A complete and comprehensive treatment of the physics of the stellar interior and the underlying fundamental processes and parameters. The text presents an overview of the models developed to explain the stability, dynamics and evolution of the stars, and great care is taken to detail the various stages in a star's life. The authors have succeeded in producing a unique text based on their own pioneering work in stellar modeling.Since its publication, this textbook has come to be considered a classic by both readers and teachers in astrophysics. This study edition is intended for students in astronomy and physics alike.
The attempt to understand the physics of the structure of stars and their change in time - their evolution - has been bothering many physicists and astronomers ever since the last century. This long chain of successful research is well documented not only by numerous papers in the corresponding journals but also by a series of books. Some of them are so excellently written that despite their age they can still be recommended, and not only as documents of the state of the art at that time. A few outstanding examples are the books of R. Emden (1907), A. S. Eddington (1926), S. Chandrasekhar (1939), and M. Schwarzschild (1958). But our science has rapidly expanded in the last few decades, and new aspects have emerged which could not even be anticipated, say, 30 years ago and which today have to be carefully explored. This does not mean, however, that our ambition is to present a complete account of the latest and most refined numerical results. This can well be left to the large andgrowing number of excellent review articles. The present book is intended rather to be a textbook that will help students and teachers to understand these results as far as possible and present them in a simple and clear manner. We know how difficult this is since we ourselves have tried for the largest part of our scientific career to understand "how the stars work" - and then to make others believe it.
The attempt to understand the physics of the structure of stars and their change in time - their evolution - has been bothering many physicists and astronomers ever since the last century. This long chain of successful research is well documented not only by numerous papers in the corresponding journals but also by a series of books. Some of them are so excellently written that despite their age they can still be recommended, and not only as documents of the state of the art at that time. A few outstanding examples are the books of R. Emden (1907), A. S. Eddington (1926), S. Chandrasekhar (1939), and M. Schwarzschild (1958). But our science has rapidly expanded in the last few decades, and new aspects have emerged which could not even be anticipated, say, 30 years ago and which today have to be carefully explored. This does not mean, however, that our ambition is to present a complete account of the latest and most refined numerical results. This can well be left to the large andgrowing number of excellent review articles. The present book is intended rather to be a textbook that will help students and teachers to understand these results as far as possible and present them in a simple and clear manner. We know how difficult this is since we ourselves have tried for the largest part of our scientific career to understand "how the stars work" - and then to make others believe it.
From the reviews of the second edition: "There is an enormous amount of physics and astronomy in this second edition, more ... than a typical first-year-graduate class, or instructor, can master in a semester. Some of the material cannot easily be found in other books ... . Certainly, anyone planning to teach the subject should have the book ... ." (Virginia Trimble, The Observatory, Vol. 133 (1233), April, 2013)