Violent Phenomena in the Universe (Dover Science Books)
That peaceful blanket of stars overhead hides something rather different. Instruments launched aboard balloons, spacecraft, and orbital observatories have revealed astonishing truths: our cosmos seethes with regions of explosive turbulence, radiating tremendous quantities of energy in patterns both rhythmic and catastrophic. This accessible volume, praised by Nature for its rigorous yet engaging approach, charts how astrophysicists came to understand these bewildering cosmic outbursts. From Newton's gravity to Einstein's warped spacetime, the narrative sweeps through the intellectual journey that led to explaining extraordinary phenomena like imploding stars, neutron beacons, X-ray emitters, galactic cores burning with intensity, and the mysterious objects known as quasars. The book tackles the Big Bang head-on, presenting mainstream thinking alongside the perplexing questions that challenge whether it truly answers what happened at the universe's birth. Supporting material throughout clarifies difficult concepts, whilst an index and reference tables help you track down further reading. A thoughtful, genuinely enlightening exploration of cosmic violence.
- Author: Jayant V. Narlikar
- Publisher: Dover Publications
- Genre: Astronomy & Space Science
- ISBN: 978-0486152318
- Pages: 242 pages