MIT Professor Anna Frebel uses Astronomy to study the "Stellar Archaeology" and the "Chemical Evolution" of the universe! I'm extremely impressed with this Book! The preface lays the groundwork for what's to come in this "Outstanding" READ! It depicts in "Great" detail when and how the very first stars formed! Anna Frebel's interest and love of Astronomy from a very early age motivated her to pursue her goals in finding out how our Universe began. She has extracted every minutia of data available using the largest telescopes in the World and in Space to determine the origins of these ancient relics...the Oldest Stars! A must have for all Astronomers, Cosmologists, Physicists and anyone else that has an interest in this subject matter. This book should be in all Science classrooms in support of STEM Education!

This book covers the essentials of star formation, star death and nucleosynthesis (how atoms came to be) and focuses on the abundance values of elements in the stars. It is really technical in content but is without equations. I would say it is aimed at the undergraduate level scientist. I am a retired physicist and really enjoyed this book. The author has a fluent style that nicely comes through the translation from German. Her description of being an astronomer at a telescope all night is enough to justify buying this book. It has many examples of star spectra and abundance charts.

This book is a 5 star book for sure. A little knowledge of astronomy, physics and or chemistry would be helpful. I got mine by watching the discovery science channel and nova programs on public tv. And it was enough to help me get thru the book w/o any problems.

Organized well for maximum understanding

In this fascinating read, MIT Professor Anna Frebel gives us an extraordinary guided tour of the science behind the young field of Stellar Archeology, one of the most promising and fruitful scientific approaches to answering the primal question "From where do we come?" It is the story of the growing scientific understanding of the grandest of all histories, the history of the cosmos.

After the big bang, it is thought that the universe was filled with but 3 elements: Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium. Yet human life requires a variety of heavier elements, "metals" in astronomical parlance, such as phosphorus, iron, and selenium. In a highly approachable style, Prof. Frebel explains the varied nuclear processes that produce the higher elements, how they are cooked up inside of stars, and how they are injected into space via stellar winds and supernova explosions to form the materials of the next generation of stars.

Rarely do I find science books that I can read cover-to-cover. This is one of them, and I found many passages to be absolutely riveting, such as Prof. Frebel's overview of the history of how scientists learned to analyze starlight. It's simply exhilarating to be led through the scientific discoveries beginning with the ignorance of our ancestors to the present. (And the fact that she begins at the beginning contributes much to the wonderful accessibility of this book.)

Perhaps the greatest asset of this book is that it is written by one of the stars of the field, and is therefore imbued with the genuine enthusiasm and excitement of one of its principal researchers. This enthusiasm is so infectious, that when I finished the book, I felt like going out and gathering some stellar spectra myself. Thanks to this book, I would know to start by examining the strength of the 3933.6 Angstrom Calcium K line as an initial indication of metal abundance. Who knows, maybe I'd be so lucky and stumble upon another star with [Fe/H] < -7.0, but perhaps this one in some local dwarf galaxy. The only thing that stopped me is the lack of access to a powerful telescope. Speaking of which, telescopes weave in and out of this narrative, and it is no exaggeration to say that the telescope subtext alone is filled with a surprising amount of emotion and drama. Prof. Frebel's adventures with telescopes throughout the world provide us with a detailed glimpse into the globe-trotting, nocturnal-on-demand, life of an observing astronomer.

Stellar Archeology is just beginning, and that might be the most exciting aspect of this topic. When you read this book, you're not reading a dead history. You are reading living science with its greatest discoveries most probably yet to come. And, as Prof. Frebel explains, with the new, more powerful telescopes just on the horizon, there is much to look forward to. Thanks to this book, I'm eager and ready to appreciate the coming discoveries.

"Searching for the Oldest Star" - Anna Frebel (science - astronomy - 0675 - January 18, 2016)

"In astronomy it is often of great importance to describe as many fact and characteristics of the cosmos in the simplest possible fashion. After all the Universe is complicated enough as it is." From the text p55

MS Frebel, in addition to being a renown scientist/astronomer has a talent for explaining stellar evolution and many other themes astronomical. She not only make clear these multifaceted topics but conveys her infectious enthusiasm for the subject. The author interjects just enough personal history and experiences to humanize the role and life of a professional astronomer.

An a non-scientist with a life long interest in matters celestial this is a text I will be returning to in the future.

I do not want to dissuade anyone contemplating reading this book but a foundational knowledge of chemistry, physics and of course astronomy would be helpful to understand the concepts presented.

An index, numerous charts and illustrations and a selection of relevant photographs adds to the usefulness of this volume.

Excellent