How does it happen that billions of stars can cooperate to produce the beautiful spirals that characterize so many galaxies, including ours?. The theory unfolds in a way that can be grasped by any reader with an undergraduate science background who is interested in astronomy, as well as by graduate students and scientists actively involved in astronomy or related subjects who want to see the "backbone" and the physical content of the theory.

The Lin-Shu Hypothesis. The Winding Problem. The book details the importance of resonances, particularlyLindblad resonances, where the frequency of the density wave matches the orbital frequency of stars, creating boundaries that define the extent and shape of the spiral arms.

You will find that this textbook has a handy index of symbols and abbreviations.