The bestselling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos tackles perhaps the most mind-bending question in modern physics and cosmology: Is our universe the only universe?

Explore the beauty and awe of the heavens through the rich celestial prints and star atlases offered in this third edition book. The author traces the development of celestial cartography from ancient to modern times, describes the relationships between different star maps and atlases, and relates these notions to our changing ideas about humanity’s place in the universe. Also covered in this book are more contemporary cosmological ideas, constellation representations, and cartographic advances.

Galileo Galilei è stato il primo a puntare il telescopio verso il cielo, e le sue scoperte, note al pubblico grazie ai trattati maggiori "Sidereus nuncius" e "Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo", hanno ridisegnato per sempre la nostra concezione del cosmo. Eppure alcune delle sue pagine più belle sono ancora oggi poco note: tra queste, una lettera straordinaria inviata nella primavera del 1640 al principe Leopoldo di Toscana. Qui lo scienziato espone le proprie teorie sulla luce della Luna, mosso «dal natural desiderio» di spiegare le cause del suo splendido «candore». L'astro più amato dagli artisti e dai poeti incontra così il suo più illustre osservatore: l'occhio di Galileo, «il più nobil occhio, che abbia mai fabbricato la natura». Prefazione di Luca Perri.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest engineering project ever undertaken, and one of the most expensive. Why are physicists around the world so excited about it? What secrets of the universe does this gargantuan piece of machinery hope to reveal? What risks are there in operating it? Could the exotic particles that are produced in the collisions—including tiny black holes that should wink into and out of existence— between subatomic particles be a threat not only to humankind but to the planet itself?

During the past few decades there has been increasing interest in the study of complexitywithaviewtobetterunderstandphysical,biological,economicand social systems. The specific features of complexity dealing with nonequilib- rium phenomena are intimately connected with statistical dynamics and form one of the growing research areas in modern nonlinear physics. These studies encompass the ideas of self-organization, phase transition, critical phenom- ena, self-organized criticality and turbulence. In this book we have tried to bring together into a coherent account the recent developments in the study of nonequilibrium phenomena in plasmas.

G. Beutler's Methods of Celestial Mechanics is a coherent textbook for students in physics, mathematics and engineering as well as an excellent reference for practitioners. This Volume I gives a thorough treatment of celestial mechanics and presents all the necessary mathematical details that a professional would need. After a brief review of the history of celestial mechanics, the equations of motion (Newtonian and relativistic versions) are developed for planetary systems (N-body-problem), for artificial Earth satellites, and for extended bodies (which includes the problem of Earth and lunar rotation).

Space exploration has developed from early, unmanned space probes through the pioneering years of the ‘Manned’ Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, to missions that now include women in the crew as a matter of course. Dave Shayler tells the story of the first woman balloonist in 1784 to their breakthrough as astronauts and cosmonauts in a range of professional roles. He covers the contribution women have made to space exploration and draws on interviews with Shuttle and Mir crew members who were women. These interviews detail the achievements of the first female Shuttle commander and the first female resident crew member of the International Space Station. These and many other events are presented in a detailed and highly readable account that recalls the difficult path to space exploration by women.

Describing interstellar matter in our galaxy in all of its various forms, this book also considers the physical and chemical processes that are occurring within this matter. The first seven chapters present the various components making up the interstellar matter and detail the ways that we are able to study them. The following seven chapters are devoted to the physical, chemical and dynamical processes that control the behaviour of interstellar matter.

Toward the second half of this decade, several major telescope facilities operating in the infrared, sub-millimeter, and millimeter wave bands will become operational. These missions are expected to throw much light on our understanding of the star formation phenomenon, which is one of the primary science goals in these wave bands. This book contains the proceedings of the "Cores to Clusters" workshop held at Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto. The mission of the workshop was to discuss current and future issues in star formation physics in the light of these Next Generation Telescopes.

MARSWALK ONE: First Steps on a New Planet addresses the question of why we should embark on a journey to Mars, documenting what the first human crew will do when they place their feet in the red dust of the planet. The book also addresses why we need to carry out these tasks and, more importantly, what a human crew could achieve that an automated mission could not. Understanding the clear benefits of sending a human crew to the surface of Mars, and how these benefits can be seen back on Earth, is the key to sustained long-term public and political support for the programme in terms of cash and commitment.