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The Universe Today

Our Current Understanding and How It Was Achieved

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Carlos Martins

    1. Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

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  • Gives a gentle introduction to our current knowledge of the universe and how we came to our present view
  • Descriptive rather than mathematical, but includes maths separately for those seeking more detail
  • Author is an experienced teacher and popularizer in the field of astronomy and cosmology

Part of the book series: Astronomers' Universe (ASTRONOM)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 1-32

  3. Classical Astronomy

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 33-71

  4. From the Renaissance to Modern Science

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 73-119

  5. Classical Physics

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 121-165

  6. The Physics of Relativity

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 167-196

  7. The Physics of Stars and Galaxies

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 197-225

  8. The Physics of the Universe

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 227-257

  9. New Frontiers

    • Carlos Martins
    Pages 259-295

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 297-324
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Keywords

About this book

Starting out from humankind's earliest ideas about the cosmos, this book gives the reader a clear overview of our current understanding of the universe, including big bang theories and the formation of stars and galaxies, as well as addressing open questions. The author shows how our present view gradually developed from observations, and also how the outcome of ongoing research may still change this view. The book brings together concepts in physics and astronomy, including some history in both cases. The text is descriptive rather than technical: the goal is to present things rigorously and without oversimplification, by highlighting the crucial physical concepts. The only prerequisite is a qualitative knowledge of basic physics concepts at high-school level.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Carlos Martins

About the author

Carlos Martins studied Physics and Applied Mathematics (specializing in Astronomy) at U. Porto and obtained his PhD in Theoretical Physics at U.Cambridge. He mainly works on observational tests of early universe theories and is a member of several ESA and ESO scientific instruments. He is actively involved in education, teacher training and outreach activities. In 2012 he created the AstroCamp, an international academic excellence program in the astronomy and physics for high school students.

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