Cosmic Perspective with MasteringAstronomy, The, 6th Edition

Building on a long tradition of effective pedagogy and comprehensive coverage, The Cosmic Perspective, Sixth Edition provides the most engaging and up-to-date introduction to astronomy for non-science majors. The text provides a wealth of features to help enhance student skill building, including new Visual Skills Check end-of-chapter questions that provide an opportunity for students to test their visual interpretation skills, new Cosmic Context Figures that help students synthesize key concepts and processes, and a new comprehensive visual overview of scale to help students explore the scale of time and space. The Sixth Edition has also been fully updated to include the latest astronomical observations, research, and theoretical developments. The text is supported by the most robust package of instructor ancillaries, and MasteringAstronomy^™, the market-leading online tutorial and homework system, has been updated to include a wealth of new content to help students learn and review more efficiently outside of class.

 

Two volumes of this text are also available:

• The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar System, Sixth Edition (includes Chapters 1-13, 24)
• The Cosmic Perspective: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, Sixth Edition (includes Chapters 1-6,  S2-S4, 14-24)

I. DEVELOPING PERSPECTIVE

1. Our Place in the Universe 

2. Discovering the Universe for Yourself

3. The Science of Astronomy

S1. Celestial Timekeeping and Navigation

II. KEY CONCEPTS FOR ASTRONOMY

4. Making Sense of the Universe: Understanding Motion, Energy, and Gravity

5. Light and Matter: Reading Messages from the Cosmos

6. Telescopes: Portals of Discovery

III. LEARNING FROM OTHER WORLDS

7. Our Planetary System

8. Formation of the Solar System

9. Planetary Geology: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds

10. Planetary Atmospheres: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds

11. Jovian Planet Systems

12. Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets: Their Nature, Orbits, and Impacts

13. Other Planetary Systems: The New Science of Distant Worlds

IV. A DEEPER LOOK AT NATURE

S2. Space and Time

S3. Spacetime and Gravity

S4. Building Blocks of the Universe

V. STARS

14. Our Star

15. Surveying the Stars

16. Star Birth

17. Star Stuff

18. The Bizarre Stellar Graveyard

VI. GALAXIES AND BEYOND

19. Our Galaxy

20. Galaxies and the Foundation of Modern Cosmology

21. Galaxy Evolution

22. Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Universe

23. The Beginning of Time

VII. LIFE ON EARTH AND BEYOND

24. Life in the Universe