Recommend a textbook

[Toby Jug]

Hi everyone.

Overview:  I'm old but still have an interest in learning stuff.  I was going to try and get on an undergraduate or post-graduate course in Astronomy or Astrophysics but circumstances have changed, people have become ill and I won't be doing any of that for... an unknown but long time.     So I'm just going to do some reading at home but it seems sensible to use an undergraduate or post-graduate degree as a basis to guide that reading.  A Google search for recommended reading lists from major universities offering a graduate or postgraduate course in Astrophysics or Astronomy has turned up very few results.  Can anyone suggest a book or two please?

I'll be grateful for any replies but here's two examples of short and amazingly useful replies:

1.   An introduction to Stuff,  by Ima Scientist        <--- Was recommended for our final year BSc Physics module in "Nebulous Things".

2.   Here's a picture of our recommended reading list from  ABC University  for the 1-year MSc in Astronomy  2009        [Picture attached].  Since it's 84 different books, I've underlined the half-dozen that most of us really made reguar use of.

[studiot]

Let me start by saying that these subjects overlap my main interests and I don't know how much maths / physics you can tolerate.

However judging by your first three posts here you seem to have you head well screwed on so here are some thoughtss

 Cambridge University publishes a series in the Earth and Cosmological Sciences.

1) Galaxies and Cosmology Jones and Lambourne (editors)   This is an OU set book

2)Thermodynamics of the Earth and Planets. Alberto Douce

3) Planet Earth, Cosmology, Geology, and the evolution of Life and the Environment.  Cesare Emiliane

Fourthly  a book by a gifted amateur who taught himself the subject when he was somewhat in your position

A Most incomprehensible Thing  -  Notes towards a very general Introduction the mathematics of relativity.

Peter Collier

Incomprehensible Books

ISBN 3rd Ed 2017 978-0-9573894-6-5

 

Let us know if you need any more 'overlap' areas

We wish you well in whatever is to come.

 

[Toby Jug]

4 hours ago, studiot said:

Galaxies and Cosmology Jones and Lambourne (editors)   This is an OU set book

Thanks Studiot.  That looks like exactly the sort of thing that would be useful for the sort of distance learning I will be doing.

I seriously considered studying with the O.U. but at the current time they seem to offer only "Space Science and Technology" rather than "Astronomy" or "Astrophysics".  As far as I can tell their course has more emphasis on technology and project management than I may like.  However, borrowing the bits that are of interest from their reading list seems like an excellent idea and is exactly what I wanted.

As reagrds the fourth book, an introduction to general relativity, that sounds remarkable and I fear that I may be missing out by not purchasing it.   You make it sound like a great read but I was going to skip it for now, if only to keep the cost of my purchases down.  I've got Sean Caroll's book  "An introduction to General relativity: Spacetime and Geometry" which has serviced my curiosity for General Relativity so far and indeed it's the section on cosmology that made me think Astronomy might be worth studying.

Thanks for your time and attention and good luck to you.

[studiot]

I was talking to a second hand bookshop owner a couple of days ago.

She told me that there has been a sharp rise in sales of academic books lately, particularly mathematical ones.
She has been sending these all round the world during the Covid outbreak.

Second hand is often a good way to keep the ridiculous prices of books in the UK down.

[studiot]

One more,

This is not a textbook but a penguin paperback sized book that is a good read, if you like, as I do, following how a theory was arrived at, as presented by an expert who actually knows and understands that theory.

The Perfect Theory

Pedro Ferreira

 

[Toby Jug]

@studiot   Thanks again.  I'm going to try and stay off this forum for a day and actually do some of the things I've spoken about, like read a book. 

I honestly don't know how you manage to make such pleasant replies each time.  I gave up a bit of time to answer a question about cardboard boxes only to become reasonably convinced that whatever that post was about it wasn't really about cardboard or protecting DVDs in a box.

Take care of yourself studiot and be careful what you spend your time on.