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M**U
Five Stars
very good and clean text . highly commendable .
F**K
Be prepared to think...
Jayant Narlikar's `Introduction to Cosmology' has a simple enough title, but do not be deceived. This is a graduate-level textbook on one of the most difficult subjects around--mathematical, theoretical explorations of large-scale universal structures.If, as Stephen Hawking once said, for every equation in the book, you lose half your readership, I would calculate (just off the top of my head) that only a dozen people have read this book! Actually, to be serious, this book presupposes a knowledge of calculus (differential equations, vector analysis, Fourier series, etc.) and assumes a fairly extensive knowledge of physics (thermodynamics, electromagnetic theory, atomic structure, fluid dynamics).This is intended as a text book for the advanced undergraduate or graduate level student, and to that end, it has problems, most of which are computational in nature.`It is usual to find cosmology appearing at the end of a text on general relativity, introduced more as an appendage than as a subject in its own right. Perhaps this is one reason why cosmology still stands apart from the rest of astronomy, where it really belongs. The astronomer tends to regard cosmology as a playground for general relativists rather than a logical extension of extragalactic astronomy.'Narlikar introduces general relativistic theory as a tool rather than a subject, for use in understanding the geometrical principles applied to cosmology. He continues forward to use standard models (Friedmann) of cosmology as solutions to Einstein's equations, before progressing to discussing the physical properties of cosmology, including galactic evolution (structure, kinematics and dynamics--one could refer here then to Milhaus and Binney's work on the same), particle physics and early universe issues.From here, Narlikar progresses to some non-standard cosmological constructions, including anisotropic cosmologies, steady state theories and cosmologies that might correspond to the Mach principle (although, as the name non-standard would indicate, these are fringe, or sometimes, older theories, which are largely discredited, but science must look to them as they occasionally give insight into observations). This, as an introduction, is not exhaustive, and does not get into cosmological models such as Alfven & Klein's matter-antimatter symmetry, the Einstein-Cartan cosmologies, or Milne's kinematic relativity, or the ideas of Segal or McCrea.From here Narlikar ends the book with discussion of observational cosmology, exploring the implications of local observations (such as background microwave radiation that permeates the universe, a discovery of Penzias and Wilson at Bell Telephone Laboratories), the Hubble Constant and redshift issues, and quasars (do they or do they not fit standard models of cosmology and scientific principles currently known?).`By claiming to describe the universe as a whole, cosmology transcends the realms of all other branches of science. Any conclusions about the universe are bound to be profound and hence must be drawn with caution. This caution is often missing in statements about cosmology. All too often the investigator (whether a theoretician or an observer) is tempted to mistake the model of the universe for the real thing. Categorical remarks about the state of the universe are often found upon closer examination to be model-dependent. Firm claims about observations of the universe have had to be withdrawn later when a better assessment of the observational error became possible.'In conclusion, Narlikar gives an brief summary of the cases for and against standard cosmological models, and a glimpse into future research, which will be aided as observational tools become more sensitive.This is a science text book, and thus is rather dry and straightforward in presentation. But as a tool for the high-end astronomer/astrophysicist, it is a valuable work.
F**W
In his forward to the first edition of “An Introduction ...
In his forward to the first edition of “An Introduction to Cosmology” by Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, Sir Fred Hoyle avers that this work of Narlikar’s is “important” both for the student and the “practiced expert.” A “masterpiece of clarity” this well structured book is divided into twelve chapters each containing its own sub-sections and a series of exercises for the reader to perform. Perhaps the most salient, and indeed, refreshing aspect of this work is that it does not blindly accept big bang cosmology as a “given” but renders consideration to the steady state model as a way of accounting for cosmological phenomena. The association between Hoyle and Narlikar is shown in the subsection “The Hoyle-Narlikar cosmologies” of Chapter 8 entitled “Alternative cosmologies.” The Steady State Theory and the quasi Steady State Theory are given due consideration in subsections 9.2 and 9.10 respectively of Chapter 9. In subsection 9.13.2 ( pps. 354 – 358 ), Narlikar explains the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe alternative to the conventional account of the micro-wave background radiation, the latter of which claims that this phenomenon is a remnant of the Big Bang, but which is accounted for by Hoyle and Wickramasinghe as emanating from metalic vapours condensing into whiskers. This book is not intended for the lay reader, but rather for advanced students and upwards and presumes a knowledge of various mathematical disciplines on the part of the reader.
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