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This book describes the origins and evolution of the chemical elements we and the cosmos are made of. The story starts with the discovery of the common elements on Earth and their subsequent discovery in space. How do we learn the composition of the distant stars? How did progress in quantum theory, nuclear physics, spectroscopy, stellar structure and evolution, together with observations of stars, converge to provide an incredibly detailed picture of the universe? How does research in the micro-world explain the macro-world? How does progress in one affect the other, or lack of knowledge in one inhibit progress in the other? In short, Shaviv describes how we discovered the various pieces of the jigsaw that form our present picture of the universe; and how we sometimes put these in the wrong place before finding in the right one.
En route we meet some fascinating personalities and learn about heated controversies. Shaviv shows how science lurched from one dogma to the next, time and again shattering much of what had been considered solid knowledge, until eventually a stable understanding arose.
Beginning with generally accepted science, the book ends in today’s terra incognita of nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. A monumental work that will fascinate scientists, philosophers, historians and lay readers alike.
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Astrophysics and Space Science Library Volume 387 Editorial Board W. B. Burton, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA, USA; University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands F. Bertola, University of Padua, Padua, Italy J. P. Cassinelli, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA C. J. Cesarsky, Commission for Atomic Energy, Saclay, France P. Ehrenfreund, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands O. Engvold, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway A. Heck, Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory, Strasbourg, France E. P. J. Van Den Heuvel, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands V. M. Kaspi, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada J. M. E. Kuijpers, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands H. Van Der Laan, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands P. G. Murdin, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK F. Pacini, Istituto Astronomia Arcetri, Florence, Italy V. Radhakrishnan, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India B. V. Somov, Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia R. A. Sunyaev, Space Research Institute, Moscow, Russia For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/5664 Giora Shaviv The Synthesis of the Elements The Astrophysical Quest for Nucleosynthesis and What It Can Tell Us About the Universe 123 Giora Shaviv Department of Physics Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Technion City 32 000 Haifa Israel ISSN 0067-0057 ISBN 978-3-642-28384-0 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-28385-7 e-ISBN 978-3-642-28385-7 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012934662 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law o