Professor Arnold Hanslmeier is an astrophysicist at the Institute of Physics at the University of Graz. In addition to more than 400 scientific publications and several specialized books, he also devotes himself with great pleasure to the comprehensible dissemination of the fascinating findings of modern astrophysics. He lectures at the University of Graz and is a visiting professor at the Universities of Vienna, Innsbruck, Toulouse, La Laguna, Tenerife and the Kiepenheuer Institute in Freiburg. Due to his special didactic abilities to present complicated things in a simple and vivid way, he is a much sought-after speaker internationally.

Introduction.- Spherical Astronomy.- History of Astronomy.- Celestial Mechanics.- Astronomical Instruments.- Physics of Solar System Bodies.- The Sun.- State Variables of Stars.- Stellar Atmospheres.- Stellar Structure.- Stellar Evolution.- Interstellar Matter.- The Galaxy.- Extragalactic Systems.- Cosmology.- Astrobiology.- Mathematical Methods.- Appendix.