Cosmology for the Curious
- Downloads：6917
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-03 14:58:32
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Delia Perlov
- ISBN：3319570382
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
This book is an introductory text 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。
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
Joaquín Costa
，
Plain amaizing。 Extremely clear， though knowledge in baisic physics， calculus， geometry and álgebra is of course needed。 It's not a book for the masses （and it does not intend to）。 I really enjoyed reading it。 It gave me a much deeper apreciation of our place in the cosmos， it reenforced my love for physics and cosmology。 Thanks to this book （and some others） I ended up deciding to pursue a degree in physics。 I recommend it to anyone who has the basic calculus， algebra， geometry and physics know Plain amaizing。 Extremely clear， though knowledge in baisic physics， calculus， geometry and álgebra is of course needed。 It's not a book for the masses （and it does not intend to）。 I really enjoyed reading it。 It gave me a much deeper apreciation of our place in the cosmos， it reenforced my love for physics and cosmology。 Thanks to this book （and some others） I ended up deciding to pursue a degree in physics。 I recommend it to anyone who has the basic calculus， algebra， geometry and physics knowledge needed， and is looking for an eye-opening expeirence of our universe。 。。。more
David Arch
，
Some good discussions/ descriptions but I thought lacked coherence and rigor
Pratyasha Priyadarshini
，
An excellent book for amateur enthusiasts。 Explains the basic concepts really well。
Adriano Koehler
，
Less formulas would make a better book。 But I understand there's no way to explain the universe without them。 It was just harder to get a full understanding of what they were explaining。 Less formulas would make a better book。 But I understand there's no way to explain the universe without them。 It was just harder to get a full understanding of what they were explaining。 。。。more
Anas
，
if you have read hawking's the theory of everything and the grand design， then i can say this book is the combination of both。 in addition， this books contains mathematical equations simple enough for any high school graduate （or even younger readers） to understand。in the first part， the authors are bringing us into understanding of the cosmos from the big bang until today。 what makes galaxy， what causes life on earth， and so forth，then in the second part， we are brought beyond the big bang。 it' if you have read hawking's the theory of everything and the grand design， then i can say this book is the combination of both。 in addition， this books contains mathematical equations simple enough for any high school graduate （or even younger readers） to understand。in the first part， the authors are bringing us into understanding of the cosmos from the big bang until today。 what makes galaxy， what causes life on earth， and so forth，then in the second part， we are brought beyond the big bang。 it's more like shifting from physics and mathematics to philosophy。 the anthropic principle， the cause of all things （prima causa）， and so forth are written in this part。it is enjoyable at least for me who has no background in the field of cosmology and astronomy。 not very brief like hawking's books， but very insightful for anyone curious with our own home in the cosmos。 。。。more
Dan Graser
，
This perfectly titled work on the current theories and research in the area of cosmology is a pleasure to read and skim depending on your area of interest。 This was designed for an undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin， （of BGV Theorem fame） and would be most appropriate for those with at least a high school level knowledge of math and physics。While the first 5 chapters review a lot of material that is similarly reviewed in works for the layperson in this subject area， the remainder of th This perfectly titled work on the current theories and research in the area of cosmology is a pleasure to read and skim depending on your area of interest。 This was designed for an undergraduate course taught by Alex Vilenkin， （of BGV Theorem fame） and would be most appropriate for those with at least a high school level knowledge of math and physics。While the first 5 chapters review a lot of material that is similarly reviewed in works for the layperson in this subject area， the remainder of the work puts forth a wealth of theories， history， and current data in a number of well-studied fields， while also dabbling in the future of cosmology and where certain theories such as string theory， Everett many-worlds theory， and the multiverse are。 The sweeping history of the big bang presented here and the means by which we study distant stars and galaxy's contents based on their spectrographic analysis were particularly insightful in this volume。 Also， the closing chapters on inflation and BGV theorem is appropriately thorough and well-argued， especially as pertains to how frequently this theory has been misused for nonsensical （theological） arguments。 A fine textbook that would be great for any intro-course in cosmology。 。。。more
James F
，
The authors are professors at Tufts; the book is based on a "Cosmology for Poets"-type course taught by Vilenkin （who first developed the idea of "eternal inflation" and the multiverse）。 It is actually a textbook， with excercises （no answers given） and deals with the subject quantitatively -- there are equations on almost every page; but the math is all simple， high school algebra with no vectors， trig or calculus （except for the Appendix， which deals in more mathematical depth with the Friedman The authors are professors at Tufts; the book is based on a "Cosmology for Poets"-type course taught by Vilenkin （who first developed the idea of "eternal inflation" and the multiverse）。 It is actually a textbook， with excercises （no answers given） and deals with the subject quantitatively -- there are equations on almost every page; but the math is all simple， high school algebra with no vectors， trig or calculus （except for the Appendix， which deals in more mathematical depth with the Friedman equation。） No prior knowlege of physics is presupposed。 In addition to college "poet" classes， it would be useful for self-study （just for general knowledge） or perhaps a quarter high school course in the subject。The positive features: 1。 It is quite up-to-date （assuming you're reading this review in 2020 or not much later） and devotes much space to the recent discoveries about dark energy and accelerated expansion。 2。 The discussion of the Hubble expansion， the inflationary universe theories， and the various theories about the multiverse are fairly in-depth and give the basic equations。 3。 There is no polemicizing about religion （apart from a protest at the use of the BGV theorem as a "proof of God" -- note that the V stands for Vilenkin。） The negatives: 1。 It covers much ground in a short book， so much of the needed background is rather perfunctory， especially the discussions of relativity and quantum theory， stellar evolution， and similar topics -- apart from the areas mentioned above， if you took out the equations it would be essentially a fairly low-level popularization。 String theory is covered in 2-3 pages， and the alternative approaches are not mentioned at all。 2。 Some controversial ideas are presented as more mainstream than I think they are （especially Vilenkin's own contributions， such as the above-mentioned BGV theorem which tries to prove that "eternal inflation" can only be "eternal" in the future direction， and the multiverse itself must have had a beginning -- from his description of it， it struck me as essentially a metaphysical proof like Kant's antinomies of reason）。 3。 While most of the explanations are simple -- occasionally too simple -- a few places would be hard to understand without some background， or a teacher。This is worth reading for the target audience for now -- it's about halfway through its useful shelf-life， unless there is a newer edition at some point。 If it's your first book on the subject， it could be supplemented by some popular books on relativity or quantum theory -- the bibliography is essentially a list of good popularizations rather than the sources for the book。 。。。more
Lynn
，
It took me a while to get through Cosmology for the Curious。 The cover blurb describes it as "a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas。" It's suitable for use as a college-level textbook for non-science majors。 "Non-technical" in this case means without math beyond high school algebra， though there is some of that。 Happily， I do have a reasonably good grasp of algebra， enough to be able to read and understand the meaning of equations and how they can be tran It took me a while to get through Cosmology for the Curious。 The cover blurb describes it as "a non-technical but conceptually rigorous account of modern cosmological ideas。" It's suitable for use as a college-level textbook for non-science majors。 "Non-technical" in this case means without math beyond high school algebra， though there is some of that。 Happily， I do have a reasonably good grasp of algebra， enough to be able to read and understand the meaning of equations and how they can be transformed， including by substitutions。 Still， I've never thought about the questions of cosmology in any depth， so much of what I encountered was new， making it slow going。I had searched for a while for a book that tackles the subject at the right level。 I've read other books that handle the matter at a novice level — the "Gee whiz， isn't the universe big and mysterious！" approach of populist authors such as Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson， replete with plenty of pretty pictures of stars and galaxies。 Very nice， but I was ready for more。Cosmology for the Curious fulfilled that need。 Are there better books at the same level？ Probably， but I have no idea what they are。 Meanwhile， now that I've gone through it from cover to cover a few pages at a time， my head is full of new concepts and accompanying terminology。 Meanwhile， I discovered that there is a wealth of video lectures on YouTube by persons at all levels of expertise （from Richard Feynmann to various loudmouths） by means of which I can immerse myself in supplementary explanations of countless isolated ideas。 And this I am continuing to do， added to various lectures on math， as cosmological physics has now become one of my interests。And as I read （and viewed）， I came to understand （as I suspected） that most of what is known about cosmology， including about the origin of the universe， of the formation of elements of the periodic table， of the formation of planets solar systems， galaxies， and galaxy clusters， is unknown and speculative。 Which is not to say that it's all nonsense。 （Given that there are still people who argue sincerely that the earth is flat， it should come as no surprise that there are those who resist the observed and verified data that experimental physicists have collected。） It would be a mistake to write off the entire pursuit just because there is far more to know because some things are known and other things are strongly suspected but have yet to be observed。 And so I impartially follow the progress of what is known with some interest。 。。。more
Adler
，
Popsci cosmology books I used to read 10-15 years ago would start at how the universe was viewed by the ancients， and stop at the discovery of dark energy and an accelerating expansion of the universe。 This book goes way beyond that。I was very pleased to see that the 2nd half went on to discuss some of the most fascinating things we've come upon beyond the big bang: inflationary cosmology， a slightly more technical discussion of string theory and the multiverse， the anthropic principle， the prin Popsci cosmology books I used to read 10-15 years ago would start at how the universe was viewed by the ancients， and stop at the discovery of dark energy and an accelerating expansion of the universe。 This book goes way beyond that。I was very pleased to see that the 2nd half went on to discuss some of the most fascinating things we've come upon beyond the big bang: inflationary cosmology， a slightly more technical discussion of string theory and the multiverse， the anthropic principle， the principle of mediocrity， experimental tests for such theories， and the very fascinating， mind-blowing， BGV theorem which "proves" that the universe has a beginning （vs。 it didn't exist infinitely in the past）。This is the best book I've read on cosmology to date。 Highly recommended for people wanting to learn about recent trends in cosmology， who can take on some high school mathematics mixed with physical intuition！ 。。。more
Dara Ghaznavi
，
This book is awesome。 It is neither too simplified （as many pop science books）， nor too complicated （as many technical textbooks）。 The authors have tried to give a general understanding of cosmology to people with minimum knowledge of physics and mathematics。 You can get the whole idea by reading it once but to master the book， one has to go over technical parts a few times as with textbooks。 The final chapters of the book are devoted to ideas about the inflation hypothesis and eternal inflation This book is awesome。 It is neither too simplified （as many pop science books）， nor too complicated （as many technical textbooks）。 The authors have tried to give a general understanding of cosmology to people with minimum knowledge of physics and mathematics。 You can get the whole idea by reading it once but to master the book， one has to go over technical parts a few times as with textbooks。 The final chapters of the book are devoted to ideas about the inflation hypothesis and eternal inflation。 。。。more
Angela
，
Great book！ Covers all the latest ideas about the universe， including it origins， the expansion， the future， dark matter， dark energy， multiverse ideas。 All very clearly explained and with some easy maths that helps the reader to really understand the ideas， rather than just knowing the facts。
Brian Clegg
，