From the reviews "... many excellent volumes on this subject have been written. In my opinion, this one is the best." D.L. Faulkner in: Australian & New Zealand Physicist, 1995 "Will clearly be the standard text in the subject." N.H. Baker, Columbia University "Kippenhahn and Weigert's work compares favorably with the few similar works, many of which are now out of date. It is superior to some others in eschewing elegance of mathematical analysis in favor of a comprehensive understanding of the observed and deduced properties of stars, from their initial formation to their final collapse." CHOICE

• I The Basic Equations.- 1. Coordinates, Mass Distribution, and Gravitational Field in Spherical Stars.- 2. Conservation of Momentum.- 3. The Virial Theorem.- 4. Conservation of Energy.- 5. Transport of Energy by Radiation and Conduction.- 6. Stability Against Local, Non-spherical Perturbations.- 7. Transport of Energy by Convection.- 8. The Chemical Composition.- II The Overall Problem.- 9. The Differential Equations of Stellar Evolution.- 10. Boundary Conditions.- 11. Numerical Procedure.- 12. Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions.- III Properties of Stellar Matter.- 13. The Ideal Gas with Radiation.- 14. Ionization.- 15. The Degenerate Electron Gas.- 16. The Equation of State of Stellar Matter.- 17. Opacity.- 18. Nuclear Energy Production.- IV Simple Stellar Models.- 19. Polytropic Gaseous Spheres.- 20. Homology Relations.- 21. Simple Models in the U-V Plane.- 22. The Main Sequence.- 23. Other Main Sequences.- 24. The Hayashi Line.- 25. Stability Considerations.- V Early Stellar Evolution.- 26. The Onset of Star Formation.- 27. The Formation of Protostars.- 28. Pre-Main-Sequence Contraction.- 29. From the Initial to the Present Sun.- 30. Chemical Evolution on the Main Sequence.- VI Post-Main-Sequence Evolution.- 31. Evolution Through Helium Burning — Massive Stars.- 32. Evolution Through Helium Burning — Low-Mass Stars.- 33. Later Phases.- 34. Final Explosions and Collapse.- VII Compact Objects.- 35. White Dwarfs.- 36. Neutron Stars.- 37. Black Holes.- VIII Pulsating Stars.- 38. Adiabatic Spherical Pulsations.- 39. Non-adiabatic Spherical Pulsations.- 40. Non-radial Stellar Oscillations.- IX Stellar Rotation.- 41. The Mechanics of Rotating Stellar Models.- 42. The Thermodynamics of Rotating Stellar Models.- 43. The Angular-Velocity Distribution in Stars.-References.