Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Physics and Astrophysics (Supplement; 10)

This text is intended for undergraduate nonscience majors, satisfying a general education requirement or seeking an elective in natural science. It is a text on physics, but with an emphasis on topics and applications in astronomy; the perspective is thus different from most undergraduate astronomy courses: rather than discussing what one knows about the heavens (and including, where needed, a brief discussion of the necessary physics), this text develops the principles of physics (as one needs them to understand the behavior of matter on Earth) and uses these to illuminate what we see in the heavens. The fundamental principles governing the behavior of matter and energy are thus used to study the solar system, the structure and evolution of stars, and the early universe. The first part of the book develops Newtonian mechanics with an aim of understanding celestial mechanics. Chapters on electromagnetism and elementary quantum theory lay the foundation of the modern theory of the structure of matter and the role of radiation in the constitution of stars. Kinetic theory and nuclear physics provide the basis for a discussion of stellar structure and evolution. And an examination of red shifts and other observational data provide a basis for discussions of cosmology and cosmogony. In These Essays Heinz Von Foerster Discusses Some Of The Fundamental Principles That Govern How We Know The World And How We Process The Information From Which We Derive That Knowledge. Included Are Path- Breaking Articles Concerning The Principles Of Computation In Neural Nets (1967), The Definition Of Self-organizing Systems (1960), The Nature Of Cognition (1970), As Well As Recent Expansions On These Themes (e.g. How Recursive Is Communication, 1993). Working With Norbert Wiener, Warren Mccullough, And Others In The 1960s And 1970s, Von Foerster Was One Of The Founders Of The Science Of Cybernetics, Which Has Had Profound Effects Both On Modern Systems Theory And On The Philosophy Of Cognition. At The Biological Computer Laboratory At The University Of Illinois He Produced The First Parallel Computers And Contributed To Many Other Developments In The Theory Of Computation And Cognition. On Self-organizing Systems And Their Environments (1960) -- Computation In Neural Nets (1967) -- What Is Memory That It May Have Hindsight And Foresight As Well? (1969) -- Molecular Ethology: An Immodest Proposal For Semantic Clarification (1970) -- Thoughts And Notes On Cognition (1970) -- Responsibilities Of Competence (1972) -- On Constructing A Reality (1973) -- Cybernetics Of Epistemelogy (1974) -- Notes On An Epistemology Of Living Things (1974) -- Objects: Tokens For (eigen)behaviors (1976) -- Disorder/order: Discovery Or Invention (1984) -- Cybernetics Of Cybernetics (1979) -- Ethics And Second-order Cybernetics (1991) -- For Nicholas Luhmann: How Recursive Is Communication (1993) -- Introduction To Natural Magic (1993) -- List Of Publications. Heinz Von Foerster. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 339-349) And Index. For the last eighteen years, I have been teaching an introductory course in as­ trophysics. The course is intended for nonscience majors satisfying a general education requirement in natural science. It is a physics course with applications in astronomy. The only prerequisite is the high school mathematics required for ad­ mission to the university. For a number of years, I used an astronomy text, which I supplemented with lecture notes on physics. There are many good astronomy texts available, but this was not a satisfactory state of affairs, since the course is a physics course. The students needed a physics text that focused on astronomical applications. Over the last few years, I have developed a text which my students have been using in manuscript form in this course. This book is an outgrowth of that effort. The purpose of the book is to develop the physics that describes the behavior of matter here on the earth and use it to try to understand the things that are seen in the heavens. Following a brief discussion of the history of astronomy from the Greeks through the Copernican Revolution, we begin to develop the physics needed to understand three important problems at a level accessible to undergraduate nonscience majors: (1) the solar system, (2) the structure and evolution of stars, and (3) the early universe. All ofthese are related to the fundamental problem of how matter and energy behave in space and time. cover......Page 1 Understanding the Universe - An Introduction to Physics and Astrophysics......Page 3 Preface......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 1 Watchers of the Heavens......Page 13 2 The Stuff Moves Around......Page 28 3 Eyes on the Skies......Page 45 4 Newton Puts It All Together......Page 66 5 Running the Machine......Page 81 6 Off the Straight and Narrow......Page 94 7 The Gravity of It All......Page 101 8 Round and Round She Goes......Page 116 9 As the World Turns......Page 125 10 Let There Be Light!......Page 139 11 What's the Matter?......Page 160 12 Hot Stuff......Page 168 13 Einstein's Bundles......Page 173 14 The Great Dane......Page 184 15 Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice.........Page 199 16 The Starry Messenger......Page 208 17 The Sun Is a Gas......Page 230 18 The Sun Is a Nuclear Furnace......Page 245 19 No More to Wonder What You Are. . .......Page 261 20 The Flight of the Galaxies......Page 278 21 The Big Picture......Page 289 Appendix A Linear Graphs......Page 297 Appendix B Physical and Astronomical Data......Page 301 Appendix C Useful Formulas......Page 303 Appendix D The Chemical Elements......Page 304 Appendix E The Brightest Stars in the Sky......Page 307 Bibliography......Page 308 Index......Page 309

Intended for undergraduate non-science majors, satisfying a general education requirement or seeking an elective in natural science, this is a physics text, but with the emphasis on topics and applications in astronomy. The perspective is thus different from most undergraduate astronomy courses: rather than discussing what is known about the heavens, this text develops the principles of physics so as to illuminate what we see in the heavens. The fundamental principles governing the behaviour of matter and energy are thus used to study the solar system, the structure and evolution of stars, and the early universe. The first part of the book develops Newtonian mechanics towards an understanding of celestial mechanics, while chapters on electromagnetism and elementary quantum theory lay the foundation of the modern theory of the structure of matter and the role of radiation in the constitution of stars. Kinetic theory and nuclear physics provide the basis for a discussion of stellar structure and evolution, and an examination of red shifts and other observational data provide a basis for discussions of cosmology and cosmogony.

"In these essays Heinz von Foerster discusses some of the fundamental principles that govern how we know the world and how we process the information from which we derive that knowledge. Included are path-breaking articles concerning the principles of computation in neural nets (1967), the definition of self-organizing systems (1960), the nature of cognition (1970), as well as recent expansions on these themes (e. g., "How recursive is communication," 1993)."--Jacket In these ground-breaking essays, Heinz von Foerster discusses some of the fundamental principles that govern how we know the world and how we process the information from which we derive that knowledge. The author was one of the founders of the science of cybernetics. I AM somewhat hesitant to make the introductory remarks of my presentation, because I am afraid I may hurt the feelings of those who so generously sponsored this conference on self-organizing systems.