Discovering the Cosmos
Second Edition

By R.C. Bless
University of Wisconsin, Madison

1. Comments to the Reader

PART I: Cosmology From the Beginnings through Newton

2. The Naked-Eye Sky

3. Early Greek Astronomy

4. The Beginnings of Quantitative Astronomy

5. The New Astronomy

6. Newtonian Synthesis

PART II: The Tools of the Astronomer

7. Tools of the Astronomer -- Physical Concepts

8. Tools of the Astronomer -- Hardware

PART III: The Life and Death of Stars

9. Reading Stellar Spectra

10. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

11. The Structure of Stars

12. The Interstellar Medium -- Birthplace of the Stars

13. Stellar Evolution -- The Early Phases

14. The Late Phases of Stellar Evolution -- Degenerate Corpses

15. Black Holes

Part IV: Cosmology from Herschel to the Present

16. The Discovery of Galaxies

17. The University of Galaxies

18. Active Galaxies

19. The FIrst Cosmological Clues

20. Models of the Universe

21. The Mysterious Universe

Epilogue

22. Life Elsewhere: Are We Alone?

Appendices

Index