Essential Astrophysics is a book to learn or teach from, as well as a
fundamental reference volume for anyone interested in astronomy and
astrophysics. It presents astrophysics from basic principles without
requiring any previous study of astronomy or astrophysics. It serves as
a comprehensive introductory text, which takes the student through the
field of astrophysics in lecture-sized chapters of basic physical
principles applied to the cosmos.
This one-semester overview will be enjoyed by undergraduate students
with an interest in the physical sciences, such as astronomy, chemistry,
engineering or physics, as well as by any curious student interested in
learning about our celestial science. The mathematics required for
understanding the text is on the level of simple algebra, for that is
all that is needed to describe the fundamental principles.
The text is of sufficient breadth and depth to prepare the interested
student for more advanced specialised courses in the future.
Astronomical examples are provided throughout the text, to reinforce the
basic concepts and physics, and to demonstrate the use of the relevant
formulae. In this way, the student learns to apply the fundamental
equations and principles to cosmic objects and situations. Astronomical
and physical constants and units as well as the most fundamental
equations can be found in the appendix. Essential Astrophysics goes
beyond the typical textbook by including references to the seminal
papers in the field, with further reference to recent applications,
results, or specialised literature.
