Bücher der Reihe Springer Praxis Books

For centuries, our ancestors carefully observed the movements of the heavens and wove that astronomical knowledge into their city planning, architecture, mythology, paintings, sculpture, and poetry.

"Contradictions" is a general interest book that exposes the incompatibility between popular religious beliefs and the scientific view of human nature.

This book fills a need for a complete history of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17, drawing on many photographs never before published. It also tells the story of the robotic rovers used on Mars, and concludes with a description of the new designs of rovers planned for The New Vision for Exploration now underway at NASA.

Mars Outpost provides a detailed insight into the various technologies, mission architectures, medical requirements, and training needed to send humans to Mars.

Lunar Outpost provides a detailed account of the various technologies, mission architectures, medical requirements and training needed to return humans to the Moon within the next decade.

Specifically traces the impact of Einstein's ideas on astronomy, including the way we interpret observations of stars and galaxies. Presents many applications of relativity that have not been shown in earlier popular-level books and illustrates how deeply physics permeates the way we interpret many astronomical phenomena.

This is a book about the mathematical nature of our Universe. Armed with no more than basic high school mathematics, Dr. Joel L.

Explore the beauty and awe of the heavens through the rich celestial prints and star atlases offered in this third edition book.

Follow Monte Ross of the Laser Space Signal Observatory as he explores the challenges in searching for evidence of extraterrestrials, the programs that have failed, and those that continue.

The book goes on to describe the various stages the body passes through as it decomposes following death. Inevitably, your body will support the continuation of life on our beautiful planet - this book describes how all this happens.

This textbook looks at gravitational lensing, which has become an invaluable tool in modern astrophysics, from finding planets orbiting distant stars to understanding how dark matter and dark energy conspired to form the galaxies and cosmic structures we see today. Principles of Gravitational Lensing begins with EinsteinΓÇÖs prediction that mass bends light, and shows how this simple idea has gone from theoretical curiosity to observational science in under a century. It describes how the three subfields known as strong lensing, weak lensing, and microlensing have grown independently but become increasingly intertwined. Drawing on their research experience, Congdon and Keeton present the mathematical foundation of gravitational lensing to beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate students with a background in physics. The derivations and explanations are supplemented by exercises at the end of each chapter. The treatment is self-contained and comprehensive. Principles of Gravitational Lensing is ideal for students and seasoned researchers looking to penetrate this thriving subject and even contribute research of their own. Certain properties of stars and planets could be seen with the naked eye, but the full beauty and complexity of the cosmos was revealed only with the advent of the telescope. Today, astronomers recognize that gravity can bend light rays, creating enormous ΓÇ£cosmic telescopesΓÇ¥ that help us probe aspects of the universe that are otherwise invisible. While various monographs and lecture compilations on the subject have appeared, a comprehensive didactic account that assumes only a background in undergraduate physics has so far been lacking. This book begins with the basic physics of light bending and builds up to current research topics in a clear and systematic way. Relevant background material from physics and mathematics is included, making the book self-contained. Exercises at the end of each chapter are carefully designed to help students master the theoretical concepts and methods that drive research in gravitational lensing. An extensive bibliography guides those wishing to delve more deeply into particular areas of interest. 

Stratospheric balloons are powerful tools used to study the Earth and its atmosphere, as well as the greater cosmos beyond. This book describes the science and technology behind modern stratospheric ballooning, along with the surprising ways it has impacted our daily lives.The book takes you through every step of the process, starting with an in-depth introduction to basic balloon types and their uses before delving into balloon construction and mission planning. Along the way, you will learn about the novel technologies that have radically changed these balloons and their ability to launch, control and navigate them over specific ground targets. Next follows an exploration of their incredible applications, including research in atmospheric science, cosmology and astronomy, earth studies, meteorology, and aerobiology, and also commercial capabilities such as Internet networks and high-altitude tourism.The community of scientists,engineers, and entrepreneurs involved in stratospheric ballooning is only ever growing. This book shows you how these national and international efforts have truly soared in recent years, and it will be an enjoyable read for anybody interested in learning more about how science and commerce are conducted in the stratosphere, at the edge of space.

This exhaustive new edition offers the fundamentals of sidescan sonar imagery and bathymetry and explains the tricky science of interpreting them. It also covers all recent advances in the field regarding both technology and knowledge of marine structures.

Written by leading exponents in the field, this collection of timely reviews presents observational methods and the latest results of astronomical research as well as their theoretical foundations and interrelations, providing information and scientifically rigorous coverage.

"A brilliant study of constellations and culture." - Neil deGrasse TysonIn this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, paintings and architecture reflected some of the great religious and secular battles taking place over the course of centuries. Enter a world of biblical proportions, where constellations of ancient heroes and pagans were thoroughly recast as Christian saints and the Twelve Apostles. This nontechnical narrative brings vitality and accessibility to some of the most enduring subjects in human history, offering a lively new exploration of the visual connections between celestial phenomena and artistic expression."Ever wonder how religion and art became forces of imagination on our night skies? Or how the night skies became forces of imagination on our religion and art? In this brilliant study of constellations and culture, Michael Mendillo, professor of astronomy at Boston University, reveals that the canopy of starshas been an ideologically contested space from the beginning, ensuring that the next time you look up, the sky will look completely different to you."-Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium,American Museum of Natural History"Saints and Sinners impressionistically reveals the connections of art, astronomy, and religion in Western culture to illuminate the age-old quest for celestial-terrestrial connections." - Roberta J.M. Olson, author of Giotto's Portrait of Halley's Comet and Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe "Professor Mendillo's book does a priceless service, opening the doors of our minds to images that will stir us, because the heavens are part of us, and we all long to know how and why." - Rev. David R. Thom, MIT Chaplain and Convener of the Cambridge Faculty Roundtable on Science, Art & Religion"Over a lifetime devoted to astronomical research and teaching, Michael Mendillo has indulged a parallel passion for artistic representations of the heavenly bodies. In this sumptuous volume, he explores the projection of our changing belief systems onto the constant stars." - Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter and The Glass Universe

Chapters 2 gives details of the early stages of different types of galaxy collision - Rings of Fire, Tidal Swings and Retrograde and Sideways Reels - while Chapter 3 describes collisions between galaxies of very different masses: minor merger or dwarf destruction.

The book opens with the basic techniques of satellite geocoding (including the use of GPS and mosaic production) before describing a wide range of algorithms for extraction of information from optical and radar satellite images.

Having always been fascinated by these singular landscapes, Sergio Rossi reconstructs some of the episodes that have marked the exploration of these territories, such as the dramatic race between Amundsen and Scott to conquer the South Pole, and Captain Shackleton's odyssey to save his crew from certain death.

Featured within are some of the most striking images ever received by these pioneering instruments, including Voyager's Pale Blue Dot, Apollo's Blue Marble, Venera's images from the surface of Venus, Huygens' images of Titan, New Horizon's images of Pluto and Arrokoth, and much more.

*Brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. *Gives a context to enable the reader to more easily appreciate the stream of discoveries that will be made by the Cassini-Huygens mission.

Telecommunications is a major global industry, and this unique book chronicles the development of this complex technology from the electric telegraph to the Internet in a simple, accessible, and entertaining way. The book opens with the early years of the electric telegraph. The reader will learn how the Morse telegraph evolved into an international network that spanned the globe, starting with the development of international undersea cables, and the heroic attempts to lay a trans-Atlantic cable. The book describes the events that led to the invention of the telephone, and the subsequent disputes over who had really invented it. It takes a look at some of the most important applications that have appeared on the Internet, the mobile revolution, and ends with a discussion of future key developments in the telecommunications industry.

Emigrating Beyond Earth puts space colonization into the context of human evolution. Rather than focusing on the technologies and strategies needed to colonize space, the authors examine the human and societal reasons for space colonization. They make space colonization seems like a natural step by demonstrating that if will continue the human species' 4 million-year-old legacy of adaptation to difficult new environments. The authors present many examples from the history of human expansion into new environments, including two amazing tales of human colonization - the prehistoric settlement of the upper Arctic around 5,000 years ago and the colonization of the Pacific islands around 3,000 years ago - which show that space exploration is no more about rockets and robots that Arctic exploration was about boating!

"e;Astrophysics Updates"e; is intended to serve the information needs of professional astronomers and postgraduate students about areas of astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology that are rich and active research spheres. Observational methods and the latest results of astronomical research are presented as well as their theoretical foundations and interrelations. The contributed commissioned articles are written by leading exponents in a format that will appeal to professional astronomers and astrophysicists who are interested in topics outside their own specific areas of research. This collection of timely reviews may also attract the interest of advanced amateur astronomers seeking scientifically rigorous coverage.

A comprehensive, highly readable account of complex, technical, political and human endeavor and a worthy successor to Creating the International Space Station (Springer Praxis, January 2002) by David Harland and John Catchpole.