An Introduction to Cosmochemistry [Paperback]

This textbook deals with the composition of material objects in the universe, from terrestrial and moon rocks to quasars.Beginning with a discussion of terrestrial materials and ending with the composition of quasars and distant galaxies, this textbook describes the composition and evolution of material objects in the universe from the perspectives of chemical as well as nuclear processes.Beginning with a discussion of terrestrial materials and ending with the composition of quasars and distant galaxies, this textbook describes the composition and evolution of material objects in the universe from the perspectives of chemical as well as nuclear processes.This upper-division textbook describes the composition and evolution of material objects in the universe. The survey begins with a discussion of terrestrial materials and ends with the composition of quasars and distant galaxies. There are two main themes: chemical processes responsible for the abundances we observe, and nuclear processes in which the chemical elements originate. The author presents a total pedagogic synthesis of the subject, building on the basic information in the first chapters to lead into a fuller explanation of the composition of the planets and stellar and primordial nucleosynthesis. The later chapters treat the analytical methods of stellar and nebular spectra, and move on to the composition of stars and galaxies. The book is fully referenced and includes problem sets for the student.1. Overview; 2. Minerals: an introduction to the nomenclature and chemistry; 3. A brief introduction to petrology; 4. A resum? of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics; 5. Condensation sequences and the geochemical classification of the elements; 6. The theory of the bulk composition of the planets; 7. Meteorites and the standard abundance distribution (SAD); 8. An introduction to isotope geology; 9. Some concepts from nuclear physics; 10. Energy generation in stars and nucleosynthesis; 11. Atomic and molecull³³