Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy

by Alex Filippenko

Who has not gazed with wonder at the night sky? The great canopy of stars stretching overhead suggests that our world is part of a vastly larger cosmos. But how large is it? Where do we fit in? And how did it all begin? These questions have puzzled stargazers for thousands of years, and the search for answers helped spark the great advances of the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries. But only in our own time has the full picture of the true immensity, variety, and surpassing strangeness of the universe come into focus. Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy, 2nd Edition is a nontechnical description of where that picture stands today. Much has happened in astronomy in a few short years. Many of these discoveries are scientifically sophisticated, but the comprehensive scope of this course allows you to absorb the background you need to grasp such exciting recent developments. In 96 fascinating lessons, you'll survey the main concepts, methods, and discoveries in astronomy, from the constellations drawn by the ancients to the latest reports from planetary probes in our solar system.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audio Cassette

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

An American astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Filippenko received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 1984, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. His research focuses on supernovae and active galaxies at optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared wavelengths.

Reviews

[Mike]

I actually watched the 96-lecture DVD course with the same title from The Great Courses. Started on June 5, 2011 and finished today, June 25, 2012. Course's breadth is huge, from the simplest observations of the sky to substantive cosmology. And I don't think it's humanly possible to be more enthusiastic about one's subject matter than Alex Filippenko is. Most personally striking thing to me is how much of what we know now was discovered during the 1990s and 2000s, which makes my childhood studies of astronomy ancient knowledge in comparison. Most objectively striking is the idea that what we can see of the universe (a sphere 14B lightyears in radius) may be to the whole of the universe as a proton is to this 14B lightyear sphere.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent course on astronomy which seems to cover all aspects of the subject. The lecturer, Alex Filippenko, is just excellent, I feel that I know him having watched this series over the whole of 2018. The book that accompanies the lectures is very helpful, as well. Well worth the effort of trying to understand this difficult subject.

[Wraith Tate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew - what an undertaking! Lots of good information, even though it's about ten years out of date at this point. Alas, though, all of the math went right over my head.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Understanding the universe' is a massive (40 x 45 minutes) set of lectures covering 'basics' of astronomy. Professor Filippenko walks the listener metodhically through a wide range of topics, starting with the very foundations - what instruments are used, how measurements are made, what techniques are used in observations, what technologies are relevant for field of astronomy and so on. Once the fundamental concepts are in place, he then proceeds with examination of our planetary system and the Sun. Next, different types of stars are examined - in this section, processes involved in creation, evolution and death of stars are explained as well as how astronomers reached to these conclusions. Finally, the topic of cosmology is tackled, with discussions on galaxies, galaxy clusters and the universe itself.
I have listened to several of TTC:s lecture sets by now and this one is by far the most difficult one to fully understand, for a couple of reasons. First of all, while I have a generic interest in astronomy, the more complex issues discussed in the lectures are far outside my 'comfort zone'. Newtonian physics are not a problem for me, but quantum physics, relativity theory and almost 'philosophical' topics such as multi-dimensions and alternative universes are much harder to grasp fully. I admit freely that many of concepts discussed by the professor are still quite 'fuzzy' to me. Understanding the material isn't made easier by the fact that the lectures themselves are in fact recorde 'live' and the lecturer quite often uses both graphic materials and demonstrations with props like rubber hoses and balloons. A listener will have to do without them - not a critical problem, but a disadvantage nonetheless.
From a practical perspective, this is not one of the best sets of lectures I've encountered. Professor Filippenko is a good lecturer, but he has a tendency to repeat himself, especially when talking about complex aspects of his field. Also, his sense of humor could use some fine-tuning. Having said that, his enthusiasm and knowledge is unquestionable and he's keeping things interesting most of the time.
Finally, it is worth noticing that this set of lectures is quite old, as I understand it, the recording was made somewhere around 1997, maybe 1998. That's seventeen years and a lot must have happened in this field over this period of time. For example, at the time the lectures were recorded, the professor was pretty sure that the expansion of the universe was accelerating (I was quite surprised that it was already 'known' by then), but further observations were needed according to him to confirm that fact beyond all doubt. Today, acceleration of universe's expansion is proven beyond all doubt and funnily enough it was proved exactly in the way suggested by Filippenko (through study of class A1 novas).

Still, perhaps a 'second edition' of this course should be considered.

Overall though, if you're interested in astronomy, this one is definitely worth listening to.

[Michael Lewinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have been watching and listening to the DVDs, Alex is a great lecturer, with sense of humour, and a deep knowledge of what he's teaching. Highly recommended.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second edition was produced in 2007, which makes it behind the times in this fast-growing field. However, it provides a huge amount of material (96 lectures) on the basics of that time, on which scientists are building. I had no idea how much of astronomy is theory, derived from what light/radiations we can detect. I didn't even try to follow the math - I want to base my idea of the universe on actual encounters, not on math. Astronomers have been surprised too many times by what our automated explorers find.

I did learn a lot. For example, Filippenko explained the expansion of the universe in a way that it now makes sense to me. There are more astronomy Great Courses to develop the subject further.

[Kevin St.Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic teacher....AS good as he is on the History Channel programs, he is in print. Also suggest an audio course he has out, believe I grabbed it from iTunes University..If you haven't used iTunes University yet, do it now!! excellent classes on a vast array of topics taught by top flight professors at many elite schools for free..

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great overall course. The lecturer is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the topic. It is a comprehensive and detailed course. Often a little too detailed to my way of thinking. He spends excessive amounts of time on some of his own pet subjects. In those instances, I felt it got quite repetitive. He beats cosmology near to death there at the end.

[Yitzchok]

I own the 96-lecture DVD course with the same title (2nd Edition)from The Great Courses including the Course Guidebook.

[John Darsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came it in 1997, so it's kinda dated, I'd like to hear about some of the advances from the last (almost) 20 years

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very comprehensive in coverage and topics well explained; some equations to satisfy people wanting some quantitative work; the whole 96-lecture course is somewhat too long though.

[Charles Dingman]

explanation, erudition, enthusiasm, a great teacher

[Lisa Powell]

Finished!

We had a ball. We did lose one CD with one lecture still to watch, full confession, but watched every other one, used it to teach the kids to take notes.

It is a very long series, but worth finishing. Of interest to all my kids (and myself) and of particular interest to the one who loves astronomy but really needs to have big leaps presented regularly -- she's always ready for the next big idea, even if she doesn't completely understand the last one. She'll go over the last one later, but right now she needs a new spark -- this series provides that kind of structure.

Gets very, very thick -- so it's also a good way to teach kids not to panic if they don't get every bit of a lecture, try to get what you can of the details but the overarching picture is what matters at first -- professor even backs that up by stating that full understanding might not be there right away. He even notes several theories, etc. that he doesn't fully get himself -- that's a good teacher.

We had a side game going of trying to predict from the pattern in the lecture when we were about to see a magazine cover or a t-shirt . . .

(Also, as an aside for religious home schoolers, his cosmological take is obviously of necessity secular and supports billions-year span timelines, but he is old school -- he points out that there are questions science can't answer simply by their nature, and he works hard not to abrade anyone's world view. I love that my kids can see that it wasn't that long ago that even Berkeley profs could be generous and open minded, and be both very smart and informed but also wise enough to know that they aren't omniscient themselves. In fact, knowing this makes him a more interesting teacher, because his curiosity and eagerness to keep learning shine through the entire series. )