Product Description

This book provides a thorough overview of the subject, covering general concepts, methods of investigation, important results and their significance, relevant literature, and some suggestions for promising avenues of future research. This updated, expanded edition highlights the latest results and provides a context for future research opportunities. After a historical perspective for current research and an overview of interstellar environments, the author examines gas-dust interactions, the observed properties of interstellar grains, and the origin and evolution of dust. The final chapter summarizes progress toward a unified model. Containing extensive references and problems, the book integrates the discussion of dust in other galaxies throughout the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1301104 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
"This draft is of the high quality that I would expect from the first edition of the book. It was considered to be the best text regarding interstellar dust and the interstellar medium (ISM)in general. I think that the second edition will be just as well received. The writing style is very clear, and the material is not over-simplified. The text is complete and conveys a good sense of the basic principles of the subject. Above all, the material is accurate and up-to-date. I think that it will be an excellent edition to your suite of texts and monographs. The exercises are also provocative and informative." -- John Mathis, University of Wisconsin. "An excellent textbook." -- --New Scientist "a comprehensive and modern view of dust, using an approach that is firmly based in the astronomical observations . . . For anyone with the slightest need to know about dust, this new book is essential. Buy it, read it and keep it by you!" -- Contemporary Physics "Whittet's book is eminently suitable for those with serious intentions of learning about these matters and going on to do research at the professional level." -- Nature "This excellent book is an observer's view of all things to do with observable solids in the full range of galactic environments . . . A particularly appealing aspect of the book is the discussion of current areas of concensus and unsolved problems. . . the 2nd edition is already a useful source of information for current work and a mine of ideas for future research." -- Janet E Bowey in The Observatory Whittet cuts a wide swath through this subject. With the many advances in research and instrumentation developed since the publication of the first edition in 1992, thisedition is a major updating of the field. Whittet underscores, at the beginning, what Van de Hulst wrote in 1989, that interstellar space has changed from a stationary 'medium' into an 'environment' with great variations in space and in time. Thus, our understanding has moved from one of a static to an active environment. Designed as a textbook (there are problems at the end of each chapter), suitable at the graduate level, but not beyond the abilities of highly motivated undergraduate seniors -- E-Streams, Vol 6, No4. Read the full review at http: //www.e-streams.com/es0604/es0604_2401.html "The new edition of a best-selling graduate textbook aims to proivde an overview, covering general concepts, methods of investigation, important results and their significance, relevant literature, and some suggestions for promising avenues of future research. The text also encompasses the many important new discoveries that have been made in the field of cosmic dust since the first edition of this book was published in 1991." -- Lunar and Planetary Information Bulletin The book provides a comprehensive overview of galactic dust for the non-expert, the student entering this field, and should also serve as a useful reference for astronomers interested in cosmic dust. It presents a well written introduction to the field, further reading references and problems for exercises and is therefore particularly suited for teaching at university level. -- Pascale Ehrenfreund, Leiden Observatory

New Scientist
"An excellent textbook."

Nature
"Whittet's book is eminently suitable for those with serious intentions of learning about these matters and going on to do research at the professional level"