Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction [Paperback]

Linda S. Sparke (Author), John S. Gallagher III (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521597404 | ISBN-13: 978-0521597401 | Publication Date: August 21, 2000

This advanced undergraduate text is a comprehensive and lucid introduction to galaxies for students in astronomy and physics. A careful combination of basic astrophysics, multiwavelength observations, and theoretical concepts help students develop a thorough, integrated understanding of the subject. Sparke and Gallagher provide all the necessary background astronomy and include only the necessary mathematics required to grasp the essence of a calculation or the basis for a method. They clearly explain observation and measurement techniques and critically review their limits and accuracy as well. The clear and friendly writing, thorough coverage of fundamentals, extensive up-to-date observations, and helpful problems make this an ideal student resource.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The clear and friendly style of the text ... make this an ideal introduction to galaxies and an excellent preparation for more advanced text and the research literature.' Europe & Astronomy

'Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction is a well-thought-out and easy-to-read text ... This book is reasonably priced, and well-suited to its readership. I strongly recommend it to those working on, and teaching about, galaxies. there is certainly enough material here for several courses.' Paul O'Brien, The Observatory

'The clear and friendly style of the text, thorough coverage of fundamentals, extensive use of up-to-date observations, and helpful problems make this an ideal introduction to galaxies and an excellent preparation for more advanced texts and the research literature. It makes this book accessible for advanced amateurs, as well.' Orion (Société Astronomique de Suisse)

Book Description

This textbook provides a comprehensive and lucid modern introduction to galaxies for advanced undergraduate students in astronomy and physics. Basic astrophysics, multiwavelength observations and theoretical concepts are carefully combined to develop an integrated understanding. All the necessary background astronomy is included and mathematics has been kept to the minimum required to enable the student to quickly grasp the essence of a calculation, or the basis for a method. The clear and friendly style of the text, thorough coverage of fundamentals, extensive use of up-to-date observations, and helpful problems make this an ideal introduction to galaxies and thorough preparation for more advanced texts and the research literature.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521597404
• ISBN-13: 978-0521597401
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Be Sure to Work the Problems, May 22, 2010

By 

James M. Folks "SeaQueen" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction (Paperback)

Galaxies in the Universe is an absolutely wonderful book. That being said, it is the type of textbook written so that the problems are an integral part of the text. That's not my personal preference because my schedule is such that I don't always have time to work them. The other problem with that style is that if you get stuck on any one problem, you run the risk of getting very little out of the rest of the book. Even so, most of the problems are very fun and not so difficult that someone who is strong in math and physics won't be able to get through them.

It is very definitely an introductory text intended to get one started on the basics before going to a different book to tackle harder material. By the end of the book you'll have done things like calculate the amount of dark matter that must exist within a given galaxy. My favorite part of this book is the section on gravitational lensing and dark matter. A long time ago I tried to decipher the original Kaiser and Squires article on the topic, and never really succeeded. This book explained the material with wonderful clarity.

The mathematical content of the book is relatively simple. Anyone familiar with multivariable calculus should be able to work through it without too much trouble. Some of the key results and ideas will be familiar to physics majors who've already taken a classical mechanics course or a thermostatistics course, but applied in a sufficiently different context that they don't seem redundant. This would be a good book for someone who has strong basics in general physics, is strong in undergraduate calculus, and has an interest in galactic astrophysics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Galaxies in the Universe review, February 9, 2008

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John E. Shirey "Space Cadet" (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction (Paperback)

This book does an excellent job of delineating the many observations of galaxies, not only in the present but also in the formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies since the big bang. Much of the contemporary theories about galactic structure and star movements is backed up with math. Since this is a textbook, there are many problems to work on, and there are solution hints in an appendix. I would recommend it to any serious student of astronomy and physics.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent Undergraduate Textbook about Galaxies, June 28, 2010

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R. A. Lang "madbioman" (Brisbane, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction (Paperback)

This is one of the clearest and best written undergraduate-level textbooks on galaxies, requiring a fair amount of mathematics and physics to fully appreciate the harder sections. However, things are very well explained in the clear prose, even if you don't want to grapple with the (not over-numerous) equations. Sparke and Gallagher are "good practical extragalactic astronomers" who distil for the reader much of the everyday knowledge used by the observational extragalactic astronomer, with a stronger focus on easier-to-appreciate observational results than on their complex and difficult derivations. This textbook sensibly begins with several chapters on the Milky Way galaxy, as our own Galaxy represents "baseline truth" in humankind's quest to understand the galaxies.
This book is easy to read and very well structured. But it is at the university level; so the reader must have some prior algebra, and the ideal reader of this book should also be comfortable with graphs and physical argument.