Frontiers of Astronomy Author:Fred Hoyle Astronomy has been extending its frontiers at a remarkable rate in recent years. Major discoveries in physics, notably atomic physics, and a vast improvement in methods of observation have combined to increase our knowledge greatly. In this book Mr. Hoyle assesses what is happening at these new frontiers and offers a modern intregrated and compr... more »ehensive view of the Universe.
Employing the clear and simple style which made his previous book (The Nature of the Universe) so deservedly popular, the author brings the great questions of space and time within the grasp of the reader who has no specialized training in math and physics.
Frontiers of Astronomy opens with chapters on the Earth and a review of the discoveries in physics which have contributed so much to astronomy's advance.
There are chapters on the Earth-Moon system and the origin of the planets. Then follow chapters on the Sun and the physical composition of the stars-with special reference to the stars as manufacturers of chemical elements and to exploding stars. The evolution of stars and galaxies is discussed and this leads into the question of the origin of the Universe-is it the product of a cosmic explosion?
The result now being achieved by the new methods of radio astronomy figure prominently in the book.
48 pages of magnificent photographs and more than sixty drawings.
An enomous amount has been learned about the universe since t he days of Eddington and Jeans but no general theory has been advanced to knit things together in terms broad enough and simple enough to be grasped by the vast majority who have no special knowledge of mathmatics and physics.
This challenge has been boldly accepted by a young Cambridge University astronomer-the result being this book which makes the titanic problems of time and space seem simple. Is there life on other planets? How was the Universe created and is it running down? What is the fate of the Earth? Is it possible for an atomic explosion to set off a nuclear reaction all over the Earth and make it an exploding star? It is questions such as these that Fred Hoyle answers in this book which combines generally accepted theories of modern cosomlogy with daring concepts of his own (such as the theory of continuous creation, the origin of our solar system in the explosion of the Sun's twin star, etc).
Whatever we may feel about the author's philosophical conclusions, we may well find our present ideas of the cosmos turned upside down by this billiant book.« less