A Student's Guide to the Mathematics of Astronomy

I am a "senior" self-learner. Most astrophysics textbooks are meant for a college classroom, which will have a professor to answer questions. That is not my circumstance, so the books are an awkward fit. Often the books leave out several math steps or, even more annoying, leave out the math entirely and leave it to the student "as an exercise." This book fills in those gaps. I found it to be very helpful. It shows all of the math. The one thing the book does not cover is the math for binary stars. I wish it did. I was watching a video on the topic by Prof. Winn. He is a great lecturer, but often makes leaps on math, or just leaves out details. This was particularly frustrating with eclipsing binary stars, where he left out any number of steps. For example, at one point he threw in a unit vector for r without explaining why or how it affects the math. Alas, I could not find the answer in this book either, but otherwise, it has been great.

For anyone who has taken astronomy classes at the college level, this text serves as a wonderful refresher and impetus to learn more about astronomy. I recommend this book!

In chapter 1, the authors describe the mathematical basics that are needed for so many physics problems: how to form ratios, how to use scientific notation, and how to perform dimensional analysis (so answers come out in the proper units). Then, they lead you through the concepts and standard formulas for Gravity (Newton, Kepler, and a terrific overview of the property of ellipses), Light (Wavelength, Frequency, Energy, Doppler Shifts), Parallax (Angular size and resolution), Characteristics of Stars, Black Holes and Cosmology. In each case, they step through the concepts so you gain an intuitive understanding, and also walk you through each of the applicable equations, showing how each term is used. There is no calculus in the book. The book is all about the fundamental formulas, what they mean, and how to use them. The content is up to date as far as I can tell. For example, the chapter on Light explains how astronomers use radial velocity to find the wobble of stars, and then use that wobble to predict the existence of extrasolar planets. The authors have a website hosted by Wittenburg University where they have answers to the problems, as well as video podcasts of the material. The videos themselves make up an Astronomy in a Nutshell series. I love the options they provide for getting answers to the book's problems. You can either print a PDF of all the answers for a chapter, or you can display 1, 2, 3 or 4 hints while trying to work through the problem. The physical condition of the paperback edition is excellent. The publisher uses a heavy glossy cover, well-built spine, and thick pages. No skimping on production quality. It's the same high quality used for the author's paperback edition of A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations. All in all - beautifully done. The authors of this book obviously have a true desire to impart knowledge, and to do so with class and quality. I'm very grateful.

Very basic, tightly worded narrative with applicable equations and examples. Sometimes the syntax is overly complicated, further complicating an already complicated explanation. Exercises are provided at the end of each section, but the answers are on the website rather than in the book -- not ideal. The math for essential topics in an Astronomy 1 class are covered well. For the visual learner, however, YouTube videos -- and there are many excellent ones -- will still be a good idea. I'm finding, as I review my notes, that my YouTube video notes are more extensive and helpful than my notes from the book. Still, it's a good supplemental reference, a good beginning for getting a grip on many nitty mathematical problems.

Having just worked my way through 'A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations' by Daniel Fleisch I decided to order another book written by him. Having loved astronomy since I was young, I ordered 'A Student's Guide to the Mathematics of Astronomy'. This is one great book! It has a nice range of astronomical topics all explained with amazing clarity: Kepler's 3rd Law, Doppler Shift, Parallaxes, Angular Size, Stellar Parallax, Star Luminosity, Apparent and Absolute Brightness, Magnitudes, Black Holes, and Escape Velocity among other things. Explanations include basic equations used for each topic, examples of how to use them and problems (with solutions!) to try so you can make sure you understand the topics. Equations are presented at a basic algebra non-calculus level. Concepts are very well explained. The only thing I can think of I wish the book had was a table of basic astronomical data on the inside back cover. Such things as: Mass and Radius of the Sun, Moon, and Planets. S.I. Units for 1 A.U., 1 Parsec, and 1 Light Year. Also, values for some basic constants such as the Speed of Light, Solar Luminosity, Solar Constant, Stefan's Constant, Gravitational Constant... I eventually ended up making my own table which turned out very handy.

A great review and worthy of ownership in one's library for those wanting a new reference that covers a lot of good material. Still reviewing mine, but I am so far very impressed at the combination of layout, detail, and yet simplicity of the coverage of these topics. Well done. Recommended highly! Thanks!

This book would be ideal for students that are about to take college physics without calculus. It's also good for students that will take it with calculus, but you will need to know calculus. It's not a terrible idea to get a good grasp of dimensional analysis prior to physics as it should be your bread and butter for mental estimates and for checking results. This book covers that extremely well and then goes into the basics of astronomy. I enjoyed the alternative approach to Newton's laws and their relationship with Kepler. The book was not exactly what I was expecting, but I learned a few things. It's more for someone that needs to review the math necessary for basic physics.

i received the item in the specified time and the book was in perfect condition. very happy.

Livro muito bom para professores e estudantes terem uma ideia de como se utiliza a matemática nos temas da astronomia.

Excellent book... learnt how to use math to calculate some of the Astronomical data from basics... that I used to just take it on face value

Questo libro è consigliato a chi voglia iniziare ad approfondire la conoscenza dell'astronomia "sporcandosi le mani" per fare qualche conto, anziché limitarsi a osservare al telescopio o leggere libri divulgativi. Il punto di forza di questo libro è che usa, letteralmente, le quattro operazioni (a cui va aggiunta qualche radice quadrata e qualche logaritmo, ma niente di più). Quindi non servono nozioni di calcolo infinitesimale (niente derivate e integrali, per intenderci), e questo lo rende alla portata di chiunque abbia una conoscenza base di matematica da scuola superiore. È abbastanza sorprendente quante cose si possano comprendere usando solo nozioni elementari. Gli argomenti affrontati nel libro sono: unità di misura e loro conversione; le leggi di Keplero e di Newton del moto dei pianeti; ottica; parallasse stellare; cosmologia di base. Le foto allegate mostrano l'indice per chi vuole maggiori dettagli. Ho trovato il libro molto interessante perché sta a metà strada tra i testi divulgativi e quelli universitari; chiunque abbia un minimo di basi matematiche (studenti, semplici appassionati) può imparare a usare "i ferri del mestiere" degli astronomi professionisti. Vengono mostrati e risolti diversi esercizi per fare pratica. Volendo trovare un difetto, le illustrazioni sono abbastanza schematiche e minimali; certo, da testi come questo non ci si aspetta delle opere d'arte, ma da un editore prestigioso come Cambridge University Press mi sarei aspettato un po' più di cura negli schemi e nei diagrammi.

Great book explaining how some of the stuff works up there!

This is a great book that covers a surprising amount of astronomy using mathematics that, apart from the use of radians, does not go beyond GCSE level. I was pleasantly surprised that the author showed how to do meaningful calculations about topics like black holes and recession of galaxies without getting into calculus. The explanations of principles are good and clear. For me the explanations of calculations were more detailed than necessary but that’s fine: I skipped over many of them but others will find them helpful. Hints and full solutions are on the accompanying web-site. Those for the end-of-chapter exercises are conveniently grouped in .pdfs. Those for the in-chapter problems are separate and split into parts a, b, c etcetera, which for me, often on a phone in a café with dodgy wifi, seemed to take a long time and a lot of clicks to access. Still, the most important thing is that there are solutions to all the problems, with working not just answers, and none of this “answers to even numbers only” nonsense that some authors inflict on us self-study students. The book, and the solutions, have been carefully proof-read. I found only one mistake in the online solutions, a tiny one, and when I pointed it out to the author he corrected it immediately. Most users of this book will be juggling the book, pencil, paper, calculator and a phone or tablet for looking up astronomical data and checking their answers. Is it too much to ask that the publisher make this easier by providing a spiral binding? I got a lot of pleasure from reading this book and working the problems. It’s inspired me to follow up with a more advanced astronomy book.