Stardust from Meteorites: An Introduction to Presolar Grains [Hardcover]

Maria Lugaro (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9812560998 | ISBN-13: 978-9812560995 | Publication Date: September 2005

The study of presolar meteoritic grains is a new inter-disciplinary field that brings together topics from nuclear physics to astronomy and chemistry. Traditionally, most of the information about the cosmos has been gathered by observing light through telescopes. However, with the recent discovery that some dust grains extracted from primitive meteorites were produced in stellar environments, we now have the opportunity to gather information about stars and our Galaxy from the laboratory analysis of tiny pieces of stardust. Stellar grains represent a unique and fascinating subject of study. Their analysis is a breakthrough in research on stellar nucleosynthesis and the origin of the elements. While a number of specialized reviews exist on the topic, this book is the first work that brings together in a unified and accessible manner the background knowledge necessary for the study of presolar grains together with up-to-date discoveries in the field. The book includes exercise questions and answers, an extensive glossary for easy reference, and more than 40 figures and tables — from schematic diagrams to electron microscope images and graphs of results from stellar grain measurements and theoretical stellar models.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812560998
• ISBN-13: 978-9812560995
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent resource, December 6, 2007

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JGB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stardust from Meteorites: An Introduction to Presolar Grains (Hardcover)

I used a borrowed copy and I came here today to buy my own. This is an outstanding review of stardust/presolar grains, covering topics from their discovery, the astrophysical context, to more recent discoveries. Not only does Lugaro review the literature but she explains the astrophysics, making it accessible to those of us who are not astrophysicists. This was an invaluable resource when I was writing my dissertation on stardust and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to this fascinating subject. Thank you, Maria Lugaro, for writing this book!