The life of the stars the controversial inception and emergence of the theory of stellar structure

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 Culminated With Rutherford Suggesting Radioactive Dating. Shaviv Analyzes Critically Many Proclaimed Scientific Results, Showing How And Why They Were Wrong, And Explains Why It Took Decades To Find The Now Accepted Scientific Answers - Where There Are Such - And Why There Remains Much More To Be Done Before We Can Say We Fully Understand What Happens Up There In The Heavens. The Life Of The Stars Provides Fascinating Reading For All Those Interested In The Stars, In The History Of Astronomy And In What Their Story Tells Us About How Science Progresses. Moreover, It Will Bring Readers Up-to-date On Current Problems In Astrophysics. The Controversy About The Age Of The Earth -- What Stellar Classification Tells Us -- The Dawn Of A New Era -- Towards A Complete Theory Of Stellar Structure -- From Chemistry To Dying Stars -- The Solution To The Stellar Energy Problem -- How The Low Mass Stars Perish -- The Life And Death Of Massive Stars -- The Sun. Giora Shaviv. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 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 extensivescienti?cresearchanddebateforoveracentury.Thediscoveryofquantum theoryduringthe?rsthalfofthenineteenthcenturyprovidedmuchofthetheoretical background needed to understand the making of the stars and how they live off their energysource. Progress in the theoryof stellar structurewasmade through extensive discussions and controversies between the giants of the ?elds, 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 ques tions: 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 im plications for astrophysics, physics, and biology, and the question of how we our selves 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 explosions. Many internal hydrodynamic processes remain a mystery. Yet some global pictures can indeed be outlined, and this is what we shall attempt to do here. Springer 3642020879 1 The Life of Stars The Controversial Inception and Emergence of the Theory of Stellar Structure 4 Preface 5 Contents 9 Chapter 1 The Controversy about the Age of the Earth 15 Chapter 2 What Stellar Classification Tells Us 59 Chapter 3 The Dawn of a New Era 89 Chapter 4 Towards a Complete Theory of Stellar Structure 129 Chapter 5 From Chemistry to Dying Stars 210 Chapter 6 The Solution to the Stellar Energy Problem 288 Chapter 7 How the Low Mass Stars Perish 353 Chapter 8 The Life and Death of Massive Stars 380 Chapter 9 The Sun 465 Index 505 ISBN-13:,9783642020872 Front Matter....Pages i-xiii The Controversy about the Age of the Earth....Pages 1-44 What Stellar Classification Tells Us....Pages 45-74 The Dawn of a New Era....Pages 75-114 Towards a Complete Theory of Stellar Structure....Pages 115-195 From Chemistry to Dying Stars....Pages 197-274 The Solution to the Stellar Energy Problem....Pages 275-339 How the Low Mass Stars Perish....Pages 341-367 The Life and Death of Massive Stars....Pages 369-453 The Sun....Pages 455-494 Back Matter....Pages 1-10