Discovering The Universe: A guide to the galaxies, planets and stars

by Sten Odenwald

Overview

Explore the mysteries of the cosmos in this fascinating guide by leading NASA astronomer and educator Sten Odenwald.

Have you ever wondered how the first stars were born? Or pondered what really happens around a black hole? Here Sten Odenwald answers these questions and many more as he takes you on a mesmerizing journey across the entire history of the universe. You will learn about the composition of planets, galaxy mergers, asteroid belts, the fundamental nature of spacetime, and much, much more.

Discovering the Universe reveals the secrets behind subjects as varied as the Big Bang, dark matter, the life cycle of stars, and the nature of planets both inside and outside our solar system.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with stunning photos as well as a range of diagrams and infographics to aid understanding, there has never been a better time to get into cosmology.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus' Discovering... series brings together spectacular hardback guides which explore the science behind our world, brought to life by eye-catching photography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781398817074
Publisher:	Arcturus Publishing
Publication date:	12/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	869,055
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Sten Odenwald is the Director of the STEM Resource Development project at NASA, a long-time astronomer and he is passionate about promoting science education. Over the course of his career, he has taught at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution, he has appeared on TV for National Geographic and has written numerous articles for magazines ranging from Astronomy magazine to Scientific American. He also runs the blog 'The Astronomy Café', where he seeks to bring cosmology and astronomy to a wider audience.

Dr. Sten Odenwald received his PhD in astrophysics from Harvard University in 1982, and has authored or co-authored over 100 papers and articles in astrophysics and astronomy education. His research interests have involved investigations of massive star formation in the Milky Way, galaxy evolution, accretion disk modelling, and the nature of the cosmic infrared background with the NASA COBE program. During his later years of research, his interests turned to space weather issues and the modelling of solar storm impacts to commercial satellite systems.

At the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, he participates in many NASA programs in space science and math education. He is an award-winning science educator including the twice-awarded prize by the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division for his articles on space weather. He also won the 1999 NASA Award of Excellence for Education Outreach, along with numerous other NASA awards for his work in popularizing heliophysics. Since 2008, he has been the Director of the Space Math @ NASA project, which is a program that develops math problems for students of all ages, featuring scientific discoveries from across NASA (http://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov). Currently he is the Director of Citizen Science with the NASA Space Science Education Consortium, where he works with NASA scientists to innovate new citizen science projects for public participation.

Since the 1980s, he has been an active science popularizer and book author with articles appearing in Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines as well as Scientific American. His specialty areas include cosmology, string theory and black holes among many other topics at the frontier of astrophysics. He is the author of 19 books ranging from reflections on a career in astronomy to quantum physics and cosmology. He has several websites promoting science education including his blogs and other resources at 'The Astronomy Café' (sten.astronomycafe.net), which was created by him in 1995 and remains one of the oldest astronomy education sites on the internet. He has also appeared on the National Geographic TV special 'Solar Force' 2007, and Planet TV in 2019 with William Shatner, as well as a number of BBC TV specials on space weather including the 8-part Curiosity Stream series on space weather to debut in 2019. He has frequently appeared on radio programs such as National Public Radio's Public Impact, Earth and Sky Radio, and David Levy's Let's Talk Stars.