Books published by publisher W. H. Freeman

This text is for descriptive one-term astronomy courses (especially those with no mathematics prerequisites). The book's main theme is the process of scientific discovery, and readers will encounter spectacular sights, landmark experiments and discoveries, while learning to avoid the pitfalls created by common misconceptions about astronomy. This sixth edition is enhanced with a powerful technology and image projection package and the accompanying CDROM features a special student version of the virtual planetarium software "Starry Night".

The third edition has been updated to include the latest information on: the difficulties and successes of the Hubble Space Telescope; the status of AXAF, SIRTIF, Keck and other new observatories; the solar neutrino problem and the growing importance of solar seismology; the Magellan and Galileo missions, including remarkable photographs of Venus and Gaspra; the supernova SN1987A, with a new prediction of its brightening around the year 2000; the existence of black holes, including new observational evidence, plus descriptions of the supermassive-black hole model of the "central engine" in quasars and active galactic nuclei; galactic collisions and mergers, with new the radio maps and super computer simulations of galaxy-galaxy interactions.