Table of Contents

1. Comments to the Reader



PART I: Cosmology From the Beginnings through Newton

2. The Naked-Eye Sky

3. Early Greek Astronomy

4. The Beginnings of Quantitative Astronomy

5. The New Astronomy

6. Newtonian Synthesis



PART II: The Tools of the Astronomer

7. Tools of the Astronomer – Physical Concepts

8. Tools of the Astronomer – Hardware



PART III: The Life and Death of Stars

9. Reading Stellar Spectra

10. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

11. The Structure of Stars

12. The Interstellar Medium – Birthplace of the Stars

13. Stellar Evolution – The Early Phases

14. The Late Phases of Stellar Evolution – Degenerate Corpses

15. Black Holes



PART IV: Cosmology from Herschel to the Present

16. The Discovery of Galaxies

17. The University of Galaxies

18. Active Galaxies

19. The First Cosmological Clues

20. Models of the Universe

21. The Mysterious Universe


Epilogue

22. Life Elsewhere: Are We Alone?


Appendices

Index

About the Author

R.C. BLESS is from the University of Wisconsin, USA.

Reviews

'Astronomy is a big subject, spanning the multi-billion light-year extent of the cosmos, and the entirety of human history. It's no easy task to encapsulate all this in a single text. The new edition of Bob Bless's book provides the best all-around treatment of the subject that I've found at the undergraduate level, including a thorough yet concise survey of astronomy's rich history, as well as rigorous but accessible explanations of diverse astrophysical phenomena. It's an admirable achievement.' -John Blakeslee, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Canada 'This new edition of Discovering the Cosmos by R.C. Bless is the best liberal arts introduction to astronomy available. Its emphasis is on understanding rather than memorizing the science. Bless includes a generous historical account in his text. And despite the limited use of explicit mathematics, this book provides excellent coverage of the science. The problem sets, observation projects, and references are excellent. Discovering the Cosmos has been my favorite introductory astronomy text since the first edition hit the market.' -Richard Hilt, Colorado College, USA