An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure (Dover Books on Astronomy)

The author of this book was 29 when he published it. Bethe's paper "Energy production in stars" was only just out, which this book doesn't include. Given the youth of the author at its time of writing, this is some piece of work. Difficult at the graduate or researcher level but fascinating. After his stint at Cambridge with the great Eddington, he moved to Yerkes Observatory and wrote this monograph.

This is a classic that belongs on every astrophysicist's shelf. Lots of mathematics and not for the faint of heart. But worth it if you work your way through it.

Highly recommended

This is one of the greatest classics in the astrophysical literature. I bought my first copy of the Dover edition in 1964, when I was a graduate student. I finally wore it out (the cover fell off), and I was happy to see it still in print by Dover, so I could buy another. This book contains Chandra's masterful thoughts about, and analysis of, stellar structure, particularly on the structure of white dwarfs. It was his work at Cambridge in the `30s that showed that the mass of a white dwarf could not exceed a certain limit (universally known as the "Chandrasekhar Limit"), or the relativistically degenerate electrons in its core could not support the weight of the overlying layers, and the star would collapse. In principle the collapse could proceed without limit, and the star could collapse to "a point". This seminal work, for which, ironically, he received the Nobel Prize some 50 or so years later, was ridiculed by Eddington, then regarded as the "most authoritative astrophysicist in Britain", and Chandra chose to immigrate to the United States. (FORTUNATE for us!) There as a Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago for several decades, he mastered diverse fields, and wrote definitive monographs on Radiative Transfer, Stellar Dynamics, Plasma Physics, and General Relativity. He seemed to take special delight in working on G.R., and produced a virtual faculty-sized group of graduate students all of whom distinguished themeselves in that field. It is interesting to speculate why R.H. Fowler, also Professor at Cambridge, who with Stoner, who had worked out the theory of relativistic degeneracy (!), did not support Chandra's work against Eddington's illogical attack. It is also interesting to speculate why Chandra did not make the connection between his work and Karl Schwarzschild's previous discovery of the first exact solution of Einstein's equations of general relativity: a singularity in which an amount of matter greater than the "Schwarzschild Limit" collapses to a point, which today we would call a "black hole". But it must be remembered that an equation of state for matter at nuclear densities and above did not yet exist; and Chandra had such high standards of rigor he would not have time to waste on speculations, nor the temperment to do so. This book is a jewel. It is required reading for all serious students (at all levels, from first year graduate students to distinguished professors) of astrophysics. In it they will find scientific analysis of the greatest clarity, with the deepest insight, which sets the standard for all subsequent work in the field. Unfortunately they will not learn about Chandra's incisive clarity on every matter, whether scientific or pracitical, nor about the depth of his humanity and generosity. THAT they should seek to learn from his colleagues who are still alive (Chandra lived into his 80s), and from his many students.

Well you better have one or this book is virtually unreadable. Ok, so I'm no genius but am no dummy either. I picked this book up as I'm studying topics in astronomy and in this case wanted to see what the creator of the Chandrasekhar limit had to say on Stellar Structures. If you like going through equation after equation and speak that language fluently like SC did, then by all means, enjoy yourself. If you're a mere mortal then you'll be quickly discovering that the author can only really communicate in mathematical and physics equations. I'm sure it's a goldmine for all you that need to know how to derive all these equations, and I know it's relevant and important, but to suck all the life out of the subject - I think it's a shame SC lacked proper communication skills to present his ideas in a more approachable way. But get the book, it's cheap and plow through it, I still am, and maybe one day I'll just realize I'm an idiot.

Amazing monograph by Dr. Chandrasekhar. The book's methodology is slightly unconventional, and might seem difficult at the beginning (depends on where you begin!) - but with basic ideas of statistical mechanics and hydrodynamics, one will find the book rigorous and elegant in its proofs - a testimonial to Chandrasekhar's rigor in science. A must have book for all astrophysics graduate students!

前から欲しかったので大変にありがたい。

Ya lo conocia dede mis tiempos de estudiante, es una reediciíon de uno de los clásicos de la astrofísica. Dover tiene una colección de libros reeditados que son autenticas joyas.

A chemist with avrogadros constant pressured into his head but was never good at maths will get excited about performing his first integration. Then the integration gets performed and if you don't work onwards the scale of Chandrasekhar's work will be misunderstood.

日本語の「ブラックホールを見つけた男」を読んで、チャンドラセカールさんの本が急に欲しくなりました。 買ってみてやはり数式が多い難しい本で、未だ読破できていません。相当長い時間が掛かるでしょう。 でも、本の表紙を見ると「ブラックホールを見つけた男」を夢中で読んでいた時を思い出し、又読み始める。