EDITORIAL INFORMATION

In Basics of Cosmic Structures, Ludwik M. Celnikier, astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory in France, presents an "engineer's-eye" view of the universe: the laws of physics, reduced to their most basic forms, are used as tools to study a wide variety of cosmic structures, ranging from atomic nuclei to planets, stars and black holes.

The enphasis throught is on quantitative asessment (albeit without heavy computational labour): simple physical models are developed in order to calculate approximately the structural parameters of the objects studied. The pluridisciplinary approach favoured by the author leads to fresh insights.

This book will appeal to science students, to educators wishing to integrate astrophysical concepts into their physics programs, and more generally to the scientifically literate reader seeking to broaden his outlook.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Editor's Preface.

-Contents.

-Prologue.

-I: Elements of Structure.

-1- Tool Kit for a Cosmic Engineer.
-2- Electromagnetic Structures.
-3- Solid and Liquid Matter.
-4- Exotic Materials, Ultimate Limits.

-II: Cosmic Boilers.

-5- Stars.
-6- A Structure Almost Like a Star.
-7- Model of a Star in Trouble.
-8- Limits for Stars.
-9- Economic Problems.
-10- Anatomy of Stellar Fragments.

-III: Cosmic Environments.

-11- Atmospheres.
-12-Ionized Envelopes.
-13- Gravitational Environments.
-14- Powerful Cosmic Engines.

-Bibliography.

-Index.

-Epilogue.

OUR REVIEW

Reading the titles of the chapters in this book we will certainly realise that Celnikier has made a great effort in his divulgative task of a theme quite often as hard as astrophysics tends to be. And we believe he achieves his goal, since in spite of a clear presence of extensive mathematical formulation, it is well conceived and available to most university students as well.

As it happens in all this kind of books, the author proceeds in an incremental way, by introducing us step by step to how cosmic structures are like and behave. It is a fascinating tale because it affects almost everything we can see or imagine. The fact that this book is included in the collection "Basics of..." allows for a number of conventionalisms which make this work available to many more people, however complicated the themes in this series may turn out to be. All in all, this is a good book as well as a valuable addition to our library if what we look for is a nice introduction to these questions.