Can anyone teach me about physics in space?

Question

I'd like to know more about black holes, stars, systems... the whole organization of everything, the way it all works. I've been so curious, and your answers can give me starting points to research the basics. I am interested in reading the theories of Einstein and Stephen Hawking, but if I don't start at the beginning, I'll never undersand what I'm reading! :-)

You're right, my question is too broad. I guess I should ask, what sorts of topics should I start with on my search? Gravity? Stars? Energy? Thanks. :)

Answer 1

The topic of your interest lies in the Science of Cosmology, you mentioned some very famous cosmologists already, Einstein and Professor Steven Hawking.

Cosmology is basically the study of macro Astrophysics and how it all ties together with the origins of the Universe. A very broad field which includes all the things which are interesting to you, gravity, black holes, stars and how these things tie in with classical physics theories like Quantum Mechanics.

Once you've delved deeply enough perhaps like Professor Hawking you'll prove mathematically the link between gravity and Quantum Physics....a proof which was a mystery to all scientists till Professor Hawking wrote it...a brilliant genius....

Go to wikipedia an online encyclopaedia and type in Cosmologists in its search bar, follow the links and find some books related to Professor Hawking such as "A Brief History of Time" well written without the scientific jargon you would expect and in simple terms and explanations you won't regret it...this book should be available in your local library and wikipedia can find that too...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmologists

Good luck and I hope that this small bit of info is useful...:-)...

Answer 2

I think I certainly could. But, it would take a long time. I don't think anyone is going to be able to teach you the details of something so complex on yahoo answers!


http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html

is an EXCELLENT site to learn a lot of things from if you are new to astronomy and physics! I hope you enjoy these videos, they are very well done and very interesting...covering newton, einstein, quantum theory, black holes, string theory and more!

How old are you? You should take astronomy and physics in university if you are truely interested.

I would also recommend reading some of Hawkings work, or more Brian Greene. They're fairly accessible and easy to read for beginners.

I would also suggest making google your friend. There is a lot of information just waiting to be tapped into on the internet that is fairly accessible to beginners...especially on black holes.



Edit: As a reply to your edit, I would reccommend watching some of those videos I just edited into my message. These will probably give you an idea of some things you are interested in and give you a basic foundation of knowledge.

After that, I just suggest reading whatever you want and are interested in.

Answer 3

Check out Brian Greene's books. "The Elegant Universe." "The Fabric of the Cosmos." I suggests the latter since he talks about the same stuff in both of them; "The Fabric of the Cosmos" is probably the only book you would ever need to read on the subject. But Stephen Hawking wrote a thing or two on the subject, and his writing are definitely worth looking at. Just prepare yourself for a very thoughtful read. You can do it!

Answer 4

i have similar interests and i'd like to recommend a book called The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality by Brian Green. He is a physist. AWESOME read. then again, this is a pretty specific book topic.
if you're a beginner, and you say you are, you should just get a college textbook for an introductory class.

Answer 5

That is a big question. It is like me asking you to tell me about all the countries in the world. You will need to narrow it down a bit to get a good answer. For general information, I recommend wikipedia.org. Just type "black hole" or "space" in the search window and read what comes up. There will be many links to related subjects in anything you read there.

Answer 6

Here's a great place to start: