Discovering the Universe, Fifth Edition is one of the briefest texts available for an introductory astronomy course, while providing the wide range of factual topics that are the hallmark of the text and are consistent with most course needs. By flipping through the book, readers will find it as rich in celestial images and figures as other textbooks for the same audience. It is a balanced approach to content, depth, and breath, with effective teaching resources. It is also up-to-date, reflecting how our knowledge about the universe is expanding at a phenomenal rate.
Invaluable for both beginners and advanced observers, Philip's Planisphere (Latitude 51.5 North) is a practical hour-by-hour tracker of the stars and constellations, designed for use anywhere in Britain and Ireland, Northern Europe, Northern USA and Canada. Turn the oval panel to the required date and time to reveal the whole sky visible from your location.The map, by the well-known celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, shows stars down to magnitude 5, plus several deep-sky objects, such as the Pleiades, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Orion Nebula (M42). Because the planets move round the Sun, their positions in the sky are constantly changing and they cannot be marked permanently on the map; however, the back of the planisphere has tables giving the positions of Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn for every month until 2020.The planisphere is supplied in a full-colour wallet that contains illustrated step-by-step instructions for how to use the planisphere, how to locate planets, and how to work out the time of sunrise or sunset for any day of the year. It explains all the details that can be seen on the map - the magnitudes of stars, the ecliptic and the celestial coordinates. In addition, the section 'Exploring the skies, season by season' introduces the novice astronomer to the principal celestial objects visible at different times of the year. Major constellations are used as signposts to navigate the night sky, locating hard-to-find stars and some fascinating deep-sky objects. The movement of the stars is also explained.
This must-read text/reference introduces the fundamental concepts of convolutional neural networks (ConvNets), offering practical guidance on using libraries to implement ConvNets in applications of traffic sign detection and classification. The work presents techniques for optimizing the computational efficiency of ConvNets, as well as visualization techniques to better understand the underlying processes. The proposed models are also thoroughly evaluated from different perspectives, using exploratory and quantitative analysis. Topics and features: explains the fundamental concepts behind training linear classifiers and feature learning; discusses the wide range of loss functions for training binary and multi-class classifiers; illustrates how to derive ConvNets from fully connected neural networks, and reviews different techniques for evaluating neural networks; presents a practical library for implementing ConvNets, explaining how to use a Python interface for the library to create and assess neural networks; describes two real-world examples of the detection and classification of traffic signs using deep learning methods; examines a range of varied techniques for visualizing neural networks, using a Python interface; provides self-study exercises at the end of each chapter, in addition to a helpful glossary, with relevant Python scripts supplied at an associated website. This self-contained guide will benefit those who seek to both understand the theory behind deep learning, and to gain hands-on experience in implementing ConvNets in practice. As no prior background knowledge in the field is required to follow the material, the book is ideal for all students of computer vision and machine learning, and will also be of great interest to practitioners working on autonomous cars and advanced driver assistance systems.
Discovering the Universe: From the Stars to the Planets engages students with an inquiry-based exploration of the universe and the scientific process. Developed with a “big picture” approach, the text first explains how the stars, the galaxies, and the entire universe formed, and then discusses planets and other components of our solar system. Students follow this natural conceptual progression within a proven learning method designed to address misconceptions and build a deep understanding of science and the world around us.
"What if?" questions stimulate people to think in new ways, to refresh old ideas, and to make new discoveries. In What If the Earth Had Two Moons, Neil Comins leads us on a fascinating ten-world journey as we explore what our planet would be like under alternative astronomical conditions. In each case, the Earth would be different, often in surprising ways. The title chapter, for example, gives us a second moon orbiting closer to Earth than the one we have now. The night sky is a lot brighter, but that won't last forever. Eventually the moons collide, with one extra-massive moon emerging after a period during which Earth sports a Saturn-like ring. This and nine and other speculative essays provide us with insights into the Earth as it exists today, while shedding new light on the burgeoning search for life on planets orbiting other stars. Appealing to adult and young adult alike, this book is a fascinating journey through physics and astronomy, and follows on the author's previous bestseller, What if the Moon Didn't Exist?, with completely new scenarios backed by the latest astronomical research.
The 10th edition of School to Career builds on what made the previous editions so successful. Students explore careers using the career clusters and pathways framework; understand workplace expectations; develop career-readiness skills; and plan for life beyond graduation. School to Careerprovides students with the "how to" needed for preparing a resume, searching for a job, taking on a work-based learning experience, exceeding employer expectations, managing personal finances, and funding postsecondary training and education. Case studies are used to examine challenges students mayencounter in the world of work.This Workbook is designed to help students review content, apply knowledge, and develop critical-thinking skills. A wide variety of activities are provided for various learning styles. This supplement is a consumable resource, designed with perforated pages so that a given chapter can be removed andturned in for grading or checking.
The remarkably realistic planetarium software allows students in urban areas to conduct observational activities. The workbook, written specifically to accompany both Starry Night and the textbook, connects text passages with software exercises.
