Preface; Prologue; 1. Sun and stars; 2. The faintest (and coolest) stars; 3. The coolest stars … continued; 4. The hottest stars; 5. The brightest stars; 6. The largest stars; 7. The smallest stars; 8. The youngest stars; 9. The oldest stars; 10. The strangest stars; Index.
An engaging and generously illustrated account of the lives of stars, from a fascinating perspective.
Review of the hardback: 'Extreme Stars is an excellent,
well-illustrated introduction to the vagaries of stellar life. …
Kaler's outstanding ability to clarify complex processes has made
this book the best introduction to stellar evolution that I have
read.' David Hughes, New Scientist
Review of the hardback: '… the journey that Kaler takes us on is
not a conventional one. Rather than simply relating how stars with
particular masses are born, live and die, he examines, in turn,
stars which would win some accolade in the Guinness Book of
Records, as, for example, the coolest, the brightest or the oldest.
A strength of this approach is that Kaler is able to delight in
bringing out just how awesome some apparently ordinary looking
stars are. He provides plenty of named examples that you could see
for yourself in the night sky. Along the way he covers a great deal
of stellar astrophysics.' Alan Longstaff, Popular Astronomy
Review of the hardback: 'This book takes the reader on a trip
through a whole zoo of different stars …exhilarating … There are
excellent explanations of the physics of what is going on and a
good collection of photographs … this is a very good book which
shows that there are things in astronomy that are at least as
interesting and complex as those in cosmology.' John Dyson,
Astronomy Now
Review of the hardback: '…very readable, very clearly written and
contains a lot of factual information. It gives the reader a good
perspective on the wide range of phenomena coming under the subject
of stellar astronomy.' American Association of Variable Star
Observers Bookstore
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