Product Description
Fundamental Astronomy gives a well-balanced and comprehensive introduction to the topics of classical and modern astronomy. While emphasizing both the astronomical concepts and the underlying physical principles, the text provides a sound basis for more profound studies in the astronomical sciences.
The fifth edition of this successful undergraduate textbook has been extensively modernized and extended in the parts dealing with the Milky Way, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology as well as with extrasolar planets and the solar system (as a consequence of recent results from satellite missions and the new definition by the International Astronomical Union of planets, dwarf planets and small solar-system bodies). Furthermore a new chapter on astrobiology has been added.
Long considered a standard text for physical science majors, Fundamental Astronomy is also an excellent reference and entrée for dedicated amateur astronomers.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
As an amateur astronomer who loves theory and the math that goes with it, I found this text to be utterly exquisite for helping me recapture a lot of my old math skills. While the real amount of calculus needed in the text was not overtly taxing, I did find the text very useful indeed for requiring the use of a strong algebra background, along with lots of Trig, and of course, geometry and Calculus.
The problems in this book were intriguing, challenging and just awesome in every respect. For example, I found myself for the first time since I can recall, drawing Trig and geometrical diagrams to assist in visualizing a particular problem as an aid toward the ultimate answer! These problems, all of them mathematical in nature, are extremely interesting and encourage you to make a sketch of the phenomenon at hand in order to arrive at a solution.
And in addition to the problems, the text has very useful solved examples that show you how a particular problem calculation is reached. You really do learn a lot just from these examples.
I think the book might have benefitted from having even more exercises in it, which to me would make it even more useful for a semester university course in introductory Astrophysics. Instead of having 73 exercises, perhaps 150-200 problems would have been more ‘whetting’ to an appetite like mine is for Astronomy. But, I can heartily recommend that this book, if completed and all the problems worked, will definitely prepare one for a more challenging text with more Math and problems!
The authors could only improve this thing with more text length and more problems, as far as I am concerned. The appendixes and Tables in the back give the student a little bit of good background to the Math needed in the book as well.
This text is a complete WINNER in the category of INTRODUCTORY TEXTBOOKS for the beginning course in college Astronomy!
.This is a great and comprehensive primary textbook for a student. It is massive introduction to the huge field of astronomical study, and as such contains much of the basic concepts and plenty of hands-on exercises.
I have been mainly using the Finnish version, but having also browsed through the English one I can safely say that the two differ from each other only minimally and thus my experiences with the original hold true with the translation too.
As an end note I might point out, that even though having studied astronomy at the university, it is by no means my area of expertise: I’m majoring in linguistics. That alone, I think, proves how clear and well-written this tome really is: even an Arts students can read it and actually understand and learn!
Fundamental Astronomy is both the title and an excellent description of the content of this handsome hard back volume. For the book to reach the fourth edition, it must be hitting a niche in the market. The preface to the first edition in 1987 identifies that market as a “university textbook for a first course in astronomy” which is also suited for serious amateurs who “find the popular texts too trivial”. In my opinion, that description from the original preface is “spot on” and makes this volume a must-buy for any serious amateur looking for a comprehensive overview of matters astronomical.
The book covers the basics of astronomy, stellar astrophysics and mainly features of our Universe which are relatively close-at-hand. Large scale structure and cosmology are less than ten percent of the content. It covers all topics to considerable depth, far more so than most publications aimed at a general readership. It is mathematical, although the maths is present largely for academic completeness, and can be skimmed or by-passed as required without reducing to any great extent, the utility provided. Its usefulness for education purposes is enhanced by worked examples in each section followed by exercises.
Within its 19 major sections, it contains much relevant and dare I say fundamental material. The book is well illustrated with mainly monochrome plates which are relevant to the subject at hand plus many carefully constructed, concise graphics and illustrations.
This is a comprehensive reference volume, which will age but slowly on any serious amateur’s book shelf, as the subject matter is largely timeless.
I’m familiar with the previous edition as I used to borrow it from my uni library. I’ve already completed the first three chapters. The exercises are great, you might want to write a program for some of the stuff if you have some programming skills. The book is just great for an amateur astronomer; the math is a bit advanced for most people frankly, but if you’re already into astronomy and physics you probably have a good mathematics and physics background so it shouldn’t be hard to sharpen it.
The only thing I found disappointing was the print quality. The book first couple of pages were already torn from the rest when I received the book and you can tell easily that’s it’s one book you need to handle with a lot of care.
NOTE: This review refers to the ENGLISH language version. Also, please forgive me if I sound like typical, self-centered American. The focus of my review will be for English speaking Americans, since the Amazon description of the book doesnt seem to mention what I will in my review:
Let me give a brief background of myself and why I sought out this book: I am an American born, raised, and schooled in America. I have a bachelors in math with a minor in astro, and a masters in math education. I am looking to return to grad school in the hopes of obtaining a PhD in applied math with an emphasis on astro. I wanted to brush up on my undergraduate astronomy studies before returning to school and so I was looking for a reputable text that would be sufficient for self study. The descriptions of the book as well as Amazon reviews and other internet reviews made me choose this title. Unfortunately, this book is riddled with problems that make studying from it and appreciating the subject matter unnecessarily difficult:
1. The english version of the book is merely a TRANSLATION. I have lived overseas myself for a few years and understand when the language is being translated. Consequently, there are many awkward sentences, poorly structured paragraphs, and sometimes you’ll even find random sentences that seem out of place within a paragraph. I am not nitpicking as if I were a grammar-crazed nut, what I’m saying is that after a few pages of reading it becomes clear that the language being used is not very natural english. The book may be in English, but it requires further translation into understandable, cohesive English.
2. Some of the common math formulas, and the way in which diagrams are labeled appear in somewhat different forms (certainly not incorrect, just different from an american math textbook approach). I’m guessing that this is how it’s done in Europe, but for an american it will require an extra step (and wasted time) to turn a formula into a more recognizable ‘american’ version.
3. Black and White pictures! this is the 21st century and the most visually inspiring science is being robbed of its awe and wonder by being displayed in BLACK AND WHITE! For some strange reason, there are a few color pictures in their own section in the very back of the book.
I cannot recommend this book to any American. There is just too much extra work required on behalf of an American reader to make sense of it, especially considering there are plenty of American textbooks with an American approach to math that won’t require the extra effort of translation and that also aren’t limited to black and white photos.
Perhaps a european who speaks english, but not Finnish will get some use out of it. And maybe the Finnish version is great for the people of Finland, but I would not recommend this book to be used in any American university.
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