Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium discusses the nature of interstellar matter, with a strong emphasis on basic physical principles, and summarizes the present state of knowledge about the interstellar medium by providing the latest observational data. Physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium are treated, with frequent references to observational results. The overall equilibrium and dynamical state of the interstellar gas are described, with discussions of explosions produced by star birth and star death and the initial phases of cloud collapse leading to star formation.
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Discusses the nature of interstellar matter, with a strong emphasis on basic physical principles. Summarizes the present state of knowledge about the interstellar medium and provides the latest observational data. Physics and chemistry of the interstellar medium are treated, with frequent references to observational results. The overall equilibrium and dynamical state of the interstellar gas are described, with discussions of explosions produced by star birth and star death and the initial phases of cloud collapse leading to star formation.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Lyman Spitzer, Jr. studied at Yale and Cambridge Universities and earned his Ph.D. under Henry Norris Russell at Princeton University. Following research at Harvard, teaching at Yale, and war work in New York, Spitzer succeeded Russell as professor and observatory director at Princeton in 1947. He promptly hired Martin Schwarzschild, with whom he built a major research department. Spitzer worked in many areas of theoretical astrophysics, including spectral line formation, the dynamical evolution of star clusters, and star formation. His most important work was on the physics of the interstellar medium. He showed that there must be at least two phases - high temperature clouds around hot stars and cooler intercloud regions, and led in studies of interstellar dust grains and magnetic fields. Spitzer was the first to propose a large telescope in space (in 1946) - he was analyzing data from the Hubble Space Telescope the day he died. He led the development and operation of the ultraviolet astronomy satellite Copernicus. An early leader in attempts to harness controlled thermonuclear fusion on earth, he was the founder and first director of the Princeton
Plasma Physics Laboratory (originally called Project Matterhorn). Lyman Spitzer, Jr., died in 1997. One of NASA's four Great Observatories is named the Spitzer Space Telescope in his memory.
Plasma Physics Laboratory (originally called Project Matterhorn). Lyman Spitzer, Jr., died in 1997. One of NASA's four Great Observatories is named the Spitzer Space Telescope in his memory.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A classic in astronomy, but not worth the price for students,
By A Customer
This review is from: Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium (Hardcover)
Here, Spitzer introduces many fundamental concepts in astronomy, and at the time it was written was perhaps the only single publication that covered all of the topics in the table of contents from a fairly fundamental level.
When I paid $80 for this book for an Interstellar
Medium course about 5 years ago, the instructor
said he would not have required it had he known the price. Now it stands at $112!
If this material is important to you and you do not
have a well developed graduate level curriculum
to study from, then perhaps it is worthhwhile, otherwise I recommend "Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei"
by Donald E. Osterbrock for $36 as an excellent substitute, though you won't find much on dust grains and kinetics in it. For those topics you
should go to review articles and a statistical mechanics text anyway!
Spitzer was a great astronomer and he wrote what was at the time an indispensible book, but at this price think carefully before you buy.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book,
By ISM "ISM" (North Pole) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Physical Processes in the Interstellar Medium (Wiley Classics Library) (Paperback)
good book
lot's of useful informations. It's good to have one.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In the enormous volume between the stars in our Galaxy there occur many different physical processes. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
more opaque clouds, unreddened stars, visual grains, maser amplification, ionization front, cosmic composition, standard clouds, interstellar conditions, photon pumping, ultraviolet luminosity, selective extinction, ionized zone, cloud shock, radiative deexcitation, intercloud medium, damping wings, interstellar absorption lines, collisional transitions, coronal gas, photoelectric emission, collisional deexcitation, grain potential, supernova shell, galactic light, ground vibrational level Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, University of Chicago Press, Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae, Reidel Publ, San Francisco, Milky Way, North Polar Spur, Physics of Fully Ionized Gases New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In the enormous volume between the stars in our Galaxy there occur many different physical processes. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
more opaque clouds, unreddened stars, visual grains, maser amplification, ionization front, cosmic composition, standard clouds, interstellar conditions, photon pumping, ultraviolet luminosity, selective extinction, ionized zone, cloud shock, radiative deexcitation, intercloud medium, damping wings, interstellar absorption lines, collisional transitions, coronal gas, photoelectric emission, collisional deexcitation, grain potential, supernova shell, galactic light, ground vibrational level Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, University of Chicago Press, Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae, Reidel Publ, San Francisco, Milky Way, North Polar Spur, Physics of Fully Ionized Gases New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 45
books:
See all 45 books this book cites
83
books
cite this book:
See all 83 books citing this book
- Physics of Fully Ionized Gases: Second Revised Edition (Dover Books on Physics) by Lyman Spitzer Jr. on page 31, page 69, and page 225
- Star Formation (International Astronomical Union Symposia) by T. de Jong on page 170, page 296, and page 297
- The Dusty Universe by Field on page 169, and page 190
- Light Scattering by Small Particles (Dover Books on Physics) by H. C. van de Hulst on page 169, and page 190
- Radiative Transfer (Dover Books on Physics) by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on page 68, and page 190
See all 45 books this book cites
- Supernova Remnants and Interstellar Medium: IAU Colloquium 101 (I a U Colloquium//Proceedings) by R. S. Roger on 5 pages
- Tools of Radio Astronomy (Astronomy and Astrophysics Library) by Kristen Rohlfs on 5 pages
- Dust and Chemistry in Astronomy (Series in Astronomy and Astrophysics) by T.J Millar on 4 pages
- Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei by Donald E. Osterbrock on page 11, page 199, and page 233
- Frontiers in Dusty Plasmas by Y. Nakamura on page 244, page 400, and page 472
See all 83 books citing this book
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