OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

User login

Galaxies: A Very Short Introduction
Galaxies: A Very Short Introduction
¥1,793
(incl.tax)
  • Explains how galaxies are not only fascinating astronomical structures in themselves, but also how their study has revealed much of what we know today about the cosmos
  • Shows how galaxies provide a window on the Big Bang and the origins of the Universe, and discusses the latest discoveries of supermassive black holes and the mysteries of Cold Dark Matter
  • Looks at our own 'Milky Way' Galaxy in detail, from the different kinds of stars that are born within it, to the origins of its magnificent spiral structure
  • Tells the story of our growing understanding of galaxies, from the days before Galileo to our present-day observations of our many hundreds of millions of galactic neighbours

  
Galaxies are the building blocks of the Universe: standing like islands in space, each is made up of many hundreds of millions of stars in which the chemical elements are made, around which planets form, and where on at least one of those planets intelligent life has emerged. 
 
Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is just one of several hundred million other galaxies that we can now observe through our telescopes. Yet it was only in the 1920s that we realised that there is more to the Universe than the Milky Way, and that there were in fact other 'islands' out there. In many ways, modern astronomy began with this discovery, and the story of galaxies is therefore the story of modern astronomy. Since then, many exciting discoveries have been made about our own galaxy and about those beyond: how a supermassive black hole lurks at the centre of every galaxy, for example, how enormous forces are released when galaxies collide, how distant galaxies provide a window on the early Universe, and what the formation of young galaxies can tell us about the mysteries of Cold Dark Matter. 

In this Very Short Introduction, renowned science writer John Gribbin describes the extraordinary things that astronomers are learning about galaxies, and explains how this can shed light on the origins and structure of the Universe.

Index: 

1: A Very Short Introduction
2: The Great Debate
3: Our Island
4: The Expanding Universe
5: Across the Universe
6: The Origin of Galaxies
7: The Universe at Large
References & Further Reading
Index

About the author: 

John Gribbin has a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge and is one of the best-known current popular science writers. His many books include the acclaimed The Universe: A Biography, In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, and Science: A History. He has written for all the UK broadsheet newspapers, regularly contributes to radio and television documentaries and debates, and also writes science fiction novels. He formerly worked for Nature and New Scientist, and is presently a Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.

Product details

ISBN : 9780199234349

Author: 
John Gribbin
Pages
136 Pages
Format
Paperback
Size
110 x 175 mm
Customer reviews
0
(0)

You may also like

Customer reviews

0
0
0件

まだレビューはありません

The price listed on this page is the recommended retail price for Japan. When a discount is applied, the discounted price is indicated as “Discount price”. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Galaxies: A Very Short Introduction

Galaxies: A Very Short Introduction

Galaxies: A Very Short Introduction