Any good astronomy books?

[legoalan]

Hi everyone, I was wondering about which books are quite good to get into astronomy, especially if it will broaden my knowledge as I am thinking of going into astronomy at uni after next year:D. I have heard that any of the Einstein's books are very useful but I'm not sure if I will understand all the technical stuff . Please can anyone who is doing astronomy or have done astronomy at uni recommend any books for me. Appreciate any and all advice

[Capricorn]

At University it tends to be Physics with some astronomy thrown in, not Astronomy. In any case 90% of astronomy is physics.

Einstein relativity is a small bit, say 1 hour a week for a term, so don't expect a lot of that. My general relativity was exactly that. That was a half unit, there are 3 full units a year and 3 years so 1 in 18 was relativity and I did a theoretical physics degree so a higher proportion of things like relativity that is mathematical.

Starting to get the idea.

These days a lot will be computer based, say 40% or more. How are you at C, C++ and other software languages? The final year project will be close to 100% computational.

If you do decide to go then look at what a university does at research level. A degree is simply an introduction and what a university will cover at degree is biased twards what they do at Phd and research. So pick one that has an astronomical component at the post grad level.

Locate a university or five now that offer a suitable course and look at the course content for what you want. That will tell you what topics are covered. If you apply you will have been expected to have done this prior to applying. Time to start a little reaserch of your own.

[andrew63]

Sound advice. I know some courses are more theoretical than others. For example at Cardiff, there is a astrophysics degree high on theory and also astronomy with physics which is more observational based - so course selection is vital!