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Excursions in Astronomical Optics

  • Book
  • © 1996

Overview

Authors:
  1. Lawrence Mertz

    1. Palo Alto, USA

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Optical Telescopes

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 1-24

  3. X-ray Telescopes

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 25-45

  4. Interferometry

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 47-77

  5. Image Sensing

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 79-94

  6. Spectroscopy

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 95-107

  7. Pulsars

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 109-125

  8. Quasars

    • Lawrence Mertz
    Pages 127-137

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 139-152
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Keywords

About this book

For every astronomical topic that I have approached there has turned out to be a broader realm of possibilities than is commonly accepted or acknowledged. The "excursions" of this book are the examples. They mostly depart from the mainstream of conventional wisdom to offer a wider perspective with opportunities for further research. While my intent is to supplement that mainstream, the effect may appear to dismiss rather than to reconsider accepted tenets. Ample praise and credit for those accomplishments are already available in textbooks. Readers may very well disagree with some of the notions presented in these excursions, but I hope that they will pause long enough to evaluate the scientific basis for any disagreement. For the most part, these excursions remain incomplete and unfulfilled, yet they contain many ideas that are not available elsewhere. Whether these ideas are per­ ceived as a collection of unproven claims or as a storehouse of fresh opportunities will depend entirely on the attitude of the reader. The excursions do cover a rather wide span of disciplines, and that may lead to an unfocused overall impression. My hope is thereby to attract a broader audience than that of a single discipline, and to expose them to neighboring disciplines. The excursions all do have the common thread of optical science related to astronomy.

Reviews


FROM THE REVIEWS:

THE OBSERVATORY MAGAZINE
"Suffice is to say that this is proper physics, and is original and creative and is original and creative. Proper physics, because the ideas are basic and highly intellectual, backed up by algebraic and quantitative analysis, with examples of possible application, and in some cases with supporting experiments and short segments of computer code. Creative, because there are insights, appearing fundamental and full of potential… So what do we do with ideas? Each scientist has to answer this question personally. Larry Mertz has answered it for himself with this book, to the immediate and enduring benefit of others in astronomical optics.”

REVIEWS OF ASTRONOMICAL TOOLS
"…a collection of interesting thoughts and considerations to different types of telescopes. The book is a very good source for ideas and new approaches to the general topic…The book is an interesting and very new kind of approach to this topic…”

Authors and Affiliations

  • Palo Alto, USA

    Lawrence Mertz

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