Back to Linda Sparke's home page

Galaxies in the Universe: an Introduction
L.S. Sparke & J.S. Gallagher, III

cover for Galaxies in the Universe, 2nd edition

Cambridge University Press, 2000;
Second Edition 2007

Winner of the American Astronomical Society's 2008 Chambliss Astronomy Writing Award

Everything you might have wanted to know about galaxies, but had the good sense not to ask...

This book is a `with-calculus' introduction, aimed primarily at third- and fourth-year undergraduate students of astronomy or physics, who have taken the first year or two of university-level physics. Graduate students and research workers in related areas may also find it useful as an introduction to the field. Some background knowledge of astronomy would be helpful, but we have tried to summarize the necessary facts and ideas in our introductory chapter. Read our reviews on the Cambridge University Press pages, linked below.

Second Edition

Published February 2007 (USA), March 2007 (UK).
Cambridge University Press pages for this book for USA and UK are here.

  • Table of Contents for the second edition (new material is highlighted)

  • Low-resolution versions of the figures suitable for powerpoint presentation.

  • Errata for the second edition

    • First Edition

  • Table of Contents

  • Errata for the first edition

    • What people have said about this book:

    '...the students complained less about your book than almost anyone else's.' -- Prof. Michael R. Merrifield, U. of Nottingham, UK

    '... my copies keep walking away because students like them. I get it back most of the time but not all, and it has gone missing again.' -- Prof. Stephen E. Zepf, Michigan State University

    'The authors should have retained their working title: "Galaxies for Geeks"' -- Prof. Jennifer L. Hoffman, Denver University

    'Not thick enough to be really useful...'

    'The best thing since presliced bagels! Fits standard toaster slots (paperback only).'

    March 2026