Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter 1
2. Contents 6
3. Preface 11
4. Part I. Stars, Planets, and Life
5. 1. The size and scale of the Universe 17
6. 2. From the day and night sky to Planetary orbits 26
7. 3. Newton’s laws 42
8. 4. How stars radiate energy (i) 54
9. 5. How stars radiate energy (ii) 71
10. 6. Stellar Spectra 81
11. 7. The lives and deaths of stars (i) 93
12. 8. The lives and deaths of stars (ii) 111
13. 9. Why Pluto is not a Planet 126
14. 10. The search for life in the galaxy 146
15. Part II . Galaxies
16. 11. The interstellar medium 173
17. 12. Our milky way 183
18. 13. The Universe of galaxies 197
19. 14. The expansion of the Universe 207
20. 15. The early Universe 222
21. 16. Quasars and Supermassive black holes 241
22. Part III . Einstein and the Universe
23. 17. Einstein’s road to Relativity 257
24. 18. Implications of Special Relativity 270
25. 19. Einstein’s general Theory of Relativity 289
26. 20. Black Holes 300
27. 21. Cosmic strings, wormholes, and time travel 321
28. 22. The shape of the Universe and the big bang 347
29. 23. Inflation and recent developments in cosmology 374
30. 24. Our future in the Universe 400
31. Acknowledgments 425
32. Appendix 1 427
33. Appendix 2 431
34. Notes 433
35. Suggested reading 439
36. Index 441