Introduction to Cosmology

Book Description

Introduction to Cosmology provides a rare combination of a solid foundation of the core physical concepts of cosmology and the most recent astronomical observations. The book is designed for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students and assumes no prior knowledge of general relativity. An emphasis is placed on developing the readers' physical insight rather than losing them with complex math. An approachable writing style and wealth of fresh and imaginative analogies from "everyday" physics are used to make the concepts of cosmology more accessible. The book is unique in that it not only includes recent major developments in cosmology, like the cosmological constant and accelerating universe, but also anticipates key developments expected in the next few years, such as detailed results on the cosmic microwave background. For anyone interested in cosmology or astronomy.

Customer Reviews:

Ease your way into cosmology.......2005-09-06

As an undergraduate studying particle physics, I have found Ryden to be an excellent first-book in cosmology for self-study. The text requires no previous knowledge of general relativity (though this certainly helps, perhaps at the level of Carroll's text) or astrophysics, which is refreshing for those who would rather not wade through the astrophysics part of an astrophysics-cosmology course.

Ryden's explanations are clear and carefully thought out, and she really makes an effort to hold one's hand through many topics. The book is straightforward and well-organized enough for more advanced students to skim quickly through chapters they are familiar with while also being able to slow down at certain points for a careful derivation here and there.

Overall, the topics are somewhat rudimentary (this text is definitely geared towards undergraduates)--i.e. don't expect to be calculating dark matter relic densities or studying cosmic strings--but combined with her suggested references for further reading and the text's ground-up style, this is a fantastic book at this level that provides a solid foundation for students who wish to move on to more advanced texts such as Kolb and Turner or Dodelson.

Addison Wesley should also be commended for their excellent typesetting (continuing a string of very well typeset books including Carroll's Spacetime Geometry and Goldstein's Classical Mechanics, 3rd. ed). Formulae are clear and easy to read, sections are well divided, and there is a wonderfully large margin for readers to write notes in.

The only lament I can agree with on this book is that it does not contain WMAP data, which would be a delight for a modern cosmology book.

Very well written.......2004-11-15

It seems lately people have been writing very good textbooks, for example "Gravity: from the ground up", "String theory: First Course" and "Spacetime and Geometry" etc, and this is among the best. As has been mentioned, there are no tensors in this book. General relativity is introduced with equivalence principle and the metric and by investigating different kind of curvatures and corresponding metrics. Clarity is outstanding in almost every chapter.

After introducing the Friedmann, fluid and acceleration equations etc, the chapters include single-component universes, multiple-component universes, measuring cosmological parameters. dark matter, cosmic microwave background, nucleosynthesis and the early universe, inflation and the very early universe + formation of structure. I think one of the positives of this book is that the chapters are quite short and the whole book itself is quite short at 250 pages. I think this is a good thing because its much easier to stay focused/motivated when you know it wont take 10 years to reach the end. And as has been mentioned, the writing style is very understandable and not too terse. I think this book is a perfect example on how to write physics tetxbooks.

Clear and useful.......2003-02-06

This book is an excellent introduction to all facets of cosmology for anyone from advanced undergraduates on. It includes a slow immersion in the key physical concepts of current cosmology theory, and broadly covers all relevent topics, as listed in the chapter headings. However, the greatest strength of this book is in the decision to forgo detailed General Relativity derivations. Instead of pages of numbing treatment of tensor math and metrics, Ryden summarizes the results of GR that are relevant to current cosmology, presenting the Friedmann equation and the Robertson-Walker metric. While this approach might infuriate purists, it allows the student to understand cosmology from a conceptual standpoint, while providing the mathematical tools necessary for analysis, and is a sufficient general introduction for any physics or astronomy student. It also provides a strong base of knowledge for those who do wish to proceed further into the details of GR. Furthermore, the conversational style of the text makes it much easier to read than any other physics textbook I have encountered. I would recommend any student (or professional) who slogged through their cosmology studies with no sense of the overall state of the field to use this book for both brushing up on the basics and as a quick reference.

Average customer rating:

A Real Gem!
An Introduction to Modern Cosmology
Terrific introduction to cosmology
A concise and accessible overview.
An excellent introduction

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology
Andrew Liddle
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0470848359

Book Description

A concise, accessible introduction to this exciting and dynamic subject.
* Adopts an approach grounded in physics rather than mathematics.
* Includes worked examples and student problems, along with hints for solving them and the numerical answers.
* Many reviewers have commented that this is one of the best 'introductory undergraduate level' texts on the subject and they would all welcome a Second Edition.

Customer Reviews:

A Real Gem!.......2005-12-08

Andrew Liddle's little book is a real gem,and, apart from cosmology students, it should appeal to anyone seriously interested in understanding modern cosmology. Of course, there is an important prerequisite: the reader should have a college-level knowledge of maths and physics. Therefore, this is not a book for the general public, such as, e.g "A Brief History of Time" by S.W. HAWKING, or "The First Three Minutes" by S.WEINBERG.
In fact, the book is divided in two distinct parts: the main body of the book, chapters 1 to 15, and the "Advanced Topics" section. The first part is self-sufficient, and covers all what is required for an honest but thorough understanding of the subject, using Newtonian mechanics only. The second part is meant for those readers who would like to explore a little deeper, but who must be familiar with General Relativity and tensor calculus. It is interesting to note here that the main body of Modern Cosmology can be understood without any reference to Einstein's theory.
As the book is designed for students, the author has added a set of problems (with answers and hints at the end of the book) after each chapter. I consider that solving these problems is a must if one wants to make sure that the subject has been properly assimilated.
Unfortunately, and even though this is the book's second edition, there is a number of errors, which the author has summarized in an Errata list posted on his Home Page on the Web.Therefore, readers should correct the text accordingly before getting on with their reading.
But there is an error which has escaped both the author's and the reviewers scrutiny; it is to be found in paragraph A3.2.2, page 140. Here the subject of Heavy Neutrinos is treated, and the author introduces an "exponential suppression factor" which has the wrong notation,with the temperature term in the numerator of the negative exponent. As a result, one obtains the opposite effect of what is claimed, as this factor increases with the neutrino mass,going from 0 for very small masses to 1 for very large ones. Actually, the "exponential suppression factor" should have the form of equation (12.1), page 92, with the temperature term in the denominator of the exponent.
But even then, the "predicted" neutrino mass of 1 GeV would make the exponential vanish [exp (-1000) = 0] and the neutrino density vanishes as well, instead of becoming equal to 1 as claimed.It seems that the author has a problem with exponential factors:at page 81, it is stated that the exponential in Eq 10.17 "will dominate if the temperature is much greater than the binding energy".In fact, in this case the exponential is very close to 1 and does not dominate.However, this has been taken care of in the Errata list.
I am sure Dr. Liddle, whom I have informed of this new error on 30 November 2005, will remedy the situation by posting an update of paragraph A 3.2.2 on his Home Page.Because as it is, the whole paragraph does not make any sense at all...
PS-On 13 December 2005, Dr Liddle addressed this error in his Errata list.

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology.......2005-08-28

I sent this book back and got my mony back.
Not because it was not a good book, but it was way beyond my mathmatical ability to read it.
This is a very technical book, more geard towards a serious scientist.

Terrific introduction to cosmology.......2005-06-01

That is a very good introduction book to cosmology at an undergraduate level. Although there are not many complicated equations, the physics ideas are very clear. It covers a lot of materials with easy-to-understand languages. The big bang model is the main part, with concise introduction to dark matter/energy, neuclosynthesis, cosmic microwave background, inflation etc. After reading this book, you will have a general idea about most of the concepts in cosmology and about what is going on in modern cosmology. Each chapter is accompanied by some problems, which are good exercise to understand the context. But I think it is a little outdated now, so maybe you should buy the 2nd edition.

A concise and accessible overview........2004-03-29

This is a highly readable introduction to Cosmology. The author states clearly that the approach is grounded in physics rather than mathematics and indeed, any reader with a basic grasp of single-variable calculus would cope with the derivations that are presented. Its ready accessibility would make it an enjoyable introduction for those working on their own wanting more than a 'popular 'account of Cosmology.I have adapted and used some of the material and problems for my year 13 physics class.

The main body of the book is self-contained and requires no further material for the interested reader to get to grips with the rudiments of the standard cosmological models. More complex results are stated without derivation and some are used as the basis for the exercises. The 'Advanced' topics require a little more of the reader and are presented as brief summaries rather than being rigorous. For example ,the chapter on General Relativistic Cosmology is 'for those readers who have experienced some general relativity'. As a teacher of physics,I found this book to be a very useful addition to my library.

An excellent introduction.......2002-08-10

I came across this book because it was required reading for my cosmology course. The book gives a Newtonian (it only briefly mentions the much more complicated General Relativity equations) overview of the current theories about the universe: its mass, its age, its shape and its ultimate destiny. The text is very readable, equations are explained properly and the diagrams are useful. The reader is left with a good impression of why the currently proposed cosmological models are sensible.

The book puts the case for the hot big bang model, which is by far the most popular cosmological model at this time. There is a chapter on the successes of this model: explanation of the cosmic background radiation, universal expansion, and the relative abundance of elements in the early universe. There follows a chapter on the major problems of this model: how come the background radiation looks the same (to within one part in a hundred thousand) everywhere, even when light hasn't had time to travel between all these regions? How did the universe become structured (into things such as stars) when physics predicts that matter should be homogeneously spread? And why does the universe (seemingly) possess the exact right density (to almost infinitessimal precision) to stay flat, as we see it today? Inflation theory offers some help, but at the same time asks a bigger question: which of the many inflation theories (if any) is right? Liddle doesn't go into much detail on this point, but you get a good introduction into what inflation is and why such an odd theory would be proposed.

I'm making it sound as if the big bang model has more problems than it solves, which I don't think it does (heck, it's the best theory we've got). But the problems are more interesting!

Book Description

After reviewing the basic concept of general relativity, this introduction discusses its mathematical background, including the necessary tools of tensor calculus and differential geometry. These tools are used to develop the topic of special relativity and to discuss electromagnetism in Minkowski spacetime. Gravitation as spacetime curvature is introduced and the field equations of general relativity derived. After applying the theory to a wide range of physical situations, the book concludes with a brief discussion of classical field theory and the derivation of general relativity from a variational principle.

Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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decent introduction, but needs more
Surprisingly readable
An excellent introduction to cosmology
A very good introduction to cosmology

Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Peter Coles
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 019285416X

Book Description

This book is a simple, non-technical introduction to cosmology, explaining what it is and what cosmologists do. Peter Coles discusses the history of the subject, the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern issues like quantum cosmology, superstrings, and dark matter.

Customer Reviews:

decent introduction, but needs more.......2007-05-07

In an introduction to a topic, one expects lots of figures to explain just about every topic. This book, and indeed the entire series, generally has rather few figures. The series also, generally, focuses on the historical development of the topic and not necessarily on the current understanding of the topic. Therefore, the series sacrifices a better explanation of our current understanding to explain who thought what and when. However, that is a matter of personal taste as to whether this is a digression or not. Nonetheless, this book serves adequately in the capacity of a "very short introduction."

Surprisingly readable.......2006-07-12

I never would have expected a book with chapters discussing physics concepts to be enjoyable or understandable. Nor did I expect a book on cosmology to include that type of thing in the first place, which shows how little I knew about the topic before I read this. Needless to say, understanding the concepts author Peter Coles presents and actually wanting to know more about them was a pleasant surprise.

This book flows smoothly from topic to topic, and the author does a good job of explaining things at a level detailed enough so you get some of the science behind things but not at a level so in depth that the average reader would be lost. A few helpful diagrams are also scattered about the book in places which would otherwise cause confusion. Where applicable, Coles gives brief introductions to various competing theories and points out both their strong and weak points.

Despite being "a very short introduction," the book is very solid and thorough. The information presented is well organized and builds upon itself, so essential concepts are reinforced even as new ones are discussed. After finishing the text, I skimmed through the index and found that I actually remembered what most things listed there were. The only exceptions were names of people, and those aren't exactly essential to understanding the subject matter.

I started this book without a completely accurate idea of what cosmology is, and I finished it knowing far more about it than I expected to. As such, I must say Coles was extremely successful in writing "a very short introduction" to cosmology, and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

An excellent introduction to cosmology.......2005-08-07

First, be warned that Amazon has mixed up two very different books here. Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction is the 139-page paperback I am reviewing. The editorial review refers to Cosmology: The Origin and Evolution of Cosmic Structures, a 520-page hardcover. At the time of writing this review, Amazon have the two books confused and you will find the same editorial and user reviews under each. So if you order one, make sure it's the right one.

Anyway, Cosmology VSI is excellent. Laymen's guides to physics usually resort to metaphors that are seriously misleading. The alternative is a highly mathematical approach that is inaccessible to most readers. Coles manages to simplify without misleading. Actually, some basic knowledge of physics is assumed, at least if you want a full understanding of what is being said, but it is never beyond high school level and most of the book does not require even that.

Covering relativity, quantum theory, particle physics and much else, this is a perfect introduction to a vast and profound topic. My only complaint: cosmology is a fast-changing subject. A new edition is needed very soon.

A very good introduction to cosmology.......2004-03-28

Professor Coles' book on cosmology in the VSI series is a very good introduction to the subject. If you search for a first book on the subject, that's it (although you can also choose Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time and the contents of these two books could complement with each other)! It provides an overview of the key concepts of cosmology in non-technical language while preserving room for deeper thought and exploration for those who are not satisfied with an introduction.

In my opinion, Chapter 2 provides the best simplified exposition of Einstein's relativity and here and there the book shows very clear exposition of the Hubble's law with kept-to-minimum mathematical presentation which is comprehensible by the general reader without relevant training at all.

Book Description

General relativity is a cornerstone of modern physics, and is of major importance in its applications to cosmology. Plebanski and Krasinski are experts in the field and provide a thorough introduction to general relativity, guiding the reader through complete derivations of the most important results. Providing coverage from a unique viewpoint, geometrical, physical and astrophysical properties of inhomogeneous cosmological models are all systematically and clearly presented, allowing the reader to follow and verify all derivations. Many topics are included that are not found in other textbooks.

An Introduction to Close Binary Stars (Cambridge Astrophysics)

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Not that much helpful for me

An Introduction to Close Binary Stars (Cambridge Astrophysics)
R. W. Hilditch
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521798000

Book Description

Binary systems of stars are as common as single stars. This original text provides a pedagogical and comprehensive introduction to binary stars. The author combines theory and observations at all wavelengths to develop a unified understanding of binaries of all categories. Chapters review methods for calculating orbits, the Roche model, ideas about mass exchange and loss, methods for analyzing light curves, the masses and dimensions of different binary systems, and imaging the surfaces of stars and accretion structures. This volume offers advanced undergraduate and graduate students a thorough introduction to binary stars that will aid their learning of stellar astrophysics, stellar structure and evolution, and observational astrophysics.

Customer Reviews:

Not that much helpful for me.......2007-07-25

It is good for pure Astrophysics student but not that much helpful for Physics student

Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History (California World History Library)

Average customer rating:

Surprisingly interesting
mother of al books
The modern model
This book
Important book

Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History (California World History Library)
David Christian
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520244761

Book Description

An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, Maps of Time is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings.
Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies--all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History." Maps of Time opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history--and Big History--true as never before to its name.

Download Description

An introduction to a new way of looking at history, from a perspective that stretches from the beginning of time to the present day, Maps of Time is world history on an unprecedented scale. Beginning with the Big Bang, David Christian views the interaction of the natural world with the more recent arrivals in flora and fauna, including human beings. Cosmology, geology, archeology, and population and environmental studies--all figure in David Christian's account, which is an ambitious overview of the emerging field of "Big History." Maps of Time opens with the origins of the universe, the stars and the galaxies, the sun and the solar system, including the earth, and conducts readers through the evolution of the planet before human habitation. It surveys the development of human society from the Paleolithic era through the transition to agriculture, the emergence of cities and states, and the birth of the modern, industrial period right up to intimations of possible futures. Sweeping in scope, finely focused in its minute detail, this riveting account of the known world, from the inception of space-time to the prospects of global warming, lays the groundwork for world history--and Big History--true as never before to its name.

Customer Reviews:

Surprisingly interesting.......2007-03-10

David Christian had a great ambition with this book: to write the history of everything there has ever been. In other words, it describes not only human history but also natural history from the very first beginning. Of course, I had read this on the cover but I had not quite anticipated how elaborate and detailedly the author would describe the formation of the cosmos from the moment of the big bang. I had expected the book to go rather briefly through this part of history and to move on quickly to human history. But I was pleasantly surprised because this first part of the book turned out to be the most fascinating part, as far as I am concerned. The rest of the book is quite interesting too, I must add. The plan and ambition of this book are great, the way the author has worked them out, too. If you liked THE HUMAN WEB by JR McNeill and William H. McNeill, you may like MAPS OF TIME even more. If you admired A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME by Stephen Hawking, you may admire this book just as much.

mother of al books.......2006-10-12

The book is not always easy, but well worth reading. It debates the different theories about life, the Universe and everything, through zooming in. The first part is about the big bang en the formation of stars, than follows the geological processes that formed the earth, the evolution of live, humans and our history. It ends with the 20 th century and possible futures. What I liked most about this book, was that it did not present a clear story, but gave the facts, and the different theories (different stories) that might come with those facts.
It was for me the book at the center of my expending library, because it comes with a extensive bibliography from which I'm now selecting books about the different parts of the big everything to continue reading.
The best book I've read in years (and I read a lot of (non)fiction books, about a large variaty of subjects).

The modern model.......2005-08-06

Intellectually stimulating, rapid-fire journey, the "powers of 10" movie specialized for history buffs. Some of the material I found superficial/generalized to be of substance, but the author acknowledges that can be the nature of Big History. An ambitious book which talks directly to ideas that most historians only philosophically discuss. A charge of inductive reasoning would not be far fetched, ie. cherry picking of facts to support prefigured models. Excellent overview of Big History and World History ideas and methods and themes. Annotated bibliographies at the end of each chapter, and large one at the end of the book, are very good for further exploration, most book recommendations are recent (1990s and early 2000s). Despite criticisms learned some new and important perspectives and recommend it highly.

This book.......2005-02-24

I took his class last semester, and used the book. Fortunately it coincided with my views of the world, and I was able to finish the book and class with ease.
This book teaches you your spot in the universe. How people, matter, creatures and geography have lived and died, shaping the coils of history to bring you to where you stand today. This is the most scientific and coherent compilation of explanations we have today - Christian is able to see the bits and pieces of life that is around us, and put it together in a book. His theories that are scattered around the book are interesting in themselves.

Important book.......2004-10-12

This important book is so well written that, despite its broad sweep and intellectual distinction, it flows beautifully. The first chapters provide one of the simplest and clearest descriptions of cosmology I've ever read, perhaps even bettter than Neil deGrasse Tyson's in Natural History. Christian provides a marvellous theoretical framework for understanding history as playing out repetitive patterns, and the sweep of learning, while careful, is extraordinary.

An Introduction to Modern Galactic Astrophysics And Cosmology

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A Subset of Introduction to Modern Astrophysics

An Introduction to Modern Galactic Astrophysics And Cosmology
Bradley W. Carroll
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805303472

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A Subset of Introduction to Modern Astrophysics.......2006-12-15

Aimed at the advanced physics or astronomy undergraduate student, this is an offspring of Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, often called BOB (Big Orange Book).

The one problem most often reported about BOB is its size, 1400 pages. Consequently this new, less expensive, smaller book has been produced that is smaller, more compact, and aimed at specific subject areas. In this book numerous subjects have been simply left out. These include: optics, the Solar System, and pulsars. Other areas have been greatly reduced in size: stellar evolution and radiative transfer. What's left is the core material needed for a course in Galactic Astrophysics and Cosmology.

This new second edition, badly needed since the first edition is now ten years old. In these ten years, there seems to have been just about as much discovered as in the centuries before. Discoveries like the universe is not slowing down but, rather, is actually accelerating, Dark energy wasn't even imagined at that time (and isn't easy to imagine now).

The book is aimed at the advanced undergraduate level after the student has had several previous physics classes and mathematics through differential equasions.

Average customer rating:

Brilliant Book For The Armchair Scientist
Astrobiology: An Attractive Introduction
Review of "Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction"

Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction
Kevin W. Plaxco , and Michael Gross
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801883679

Book Description

Astrobiology -- the study of the intimate relationship between life and the cosmos -- is a fast-growing field that touches on aspects of cosmology, astrophysics, and chemistry. In the first scholarly overview of this dynamic field, biochemists Kevin W. Plaxco and Michael Gross tell the story of life from the Big Bang to the present.

Emphasizing the biochemical nature of astrobiology, Plaxco and Gross examine the origin of the chemical elements, the events behind the developments that made the Universe habitable, and the ongoing sustenance of life. They discuss the formation of the first galaxies and stars, the diverse chemistry of the primordial planet, the origins of metabolism, the evolution of complex organisms, and the feedback regulation of Earth's climate. They also explore life in extreme habitats, potential extraterrestrial habitats, and the search for extraterrestrial life.

This broadly accessible introduction captures the excitement, controversy, and evolution of the dynamic young field of astrobiology. It shows clearly how scientists from different disciplines can combine their special knowledge to enhance our understanding of the Universe.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Book For The Armchair Scientist .......2006-09-27

Imagine that your best friend were some brilliant world-famous scientist. Now imagine that the two of you were sharing a beer one night, and you carelessly asked the question: "I wonder if there is life elsewhere in the Universe?"

This book would be his answer.

"Astrobiology," by Kevin Plaxco and Michael Gross, is the perfect book for the armchair scientist. It should sit on your bookshelf beside Hawking's "Brief History of Time." It would also be an excellent book for the curious undergraduate.

Plaxco and Gross fill the book with easy, accessible prose, and lots of great science. Best of all, the sidebars, with which the book is liberally sprinkled. They make you feel like you are busy bending an elbow with a scientist that has a wicked sense of humor. After all, how many science books can you think of that use the word `flummoxed'?

If the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" had a chapter on astrobiology, this would be it.

Astrobiology: An Attractive Introduction.......2006-08-07

Biology is not complete without the astro-physical environment that produces the sun, the earth and the building blocks of life.
We can never fully understand life and evolution if we don't include the universe.
At bottom it is ecology extended to the cosmic environment.
A huge eye-opener for me was Barrow & Tippler (1994) The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.
They showed that my biology training was hopelessly incomplete.
A second eye-opener was Tibor Gánti (2003) The Principles of Life.
For the first time in my life I had the feeling that I truly understood what the essence of life is and what the origin of life problem actually is, despite reading many books about the origin of life.
Now we have the science of astrobiology which combines both the universe as a cradle for life and insights into the nature of life.
I have been looking for some time for a suitable introduction into astrobiology until I found
Kevin Plaxco & Michael Gross (2006) Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction.
It is a very attractive book: a pleasure to read, enthusiastically and fluently written, full of relevant information, not loaded with boring details, the right price (indeed there are far more expensive introductions and textbooks).
Despite being an introduction, it is nourishing and thanks to being an introduction it is very digestible.
The book contains many stimulating thoughts and facts. Kevin Plaxco is a professor of chemistry. I think that chemistry
is the right science here: it is in the position to connect biology and astronomy (physics cannot bridge biology and astronomy because it differs too much from biology).
Michael Gross is a science writer. I suspect that a great part of the attractiveness of this book can be ascribed to him.
In the hands of Plaxco and Gross an otherwise boring table of yields of amino acids in the Miller-Urey experiment
becomes fascinating.
The book is richly illustrated with black and white illustrations and photographs (but fortunately no expensive glossy paper is used) and has many interesting sidebars.
[...].

Review of "Astrobiology: A Brief Introduction".......2006-07-18

I found this book to be a highly readable, thorough, accurate, well
balanced treatment of a topic that is increasingly capturing the
interest of scientists and anyone curious about their place in the
universe.

An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology

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A Superb Introduction to Galactic Astronomy and Cosmology
A must for those wishing to be introduced to the topic

An Introduction to Galaxies and Cosmology

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521546230

Book Description

This textbook has been designed by a team of experts for introductory university courses in astronomy and astrophysics. Beginning with a description of the structure and history of the Milky Way, it introduces normal and active galaxies in general. A wide range of cosmological models are then presented, including a discussion of the Big Bang and Universe expansion. The text contains numerous useful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, and a glossary of terms. It is also supported by a website hosting further teaching materials. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, the book is suitable for self-study.

Customer Reviews:

A Superb Introduction to Galactic Astronomy and Cosmology.......2007-05-11

This book deserves six stars. It is the companion book to "An Introduction to the Sun and Stars", (actually there are four books in the series but these two are the most closely related). I bought both books to follow-up the introductory astronomy text "Voyages to the Stars and Galaxies" by Fraknoi, Morrison, and Wolff. I was so impressed with "Voyages", it has been the standard by which I have measured other astronomy texts. "Sun and Stars", was an excellent book, but it didn't quite measure up to the clarity of "Voyages". In contrast, "Galaxies and Cosmology" is every bit as good as "Voyages". The scope is more limited than "Voyages", but the depth of the material covered is deeper. It is a perfect book to follow an introductory text such as "Voyages". Where "Voyages" gave a broad introduction to astronomy with essentially no math, "Galaxies and Cosmology" follows up with a more in depth treatment of galactic astronomy and cosmology that includes a fair amount of math, but nothing beyond basic algebra. Only algebra? Absolutely! This text walks an incredible line between a purely conceptual book, and a university level math heavy text for an astronomy major.

As with "An Intro to the Sun and Stars", "An Intro to Galaxies and Cosmology" has an excellent set of questions and problems which do a very good job of illuminating and clarifying key concepts. The problems are not difficult, requiring nothing more than a decent high school math background including algebra and trigonometry, but their strength is in illuminating the concepts beyond just a descriptive narrative. The problems are not as in depth or rigorous as you might find in a degree oriented program in astronomy, but they are certainly rewarding for the interested amateur, and will take you a step beyond purely descriptive introductions.

CONTENT

The book covers the following material, (if you don't want to read about every chapter, just skip to the summary).

Chapter 1 - The Milky Way Galaxy

A very good description of how we have come to know what we do about our Galaxy, the Milky Way, including how we determine size, mass, shape, etc.

Chapter 2 - Normal Galaxies

Describes the standard Hubble classification of galaxies including how we are able to determine such things as their size, mass, and composition. Provides a clear indroduction to theories of the formation and evolution of galaxies, and includes a an excellent description of the methods used to determine galactic distances.

Chapter 3 - Active Galaxies

Very good introduction to quasars, radio galaxies, Seyferts, and other galaxies with an active galactic nucleus, and the theories of what produces the incredible amounts of power emanating from the center of these galaxies. Also has an excellent detailed description of galactic spectra.

Chapter 4 - The Spatial Distribution of Galaxies

Nice introduction to large scale structure within the universe, including galaxy clusters, superclusters, and larger scale structure. Talks about recent and on-going surveys to map out these large scale structures. Also includes a nice description of how the distribution of intergalactic gas clouds can be investigated via a spectral feature known as the Lyman alpha forest. Also provides a pretty good explanation of the reionization epoch.

Chapter 5 - Introducing Cosmology - The Science of the Universe

This was one of my favorite chapters. It briefly introduces General Relativity's Field Equations and then introduces the main cosmological models that have been derived from them. At this level, the introduction is essentially conceptual, but amazingly the authors have been able to use only algebra to give greater insight into the concepts and to give a feel for some of the quantitative issues. If you have ever wanted to really know about Einstein's cosmological constant, or exactly what the FRW models are and where Einstein's initial model of the universe fits in relation to these, this is the book to get. Other topics touched on include how Hubble's constant is tied to cosmology, what vacuum energy density is, what cosmological models say about the age of the universe, and a whole host of other interesting topics.

Chapter 6 - Big Bang Cosmology - The Evolving Universe

Following chapter 5's introduction to the various models of the universe consistent with General Relativity, chapter 6 goes into more detail about the early universe in those models which begin with a "big bang". This chapter walks you through the first fractions of a second, minutes, and years following the "big bang". It goes into more detail about energy density, the interaction of fundamental particles and forces, recombination, and the cosmic microwave background radiation, among other things. This was the only chapter however that did seem a little dry in parts... primarily the sections on nucleosyntheis. The material was well covered though, so it is probably just a reflection of what interests me and what does not rather than a reflection on the book.

Chapter 7 - Observational Cosmology - Measuring the Universe

Chapter 7 picks up again with a thoroughly fascinating discussion of astronomers' efforts to measure the primary parameters associated with the FRW models that would determine what kind of universe we actually live in. The parameters include the Hubble constant, the deceleration parameter, and several density parameters. The last part of the chapter provides an excellent introduction on how the angular power spectrum of the CMB is being used as one method to determine the cosmological parameters to great precision, (basically curve fitting). Overall, this is one of the most interesting chapters in the book.

Chapter 8 - Questioning Cosmology - Outstanding Problems About the Universe

This closing chapter highlights some of the questions yet to be answered. Perhaps of necessity details are rather slim in this chapter, but it still provides a nice end of book perspective on how much we still don't know. The questions discussed include,

1. What is dark matter? -- A discussion of MACHOS and WIMPS
2. What is dark energy? -- Einstein's cosmological constant? Quantum vacuum energy? Quintessence?

3. Why is the universe so uniform?
4. Why does the universe have a flat geometry?
5. Where did the structure come from?

Inflation theory could solve these three, but inflation is still a theory with many unanswered questions. Some of these are discussed.

6. Why is there more matter than antimatter? -- lack of baryon number conservation at extremely high energies?
7. What happened at t=0? -- a few paragraphs mentioning chaotic inflation, quantum cosmology, and m-theory.
8. Why is the Universe the way it is? - Why do the fundamental constants of nature have the values they do? A discussion of the anthropic principle.

SUMMARY

Bottom line is this is an excellent introduction to galactic astronomy and cosmology. It is recommended that you have some understanding of stellar astronomy including basic stellar evolution such as you would find in an introductory book such as "Voyages to the Stars and Galaxies" by Fraknoi, Morrison, and Wolff or "An Introduction to the Sun and Stars" by Green and Jones, and that your be comfortable with basic algebra and trig, but beyond that the book is very self contained and rewarding to read. It is a perfect balance between armchair reading and textbook. I only wish more popular science books were written at this level.

As a side note, if anyone knows of other astronomy texts written at a similar level, leave a comment. I would love to find other texts at the level and quality of this one.

A must for those wishing to be introduced to the topic.......2005-09-07

I was amazed by this book, as well as by the others completing the series. The argument is handled in a very clear way and I really believe this book is just perfect for those starting their interest or studies in astronomy. It is well up-to-date and provides nice images.

Definitely a must have, also for those working in different areas and wishing to 2refresh2 their knowledge.

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