Download Fundamental Astronomy epub

I wanted an introductory astrophysics text that had math and wasn't just a popular text. This text fit my requirments. It has a bit of math higher than algebra. There is even a appendix covering multiple integrals. This text would also be readable without the math so it can serve as an undergraduate one year astrophysics text or an interesting text for anyone interested in astronomy. I wish it had a little more about high energy astrophysics, but it is a very good book and my favorite astrophysics book. The authors seem to be good teachers.

I'm familiar with the previous edition as I used to borrow it from my uni library. I've already completed the first three chapters. The exercises are great, you might want to write a program for some of the stuff if you have some programming skills. The book is just great for an amateur astronomer; the math is a bit advanced for most people frankly, but if you're already into astronomy and physics you probably have a good mathematics and physics background so it shouldn't be hard to sharpen it.

The only thing I found disappointing was the print quality. The book first couple of pages were already torn from the rest when I received the book and you can tell easily that's it's one book you need to handle with a lot of care.

NOTE: This review refers to the ENGLISH language version. Also, please forgive me if I sound like typical, self-centered American. The focus of my review will be for English speaking Americans. This is because the Amazon description of the book gives little indication as to who this book is aimed at, and it quickly became clear to me only after I purchased it that the focus wasn't america, and so i'd like to warn others:

Let me give a brief background of myself and why I sought out this book: I am an American born, raised, and schooled in America. I have a bachelors in math with a minor in astro, and a masters in math education. I am looking to return to grad school in the hopes of obtaining a PhD in applied math with an emphasis on astro. I wanted to brush up on my undergraduate astronomy studies before returning to school and so I was looking for a reputable text that would be sufficient for self study. The descriptions of the book as well as Amazon reviews and other internet reviews made me choose this title. Unfortunately, this book is riddled with problems that make studying from it and appreciating the subject matter unnecessarily difficult:

1. The english version of the book is merely a TRANSLATION. I lived overseas for a few years and so I have come to recognize when the english language is being written by a fluent/native speaker or when it is being directly translated from another language with poor respect for the new language. Consequently, there are many awkward sentences, poorly structured paragraphs, and there are even random sentences that seem out of place within a paragraph. I am not nitpicking as if I were a grammar-crazed nut, what I'm saying is that after a few pages of reading it becomes clear that the language being used is not very natural english. The book may be in English, but it requires further translation into understandable, cohesive English.

2. Some of the common math formulas, and the way in which diagrams are labeled appear in somewhat different forms (certainly not incorrect, just different from an american math textbook approach). I'm guessing that this is how it's done in Europe, but for an american it will require an extra step (and wasted time) to turn a formula into a more recognizable 'american' version.

3. Black and White pictures! This is the 21st century and the most visually inspiring science is being robbed of its awe and wonder by being displayed in BLACK AND WHITE! If this were the 1970's, fine. But seeing as how anyone can turn on their laptops or iphones and look up high resolution color photos on NASA's website, including black and white photos is really just an ugly waste of time. However, There are a few color pictures in their own section in the very back of the book. But really, it feels like a poor last minute effort to pad the book.

I cannot recommend this book to any American. There is just too much extra work required on behalf of an American reader to make sense of it, especially considering there are plenty of American textbooks with an American approach to math that won't require the extra effort of translation and that also aren't limited to black and white photos.

Perhaps a european who speaks english, but not Finnish will get some use out of it. And maybe the Finnish version is great for the people of Finland, but I would not recommend this book to be used in any American university.

My recommendation for a proper undergraduate introduction to astronomy: Universe 9th edition by Freedman.

A typical problem with the Springer-Verlag company. New edition,cheap paper pages, quick and innaccurate translation from original language. Poor black and white photos, instead of the more expensive coloured ones.