Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice older book in good condition. Some tanning wear and marking due to age. Softcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> Our rapidly increasing knowledge of the universe is very exciting and its pursuit is high intellectual adventure. Although its subtle beauty and elegance cannot be fully grasped without mathematics and an insight into physical theory much of the knowledge and the excitement it generates can be appreciated and enjoyed by those whose major fields of interest are nonscientific. We address this introductory text to these people-our fu-ture teachers journalists lawyers political leaders entertainers and to all those to whom we look as informed citizens. We feel that it is not enough merely to present the raw facts of mod-ern astronomy. It is the spirit in which these facts have been gained and the manner in which astronomy has influenced the way man thinks about himself and his relation to the world about him that is important. There-fore what we do not yet know or understand is emphasized equally with what is regarded as verified. We have stressed that today’s established facts and theories may someday be shown to be in error or in need of revision. We encourage the desirability of maintaining an open mind ready to accept new ideas and discoveries. We have tried to convey the spirit of science as a spirit of inquiry and attack upon the unknown. For those students who will work in fields not associated with science and for whom an introductory course in astronomy may be their only for-mal contact with science such a method of presentation is important. These students deserve to know something about the nature and de-velopment of science and to recognize it as “organized curiosity” about the world rather than as a series of formalistic statements unrelated to the af-fairs of human life. Since students in the humanities do not usually study advanced math or science we have kept mathematical concepts simple and have em-ployed only basic arithmetic and elementary algebra and geometry. The use of formulas has been minimized and wherever possible a verbal de-scription of the mathematical relationship has been given before the for-mula is stated symbolically. There are some who feel that no mathematical formulas are necessary in an introductory text and with that we disagree. Astronomy is a science that depends quite heavily upon mathematical. (SP)