Overview
- The big questions of cosmology made simple - for students and the educated layman alike
- Accessible, informative and entertaining, with a gripping style and delightful cartoons
- Ideal for a first course in cosmology, also for non-science majors and high-school pupils
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (24 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Big Bang and the Observable Universe
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Front Matter
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Beyond the Big Bang
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Front Matter
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Keywords
About this book
This book is a gentle introduction for all those wishing to learn about modern views of the cosmos. Our universe originated in a great explosion – the big bang. For nearly a century cosmologists have studied the aftermath of this explosion: how the universe expanded and cooled down, and how galaxies were gradually assembled by gravity. The nature of the bang itself has come into focus only relatively recently. It is the subject of the theory of cosmic inflation, which was developed in the last few decades and has led to a radically new global view of the universe.
Students and other interested readers will find here a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas - describing what we know, and how we know it. One of the book's central themes is the scientific quest to find answers to the ultimate cosmic questions: Is the universe finite or infinite? Has it existed forever? If not, when and how did it come into being? Will it ever end?The book is based on the undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University. It assumes no prior knowledge of physics or mathematics beyond elementary high school math. The necessary physics background is introduced as it is required. Each chapter includes a list of questions and exercises of varying degree of difficulty.
Reviews
“It brings you up to the current state of the art of cosmology, it is educational and you even more appreciate the work of the genius scientists laying the foundations to solve the riddle of humankind … . a “must” have for the curious. The mathematical appendix and the index are flawless.” (Joachim J. Kehr, Journal of Space Operations & Communicator, Vol. 15 (1), 2018)
“Cosmology for the Curious offers an excellent tour of the key ideas in cosmology. It also crisply delineates our empirically determined understanding from more speculative areas of current research. I am currently using it in my introductory cosmology class.” (Priyamvada Natarajan, Physics Today, April, 2018)
“This is an introductory textbook, intended for first year physics students, with familiar textbook features like questions to answer at the end of each chapter. … The ideal market for this book is … a student about to start on a physics course at university who wants to make it more comfortable to ease into the course. Delia Perlov and Alex Vilenkin should be congratulated on making a big step towards accessibility in a book like this.” (Popular Science, popsciencebooks.blogspot.de, October, 2017)
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
ALEX VILENKIN has been one of the key researchers at the forefront of theoretical cosmology and has made many significant contributions to the field. He is best known for his theories of eternal cosmic inflation, creation of the universe from nothing, and for his groundbreaking work on cosmic strings. He is the director of the Tufts Institute of Cosmology.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Cosmology for the Curious
Authors: Delia Perlov, Alex Vilenkin
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57040-2
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-57038-9Published: 26 July 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-86063-3Published: 02 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-57040-2Published: 07 August 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 372
Number of Illustrations: 139 b/w illustrations, 63 illustrations in colour
Topics: Cosmology, Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory, Particle and Nuclear Physics, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Philosophy of Religion