Astrophysics: A Very Short Introduction

Citation

Binney, J. (2016). Astrophysics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The book has a preface, eight chapters, a further reading section and an index, and runs to about 160 pages (listings give between 144 and 176). The publisher describes it as a clear, rigorous introduction for readers who want a conceptual treatment involving some mathematics. Its stated approach is to apply fundamental principles, namely energy, mass and momentum, together with relativity and quantum mechanics, to phenomena from rapidly spinning millisecond pulsars to the collision of giant spiral galaxies. The chapter titles below are the publisher's; descriptions stay within what the titles and the publisher's description support.

Chapter 1: Big Ideas

The opening chapter introduces the main ideas on which the book draws. Given the publisher's emphasis on energy, mass, momentum, relativity and quantum mechanics, it is the place where the physics that the later chapters apply is gathered.

Chapter 2: Gas Between the Stars

A chapter on the interstellar gas, one of the components of the Universe the publisher lists alongside planetary systems, stars and galaxies.

Chapter 3: Stars

The structure and evolution of stars, the central object of the subject. The publisher mentions supernovae among the phenomena whose physics is introduced.

Chapter 4: Accretion

The publisher singles out accretion discs and jets as phenomena whose physics the book introduces; this chapter is devoted to accretion.

Chapter 5: Planetary Systems

The structure and evolution of planetary systems, listed in the publisher's description as one of the targets of astrophysical understanding.

Chapter 6: Relativistic Astrophysics

According to the publisher, the book gives a succinct account of the application of special and general relativity to astrophysics, and this chapter is where relativity is applied. The millisecond pulsars mentioned in the blurb belong to this territory.

Chapter 7: Galaxies

A chapter on galaxies, including, in the publisher's wording, the collision of giant spiral galaxies. Galactic dynamics is the author's own research specialism.

Chapter 8: The Big Picture

By its title the closing chapter steps back to the whole picture; the publisher counts the cosmos as a whole within the scope of astrophysics.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: Principles, interstellar gas and stars

• Energy, mass and momentum: the fundamental principles the publisher names as the basis of the book.
• Interstellar gas: the topic of Chapter 2.
• Stars: Chapter 3.

Chapters 4–8: Accretion, relativity, galaxies and the cosmos

• Accretion discs and jets: Chapter 4.
• Relativity applied to astrophysics: Chapter 6.
• Galaxy collisions: Chapter 7.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Physics first. The publisher describes the book as applying a small set of principles to a wide range of objects, so it explains why things behave as they do rather than cataloguing them.
• A scientist with research expertise. The author is a Fellow of the Royal Society and head of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics at Oxford, and a specialist in galactic dynamics.
• Compact coverage. Eight chapters run from the interstellar medium to the cosmos in a single short volume, with a section of further reading for each next step.
• Pitched above a purely descriptive account. The publisher says it is for readers keen to cut their teeth on a conceptual treatment involving some mathematics.

Limitations

• Mathematics is present. Unlike the lightest titles in the series, the publisher says the treatment involves some mathematics, so the page metadata's statement that equations are kept to a minimum should be read with care.
• Short by design. About 160 pages cannot give a systematic course. The contents show a single closing chapter for the large-scale picture and no chapter on observational techniques, so readers who want either need another book.
• Little independent assessment. No journal reviews were found, so claims about reader experience rest on the publisher's description and the author's credentials.

Where It Fits in the Course

Binney's book sits between an open, descriptive survey and a textbook. OpenStax's Astronomy 2e is a broad introductory course with little mathematics and is the more gradual start. Maoz's Astrophysics in a Nutshell is a one-semester upper-level text that derives the main results with order-of-magnitude estimates, and Carroll and Ostlie's An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics is a comprehensive calculus-based text and reference.

Liddle's An Introduction to Modern Cosmology takes up the cosmological side that Binney handles briefly in his last chapter, and Dodelson and Schmidt's Modern Cosmology is a graduate text. Binney is the quickest route to a physical picture of the subject before choosing among these.

How to Use This Book

The page metadata lists school physics as the only prerequisite. Readers who are comfortable with basic mechanics, gravity and energy will gain most.

A practical plan:

• Read straight through. The eight chapters are short and are arranged from interstellar gas up through stars, accretion and galaxies.
• Pause at Chapters 3, 4 and 6. These apply the book's central physical ideas to stars, accretion and relativistic objects, and are the best preparation for a textbook such as Maoz.
• Use the further reading. Follow the author's pointers at the end of the book to the next level.
• Keep a glossary of quantities. Because the approach rests on energy, mass and momentum, note how each chapter uses them; the same few ideas recur from stars to galaxies.
• Pair with observation. Compare each chapter's objects with images or data from an introductory text to link the physics to what astronomers see.