Elementary Cosmology: From Aristotle's Universe to the Big Bang and beyond

by James J Kolata

Overview

Cosmology is the study of the origin, size, and evolution of the entire universe. Every culture has developed a cosmology, whether it is based on religious, philosophical, or scientific principles. In this book, the evolution of the scientific understanding of the Universe in Western tradition is traced from the early Greek philosophers to the most modern 21st-century view.

After a brief introduction to the concept of the scientific method, the first part of the book describes the way in which detailed observations of the Universe, first with the naked eye and later with increasingly complex modern instruments, ultimately led to the development of the Big Bang theory. The second part of the book traces the evolution of the Big Bang including the very recent observation that the expansion of the Universe is itself accelerating with time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681741642
Publisher:	Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2015
Series:	ISSN
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

James J Kolata is Emeritus Professor of Nuclear Physics at the University of Notre Dame. He received his BS from Marquette University and his MS and PhD from Michigan State University. Before coming to Notre Dame, he worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and at the University of Pittsburgh. This book is from his elective course at Notre Dame entitled “Elementary Cosmology”.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents: The scientific method / Early astronomy / Nebulae / Cosmic distances / Space-time / The Big Bang / Cosmic microwave background radiation / Dark matter / The standard model of cosmology / The very early Big Bang / Inflation / Dark energy / Higher dimensions / String theory / Black holes and wormholes / Reading list / Links to astronomy websites