Building on a long tradition of effective pedagogy and comprehensive coverage, The Cosmic Perspective, Seventh Edition provides a thoroughly engaging and up-to-date introduction to astronomy for non-science majors. The text provides a wealth of features that enhance skill-building, including new group work exercises that help you retain concepts longer and build communication skills for the future. The Seventh Edition has also been fully updated to include the latest astronomical observations, results from recent space missions, research, and theoretical developments that inform our understanding of the early universe.
Note: This is a standalone book.
Two volumes of this text are also available:
The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar System, Seventh Edition (includes Chapters 1-13, 24)
The Cosmic Perspective: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, Seventh Edition (includes Chapters 1-6, S2-S4, 14-24)
I. DEVELOPING PERSPECTIVE
1. Our Place in the Universe
2. Discovering the Universe for Yourself
3. The Science of Astronomy
S1. Celestial Timekeeping and Navigation
II. KEY CONCEPTS FOR ASTRONOMY
4. Making Sense of the Universe: Understanding Motion, Energy, and Gravity
5. Light and Matter: Reading Messages from the Cosmos
6. Telescopes: Portals of Discovery
III. LEARNING FROM OTHER WORLDS
7. Our Planetary System
8. Formation of the Solar System
9. Planetary Geology: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds
10. Planetary Atmospheres: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds
11. Jovian Planet Systems
12. Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets: Their Nature, Orbits, and Impacts
13. Other Planetary Systems: The New Science of Distant Worlds
IV. A DEEPER LOOK AT NATURE
S2. Space and Time
S3. Spacetime and Gravity
S4. Building Blocks of the Universe
V. STARS
14. Our Star
15. Surveying the Stars
16. Star Birth
17. Star Stuff
18. The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard
VI. GALAXIES AND BEYOND
19. Our Galaxy
20. Galaxies and the Foundation of Modern Cosmology
21. Galaxy Evolution
22. Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Universe
23. The Beginning of Time
