Delineating the huge strides taken in cosmology in the past ten years, this much-anticipated second edition of Malcolm Longair's highly appreciated textbook has been extensively and thoroughly updated. It tells the story of modern astrophysical cosmology from the perspective of one of its most important and fundamental problems – how did the galaxies come about? Longair uses this approach to introduce the whole of what may be called "classical cosmology". What’s more, he describes how the study of the origin of galaxies and larger-scale structures in the Universe has provided us with direct information about the physics of the very early Universe.

A coherent introduction for researchers in astronomy, particle physics, and cosmology on the formation and evolution of galaxies.

This thesis addresses two of the central processes which underpin the formation of galaxies: the formation of stars and the injection of energy into the interstellar medium from supernovae, called feedback. In her work Claudia Lagos has completely overhauled the treatment of these processes in simulations of galaxy formation. Her thesis makes two major breakthroughs, and represents the first major steps forward in these areas in more than a decade. Her work has enabled, for the first time, predictions to be made which can be compared against new observations which probe the neutral gas content of galaxies, opening up a completely novel way to constrain the models. The treatment of feedback from supernovae, and how this removes material from the interstellar medium, is also likely to have a lasting impact on the field. Claudia Lagos Ph.D. thesis was nominated by the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University as an outstanding Ph.D. thesis 2012.

Annotation The conference was designed as an opportunity of exchange and interaction between two groups of astrophysicists: those studying galaxy clusters, and those studying nucleosynthesis and stellar evolution. The 55 papers consider abundances in the two media, star formation and nucleosynthesis, modelling the chemical enrichment and energetics, numerical simulations of galaxy clusters, cosmic evolution, and other topics. They are not indexed. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A brief, introductory astronomy book designed for readers with little or no scientific background,A Beginner's Guideuses an exceptionally clear writing style. The authors present a broad view of astronomy without complex mathematics, yet the book discusses important concepts without simplification.The book's organization follows the popular and effective "Earth-Out" progression, starting with our planet and then moving through the solar system. A study of the Sun as a model star follows, then the book covers the Milky Way Galaxy, cosmology, and the universe as a whole.Because of its easy-to-read yet comprehensive coverage of astronomy, this book can serve as excellent reference material for those readers interested in learning about our universe.Personal Response System:Through a partnership with Interwrite PRS, this text is available with the PRS clicker system. The Instructor Resource Center on CD-ROM contains conceptual "clicker" questions in PowerPoint.