The Life of Stars The Controversial Inception and Emergence of the T
This beautifully illustrated book describes the birth and evolution of the theory of stellar structure through the vehement controversy between biology (as presented by Darwin) and physics (as presented by Kelvin) about the age of the Earth, which culmina
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Giora Shaviv
The Life of Stars The Controversial Inception and Emergence of the Theory of Stellar Structure
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Prof. Giora Shaviv Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Dept. Physics Technion City 32 000 Haifa Israel [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-02087-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-02088-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-02088-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009935999 c The Hebrew University Magnes Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg 2009 Springer-Verlag is a part of Springer Science+Business Media This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover illustration: NASA/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA/NASA) Cover design: eStudio Calamar S.L. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions. William Shakespeare, King Lear
A Few Words about What, Why and How The structure of the stars in general, and the Sun in particular, has been the subject of extensive scientific research and debate for over a century. The discovery of quantum theory during the first half of the nineteenth century provided much of the theoretical background needed to understand the making of the stars and how they live off their energy source. Progress in the theory of stellar structure was made through extensive discussions and controversies between the giants of the fields, as well as brilliant discoveries by astronomers. In this book, we shall carefully expose the building of the theory of stellar structure and evolution, and explain how our understanding of the stars has emerged from this background of incessant debate. About hundred years were required for astrophysics to answer the crucial questions: What is the energy source of the stars? How are the stars made? How do they evolve and eventually die? The answers to these questions have profound implications for astrophysics, physics, and biology, and the question of how we ourselves come to be here. While we already possess many of the answers, the theory of stellar structure is far from being complete, and there are many open questions, for example, concerning the mechanisms which trigger giant supernova explo
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