Measuring the Universe: The Cosmological Distance Ladder

Stephen Webb

Springer Science & Business Media, Mar 18, 1999 - Science - 342 pages

For the past three decades the question "how big is the universe?" has been one of the most hotly disputed topics of modern astrophysics and cosmology. Our uncertainty about the size and age of the observable universe is no more than a reflection of our uncertainty about the distances to nearby stars and galaxies. Distance determination is not only one of the most important tasks that astronomers face, it is also one of the most difficult. Measuring the Universe begins by describing methods of measuring distances on Earth, then climbs the various "rungs of the distance ladder" that takes us all the way to an estimation of the distances of the farthest known objects in the universe. In this introductory book Stephen Webb emphasises general physical principles rather than mathematical detail. There are lots of worked examples, and each chapter ends with a helpful summary of main points, questions and problems, and a guide to further reading.

Contents

• III: xv
• IV: 1
• V: 3
• VI: 5
• VII: 7
• VIII: 9
• IX: 11
• XI: 13
• XII: 16
• XIII: 19
• XIV: 21
• XV: 22
• XVI: 23
• XIX: 25
• XXI: 26
• XXII: 32
• XXIII: 33
• XXV: 36
• XXVI: 37
• XXVII: 39
• XXVIII: 42
• XXIX: 47
• XXX: 50
• XXXI: 51
• XXXII: 52
• XXXIII: 53
• XXXIV: 54
• XXXV: 55
• XXXVII: 57
• XXXVIII: 59
• XXXIX: 62
• XL: 65
• XLI: 67
• XLII: 71
• XLIII: 75
• XLIV: 76
• XLV: 77
• XLVI: 78
• XLVII: 81
• XLVIII: 82
• XLIX: 83
• L: 85
• LI: 86
• LII: 89
• LIII: 91
• LIV: 97
• LV: 99
• LVII: 100
• LVIII: 104
• LIX: 107
• LX: 108
• LXI: 109
• LXII: 115
• LXIII: 120
• LXIV: 123
• LXV: 125
• LXVI: 126
• LXVII: 127
• LXVIII: 128
• LXIX: 129
• LXX: 135
• LXXI: 137
• LXXII: 140
• LXXIII: 144
• LXXIV: 146
• LXXV: 149
• LXXVI: 150
• LXXVII: 151
• LXXVIII: 153
• LXXIX: 157
• LXXX: 158
• LXXXII: 161
• LXXXIV: 162
• LXXXV: 165
• LXXXVI: 167
• LXXXVII: 172
• LXXXVIII: 173
• LXXXIX: 175
• XCI: 179
• XCII: 183
• XCIII: 188
• XCIV: 189
• XCV: 190
• XCVI: 193
• XCVIII: 194
• XCIX: 199
• C: 200
• CI: 201
• CII: 203
• CIII: 204
• CIV: 207
• CV: 208
• CVI: 211
• CVII: 212
• CVIII: 213
• CX: 214
• CXI: 217
• CXII: 221
• CXIII: 223
• CXIV: 227
• CXV: 231
• CXVI: 232
• CXVIII: 237
• CXXI: 242
• CXXII: 243
• CXXIII: 245
• CXXIV: 248
• CXXV: 254
• CXXVI: 256
• CXXVII: 258
• CXXVIII: 259
• CXXIX: 263
• CXXX: 264
• CXXXI: 265
• CXXXII: 270
• CXXXIII: 272
• CXXXIV: 274
• CXXXV: 277
• CXXXVIII: 279
• CXXXIX: 280
• CXL: 282
• CXLI: 283
• CXLII: 284
• CXLIII: 285
• CXLV: 288
• CXLVI: 291
• CXLVII: 294
• CXLVIII: 296
• CXLIX: 298
• CL: 299
• CLI: 301
• CLII: 304
• CLIII: 306
• CLIV: 307
• CLV: 310
• CLVI: 313
• CLVII: 318
• CLVIII: 320
• CLX: 323
• CLXII: 326
• CLXIII: 327
• CLXIV: 328
• CLXV: 329
• CLXVI: 332
• CLXVII: 334

Bibliographic information

• Title: Measuring the Universe: The Cosmological Distance Ladder; Space Exploration; Springer Praxis Books; Springer-Praxis series in astronomy and astrophysics
• Author: Stephen Webb
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media, 1999
• ISBN: 1852331062, 9781852331061
• Length: 342 pages
• Subjects: Science / Physics / Astrophysics; Science / Space Science / Astronomy