to all dreamers.
The Stars of Heaven will appeal to scientists and science-fiction enthusiasts, as well as astronomers, theologians, philosophers, and the curious.
Clifford A. Pickover received his PhD from Yale University and is the author of twenty highly-acclaimed books on such topics as computers and creativity, art, mathematics, astronomy, human behaviour and intelligence, time travel, alien life, and science fiction. Pickover is a prolific inventor with dozens of patents, is the associate editor for several journals, and puzzle contributor for a variety of print and on-line venues. Pickover's computer graphics have been featured on the cover of many poplular magazines and on TV shows. His website, www.pickover.com, has received over 400,000 visits.
Introduction1: Stellar Parallax and the Quest for Transcendence
2: The Joy and Paschen of Starlight
3: Spectral Classes, Temperatures, and Doppler Shifts
4: Luminosity and the Distance Modulus
5: Hertzsprung-Russell, Mass-Luminosity Relations, Binary Stars
6: Last Tango on the Heliopause
7: Stellar Evolution and the Helium Flash
8: Stellar Graveyards, Nucleosynthesis, and Why We Exist
9: Some Final Thoughts
Appendices1: Stars in the Bible
2: Updates and Breakthroughs
Further Reading
About the Author
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 3.6.2004 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | numerous halftones and line drawings |
| Verlagsort | Oxford |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 242 x 154 mm |
| Gewicht | 363 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Weltraum / Astronomie |
| ISBN-10 | 0-19-517159-4 / 0195171594 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-19-517159-4 / 9780195171594 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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