Foundations of Astrophysics

Barbara Ryden · Bradley M. Peterson

Aug 2020 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Foundations of Astrophysics provides a contemporary and complete introduction to astrophysics for astronomy and physics majors. With a logical presentation and conceptual and quantitative end-of-chapter problems, the material is accessible to introductory astrophysics students taking a two-semester survey course. Starting with the motions of the solar system and a discussion of the interaction of matter and light, the authors explore the physical nature of objects in the solar system, and the exciting new field of exoplanets. The second half of their text covers stellar, galactic, and extragalactic astronomy, followed by a brief discussion of cosmology. This is a reissue of the original 2010 edition, which has established itself as one of the market-leading astrophysics texts, well known for its clarity and simplicity. It has introduced thousands of physical science students to the breadth of astronomy, and helped prepare them for more advanced studies.

Ratings and reviews

This is not a book for equations, it's written at an undergraduate level for students who have not yet taken calculus in some cases. However, it is a fantastic book for getting a fundamental understanding of the way the universe works. Barbara Ryden writes the most readable astronomy books currently out there. If you are looking to generally understand an astrophysical concept her books are a must have.

The book itself is not great and the explanations and pictures are awful. The derivations are also not easy to follow but if its required for a college class it does the trick. Wouldn't recommend otherwise.

I have found this book invaluable for preparing my lectures in undergraduate astronomy. Her examples do a fantastic job of illustrating the concepts to my students (I use it in my class yes) and the students find it quite helpful. Cheers.,

About the author

Barbara Ryden received her Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University, New Jersey. After postdocs at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, she joined the astronomy faculty at The Ohio State University, where she is now a full professor. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in teaching, at levels ranging from introductory undergraduate courses to advanced graduate seminars. She won the Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for her textbook Introduction to Cosmology (Cambridge, 2016).

Bradley M. Peterson received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. He was a member of the astronomy faculty at The Ohio State University from 1980 until his retirement in 2015, after serving as Department Chair for nine years. He received the Distinguished Scholar Award from Ohio State; the Outstanding Achievement Award from his alma mater, the University of Minnesota; and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He was a community co-chair for the Science and Technology Definition Team for the Large, Ultraviolet, Optical, Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR), a large mission-concept study for NASA Astrophysics, and is the author of An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei (Cambridge, 1997).