Truth and Beauty

Chandrasekhar, S.

South Asia Books

This volume has become one of the modern classics of relativity theory. When it was written in 1983 there was little physical evidence for the existence of black holes. Recent discoveries have only served to underscore the elegant theory developed here, and the book remains one of the clearest statements of the relevant mathematics.

The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes

Oxford University Press

Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability

Science & Math

Physics

Oxford Univ. Press

The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (International Series of Monographs on Physics)

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

Representing a decade's work from one of the world's most distinguished physicists, this major publication is, as far as is known, the first comprehensive analysis of Newton's Principia without recourse to secondary sources. Chandrasekhar analyses some 150 propositions which form a direct chain leading to Newton's formulation of his universal law of gravitation. In each case, Newton's proofs are arranged in a linear sequence of equations and arguments, avoiding the need to unravel the necessarily convoluted style of Newton's connected prose. In almost every case, a modern version of the proofs is given to bring into sharp focus the beauty, clarity, and breathtaking economy of Newton's methods. This book will stimulate great interest and debate among the scientific community, illuminating the brilliance of Newton's work under the steady gaze of Chandrasekhar's rare perception.

Newton's Principia for the Common Reader (Physics)

Mathematics

Clarendon Press

In 1935, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar challenged the prevailing theory of the day by suggesting that not all stars die the same death. He proposed that stars with more than 1.4 times the mass of the sun were compressed by their own gravitational forces into dense, dark objects. Winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics, Chandrasekhar here describes in exhaustive detail how a rotating black hole reacts to gravitational and electromagnetic waves--the forces associated with an infalling star. The author provides background material with a survey of the analytical methods necessary for the study of solutions that describe a rotating black hole, a derivation of the Schwartzschild metric of essential space-time features, and an account of how gravitational waves are scattered and absorbed. This is followed by a discussion of the Reisner-Nordstrom solution which predicts external and internal horizons and prepares the reader for the author's thorough treatment of the Kerr family of solutions. Beginning with the derivations of the Kerr metric, Chandrasekhar goes on to describe space-time in a Newman-Penrose formulation. He investigates such elements of the Kerr solution as geodesics and space-time--including the possibility of extracting energy from a rotating black hole, perturbations of the black hole with Maxwell's equations and the propagation of electromagnetic waves, gravitational perturbations, fields of spin-1/2 both massive and massless. His analysis shows that all relevant equations of mathematical physics allow explicit solutions in Kerr geometry. In the last chapter, Chandrasekhar deals with two other classes of solutions: axisymetric black hole solutions which are static but not asymptotically flat, and solutions which provide for an arbitrary number of isolated black holes, the relativistic analogue of the static equilibrium arrangement of Newtonian gravitational theory. This unique work encompasses not only the complete range of what is currently known about the properties of black holes, but the directions of future research.

The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (The ^AInternational Series of Monographs on Physics)

Astronomy & Space Science

Representing a decade's work from one of the world's most distinguished physicists, this major publication is, as far as is known, the first comprehensive analysis of Newton's Principia without recourse to secondary sources. Chandrasekhar analyses some 150 propositions which form a direct chain leading to Newton's formulation of his universal law of gravitation. In each case, Newton's proofs are arranged in a linear sequence of equations and arguments, avoiding the need to unravel the necessarily convoluted style of Newton's connected prose. In almost every case, a modern version of the proofs is given to bring into sharp focus the beauty, clarity, and breathtaking economy of Newton's methods. This book will stimulate great interest and debate among the scientific community, illuminating the brilliance of Newton's work under the steady gaze of Chandrasekhar's rare perception.

Newton's Principia for the Common Reader

Business & Money

International

This book presents nineteen lectures on plasma physics given by S. Chandrasekhar, eminent physicist and astrophysicist, at the University of Chicago. Plasma physics is the study of properties of highly ionized gases in strong magnetic fields and provides the basic physics for current problems in thermonuclear power.

Plasma Physics

Univ of Chicago Pr

"What a splendid book! Reading it is a joy, and for me, at least, continuing reading it became compulsive. . . . Chandrasekhar is a distinguished astrophysicist and every one of the lectures bears the hallmark of all his work: precision, thoroughness, lucidity."—Sir Hermann Bondi, Nature The late S. Chandrasekhar was best known for his discovery of the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf star, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. He was the author of many books, including The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes and, most recently, Newton's Principia for the Common Reader.

Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivations in Science

History & Philosophy

University of Chicago Press

This is the first of six volumes collecting significant papers of the distinguished astrophysicist and Nobel laureate S. Chandrasekhar. His work is notable for its breadth as well as for its brilliance; his practice has been to change his focus from time to time to pursue new areas of research. The result has been a prolific career full of discoveries and insights, some of which are only now being fully appreciated.Chandrasekhar has selected papers that trace the development of his ideas and that present aspects of his work not fully covered in the books he has periodically published to summarize his research in each area.Volume 1, Stellar Structure and Stellar Atmospheres, covers primarily the period 1930-40 and includes early papers on the theory of white dwarfs. In the Preface, Chandrasekhar explains the criteria for selection and provides historical background. Each subsequent volume will include a foreword by an authority on the topics covered.

Selected Papers, Volume 1: Stellar Structure and Stellar Atmospheres (Selected Papers s Chandrasekhar, Vol 1)

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