astronomy

After surveying available undergraduate texts in astrophysics and consulting colleagues, I settled on this as the best available despite qualms about its size and cost. My students are finding its size and sheer length overwhelming; we are forced to leave out so much material that they are questioning whether it's worth it. The system of units used (cgs) is becoming (if it is not already) obsolete in most areas of astrophysics. In every chapter there are references to material yet to be covered, requiring one to flip back and forth, often over hundreds of pages. Finally, with a 1996 publication date, much of the material is becoming dated (I know, a new edition will be even more expensive).

All that said, there are remarkably few errors in the text, figures, and problems for a work of this size. The instructor's solution manual is clear, comprehensive, and generally correct.

Carroll's 'Introduction to Modern Astrophysics' is admittedly the best textbook out there for a simple, comprehensive introduction to astrophysics. Generally suited for an intermediate/advanced course in astrophysics/astronomy, this book can in fact be used as a self-study text for those interested in knowing how physical principles and simple but elegant mathematics explain a lot about how the universe works. From Kepler's mechanics to Einstein's General Relativity, this book could not have been written in a better way. It is sure to create an immediate interest and thrill for the subject since it covers the whole of astrophysics and the chapters are well-supplemented with exercises designed to round up everything.
I've been using this text for a semester course in astrophysics in my sophomore year and I really enjoyed reading through the text, specially the last few chapters which deal with the relativity theory of gravitation.

There are very few comprehensive astrophysics text books at the junior/senior level. In trying to find a book which surveys most of the field I found only three possibilities. Two were good (Astrophysical Concepts by Harwitt and Astrophysics by Bowers and Deeming) but this one is EXCELLENT. The level of presentation is mathematically accessible to advanced undergrads in physics, math, comp sci, and engineering while the underlying physics is reviewed before it is applied. The exercises are interesting and complete and include several nice computer based problems in each chapter.

For a one semester survey class the size and scope of this book will induce heart attacks in your students but the organization and clear layout of the text allows the instructor to select a set of topics which (a) cover a wide range of astrophysical ideas and (b) don't depend strongly on the omitted material.

Highly recommended.