Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe

by J. Craig Wheeler

From supernovae and gamma-ray bursts to the accelerating Universe, this is an exploration of the intellectual threads that lead to some of the most exciting ideas in modern astrophysics and cosmology. This fully updated second edition incorporates new material on binary stars, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, worm-holes, quantum gravity and string theory. It covers the origins of stars and their evolution, the mechanisms responsible for supernovae, and their progeny, neutron stars and black holes. It examines the theoretical ideas behind black holes and their manifestation in observational astronomy and presents neutron stars in all their variety known today. This book also covers the physics of the twentieth century, discussing quantum theory and Einstein's gravity, how these two theories collide, and the prospects for their reconciliation in the twenty-first century. This will be essential reading for undergraduate students in astronomy and astrophysics, and an excellent, accessible introduction for a wider audience.

Genres: Science, Physics, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Stem, Space

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

I'm an emeritus professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin.

https://jcraigwheeler.ag-sites.net/in...

http://www.as.utexas.edu/~wheel/

http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/resear...

https://x.com/ast309

https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-craig-w...

My non-fiction genre is "astro lit." http://www.lablit.com/

Reviews

[Vinay Chauhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Betelgeuse, pulsar, quasar, neutrino, lot of basics of space physics and good explanation
*large magellanic cloud
*singularity, black holes
let's assume that the cow was spherically symmetric, good stuff.

[Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started strong but went a little off the deep end. The first ~75% was about white dwarfs, neutron stars, supernovae, x-ray binaries, etc. This part is very well-explained and interesting. The author has spent a career explaining these concepts qualitatively to students, and he does it very well. He explains the concepts very clearly while still conveying a great deal of technical content. This book did not leave me feeling like I was left in the "shallow end" of content or like I was being talked down to as so many non-equation pop-sci books do.

Then the book moved into a couple chapters on black holes. These chapters also clearly benefited from the author's career as an educator. These chapters included the classic stretched sheet of elastic illustration of general relativity's curved space in two dimensions, but the author gave more explanation for the significance of this picture and how it actually relates to our 3D reality than I have read in any other popular science books.

Unfortunately, from black holes, the book went "off the deep end" into some of the more speculative fields on the edge of physics. This section of the book discusses string theory, branes, holographic universes, etc. If you like these sort of mind-bending speculation, you will probably like this book. If you really just want to know about cool astrophysics, these last few chapters will be "throwaways," but the majority of the book is still well worth reading as one of the best qualitative descriptions I've found of extreme astrophysics.

[Howard Accurso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. There is so much about cosmology, written as a text for a college level course, and authored by a top scientist actually working on supernovas. There is a personal passage about the author observing Supernova 1987A from the cockpit of a jet plane. There is a chapter about "flat stars," accretion rings around a massive body that radiate from fusion and high energy gamma ray emissions. There is a great explanation of non-Euclidean geometry. There is the first cogent explanation of how fusion works in the core of a star that I have been able to find in the literature. There is a recurring principle that drives so much of the observed cosmic activity, the balance between the crush of gravity versus the quantum pressure exhibited by matter under extreme compression. There are many more descriptions and explanations of violent cosmic phenomena. Written in the 1990's and revised in 2009 it may miss the latest validations of gravitational waves, and the collision of neutron stars forming the heaviest naturally occurring elements, but the subjects he does treat are done well and with imagination.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a text book for an introductory astronomy course at the University of Texas, Austin.
The course is focused on introducing the concepts of astrophysics to the interested, but not on an Astronomy/Astrophysics track. This is a great qualitative treatment that won’t drive away students with math or equations.
This book is very well written, with thorough, detailed explanations of various processes that makes the concepts well understood. The author is not afraid to show you his sense of humor, either. Wheeler’s enthusiasm for the topic is palpable throughout the book, but seems especially present in chapter 6.
As the title suggests, the book is focused on what happens to stars at the end of their lives. When a star burns through its nuclear fuel, what happens next? White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes and complete destruction are all covered.
Wheeler's treatment of these phenomena is though. He clearly explains complex, high-energy physics—such as the Chandrasekhar limit, the creation of pulsars, and the relativistic effects near a black hole—without asking the reader to solve a single equation. Instead, he relies on vivid descriptions and effective analogies to convey the scale and severity of these cosmic catastrophes. This approach is precisely what makes the text perfect for the interested student (aren’t we all students?) who may be intimidated by traditional physics textbooks.
One of the book's greatest strengths lies in its pedagogical approach. The text is liberally populated with simple, yet highly instructive diagrams that effectively illustrate abstract concepts, like the warping of spacetime or the process of core collapse in a supernova. These visual aids are crucial to a qualitative treatment, ensuring that the student gains an intuitive understanding.
Note that this second edition was updated and published in 2007, so there have been a lot discoveries in the intervening 18 years. That doesn’t mean that the book is obsolete, but some of the topics discussed at that time didn’t have firm observational confirmation.

[David Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprisingly bloody good read! I bought this not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised.
It's written for the Average Joe without being condescending. The book covers a variety of subjects from Black Holes to Neutron Stars.

If you are interested in Space or Astronomy then do yourself a favour and get this book.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, for a textbook, it’s well written and easy to follow, even for a layperson like myself.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book, J. Craig Wheeler, is a professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary field of expertise is astrophysics. This book was cutting-edge work when the 2nd edition was first published in 2007, but it is now somewhat dated due to the ongoing research that has been accomplished during the last 17 years. Despite this, it is still one of the best books I've ever read on modern astrophysics, due primarily to the extraordinary clarity with which it was written.
Wheeler's primary area of interest is the physics of supernova, and he does an amazing job of explaining the complex physical and quantum processes that are thought to take place within the birth, evolution and death of stars of all sizes. He starts with a basic overview of the physical/quantum processes that sets the stage for everything that goes on within the dynamic operations of stars from their formation to their evolution and final end as supernova explosions, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. These objects and processes are extremely complex and the theories related to them are somewhat controversial, but Wheeler does an outstanding job explaining everything is clear, easy-to-understand language. I highly recommend it to anyone who seeks a better understanding of the complex world of astrophysics. It is definitely on my list of favorite books on this subject.

[Sassan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to understand the true nature of exploding stars? What makes a neutron star? How about the nature of black holes? If these are questions that of interest to you, then this is the book for you! This is a lovely and fascinating book that helps one open their horizons and open their mind! A highly recommended book to help the reader get a glimpse at the inner workings of the cosmos! ;)

[Mike Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to read by anyone interested in astronomy. You do not really need a background in astronomy to read and enjoy it, just curiosity and a love of science. I later took the class by Professor Wheeler at the University of Texas, he is a great lecturer with simple clear explanations and can really capture the “wonder of it all”.