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- This book is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- December 2009
- Print publication year:
- 2003
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511541346
- Subjects:
- Physics and Astronomy, Astrophysics
12th August 2024: digital purchasing is currently unavailable on Cambridge Core. Due to recent technical disruption affecting our publishing operation, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident
Why do the stars shine? What messages can we read in the light they send to us from the depths of the night? Nuclear astrophysics is a fascinating discipline, and enables connections to be made between atoms, stars, and human beings. Through modern astronomy, scientists have managed to unravel the full history of the chemical elements, and understand how they originated and evolved into all the elements that compose our surroundings today. The transformation of metals into gold, something once dreamed of by alchemists, is a process commonly occurring in the cores of massive stars. But the most exciting revelation is the intimate connection that humanity itself has with the debris of exploded stars. This engaging account of nucleosynthesis in stars, and the associated chemical evolution of the Universe, is suitable for the general reader.
‘… very well suited for all amateurs of astronomy and the general reader …’.
Source: Orion
‘… Cassé’s interesting story about the relations between the stars and humans, and his joy in the subject, carry the reader along on a pleasant journey.’
Source: Nature
‘This book is full of fascinating facts.’
Source: Astronomy & Space Magazine
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