Asimov Isaac. The Universe: from Flat Earth to Quasar: Revised edition

Walker and Company, 1971 — 360 p. — ISBN: 9780802703163, 080270316xDoes the Universe extend forever or is there an end somewhere? Does it expand and contract like an accordion with each cosmic spasm lasting billions of years? Was there a time when it exploded and will the flying fragments separate until our own fragment is virtually alone? Does it renew itself and is it eternal, unborn
and undying?
This is a complete scientific survey of all that is known about the Universe, presented with the clarity and precision so characteristic of the writing of Isaac Asimov. Beginning with chapters on the earth and our solar system, he guides the reader through exploration and discovery of the unimaginably distant reaches of
outer space.
Barely fifty years ago, the horizons of our known universe were pushed back.
The Milky Way was recognized as only a drop in a huge black ocean of space; other galaxies were discovered; the Universe was found to be expanding—its rim many billions of light-years away. And as man daily probes further the unknown, it is becoming clear that discoveries dwarfing all those of the past may actually be in hand.
This edition has been updated from incorporate discoveries made since the book`s original publications in 1966 and includes a new section of pulsars.
The Earth
Introduction
The Flat Earth
The Spherical Earth
The Size of the Earth
The Solar System
The Moon
The Sun
Parallax
The Size of the Solar System
The Stars
The Vault of the Sky
A Multiplicity of Suns
The Search for Stellar Parallax
The Distance of the Nearer Stars
The Galaxy
Olbers’ Paradox
Herschel’s Lens
The Moving Sun
Star Clusters
Variable Stars
The Size of the Galaxy
The Doppler Effect
The Spectrum
Spectral Lines
The Galactic Center
Galactic Dimensions
Other Galaxies
The Andromeda Nebula
Novae
The Andromeda Galaxy
The Spiral Galaxies
The Age of the Earth
Angular Momentum
The Conservation of Energy
Nuclear Energy
The Energy of the Sun
The Planetesimal Hypothesis
Constitution of the Sun
Surface Temperature of the Sun
Internal Temperature of the Sun
Types of Stars
Constitution of the Solar System
Spectral Classes
Giant Stars and Dwarf Stars
The H-R Diagram
Stellar Evolution
The Mass-Luminosity Relation
Interstellar Gas
Beyond the Main Sequence
Stellar Explosions
White Dwarfs
Supernovae
Dying Stars
Second-Generation Stars
Galactic Evolution
Bs The Question of Eternity
Classes of Galaxies
Stellar Populations
The Receding Galaxies
The Galactic Red Shift
Relativity
Clusters of Galaxies
The Observable Universe
Olbers’ Paradox Again
Hubble’s Constant
The Cepheid Yardstick Revised
The Beginning of the Universe
The Big Bang
The Formation of the Elements
Before the Big Bang
Continuous Creation
Particle Bombardment
Massless Particles
Cosmic Rays
Cosmic Ray Sources
Energetic Photons
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Neutron Stars
Antimatter
Radio Astronomy
The Sun
The Planets
The Stars
The Galaxy
Pulsars
The Edge of the Universe
Colliding Galaxies
Exploding Galaxies
The Distant Radio Sources
Quasars
Suggested Further Reading
Index