James Hopwood Jeans

"A considerable fraction of my book is merely Helmholtz modernized and rewritten in simple language"--Preface.

Published in 1934 as a second edition to James Jeans' popular work on the general understanding of the physical universe, The New Background of Science took advantage of a comparatively 'quiescent' period in physical investigation when fundamental theories and findings gained wide acceptance. Jeans' aim in writing this book was to depict this situation in broad outline and in the simplest possible terms. I have drawn my picture against a roughly sketched background of rudimentary philosophy ... because I believe, in common with most scientific workers, that without a background of this kind we can neither see our new knowledge as a consistent whole, nor appreciate its significance to the full.'

"This famous book marks an important turning-point in applied mathematics. Written by one of the great scientific expositors of our time, it introduced the notion of dissipation in kinetic theory, an innovation that has had wide application in mathematical physics and engineering."--Back cover.

Collection of essays: The Stars in Their Courses The Lop-Sided Sun The Lunar Honor-Roll Worlds in Confusion Two at a Time On Throwing a Ball The Man Who Massed the Earth The Luxon Wall Playing the Game The Distance of Far The Multiplying Elements Bridging the Gaps The Nobel Prize That Wasn't The Fateful Lightning The Sin of the Scientist The Power of Progression My Planet 'Tis of Thee -

Follow Dr. Alex Fillippenko and his High-Z Supernova Search Team to Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, where they will study space phenomena and look for supernovae, dying stars that explode with the power of billions of hydrogen bombs. Dr. Fillippenko looks for black holes--areas in space with such a strong gravitational pull that no matter or energy can escape from them--with his robotic telescope. And they study the effects of dark energy, the mysterious force that scientists believe is pushing the universe apart, causing its constant and accelerating expansion. Readers will follow Dr. Alex Filippenko and his High-Z Supernova Search Team to Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, where they will study space phenomena and look for supernovae, dying stars that explode with the power of billions of hydrogen bombs.