James MacDonald received his PhD in astronomy from Cambridge University in 1979. Following postdoctoral positions at the universities of Sussex and Illinois and Arizona State University, he joined the University of Delaware in 1985 where he is now a Professor of Physics and Astronomy. His scientific expertise is the study of the structure and evolution of stars. Recent work has focused on low-mass main sequence stars and brown dwarfs. He has published more than 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Table of Contents: Observational background / The equations of stellar structure: mass conservation and hydrostatic equilibrium / Energy considerations, the source of the Sun's energy, and energy transport / Convective energy transport / The equations of stellar evolution and how to solve them / Physics of gas and radiation / Ionization and recombination / The degenerate electron gas / Polytropes and the Chandrasekhar mass / Opacity / Nuclear reactions / Neutrino energy loss processes / Homology relations / Hydrogen main sequence stars / Helium main sequence stars / The Hayashi line / Star formation / Evolution on the main sequence and beyond / Evolution on the red giant branch / Evolution from red giant to white dwarf / Evolution of massive stars