A Different Approach to Cosmology: From a Static Universe through the Big Bang towards Reality [Hardcover]

F. Hoyle (Author), G. Burbidge (Author), J. V. Narlikar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521662230 | ISBN-13: 978-0521662239 | Publication Date: March 13, 2000 | Edition: 1

The astronomical community is wrongly interpreting cosmological data by using the standard Big Bang Model. In this highly controversial volume, three distinguished cosmologists argue this premise with persuasion and conviction. Starting with the beginnings of modern cosmology, they conduct a deep and wide review of the observations made from 1945 to the present, explaining what they regard as the defects and inconsistencies that exist within the interpretation of cosmological data. This is followed by an extensive presentation of the authors' own alternative view of the status of observations and how they should be explained. Along the way, the book touches on the most fundamental questions, including the origin, age, structure, and properties of the Universe. Writing from the heart, with passion and punch, Hoyle, Burbidge, and Narlikar, make a powerful case for viewing the universe in a different light, which will be of great interest to graduate students, researchers, and professionals in astronomy, cosmology, and physics.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

For modern readers, raised on 1984 and Kurt Cobain, anything that smacks of the mainstream arouses suspicion. So after every cosmology article in Scientific American, editors brace for an onslaught of letters demanding that alternatives to conventional theories be given their due. This book describes the best-developed such alternative: the quasi-steady-state theory, the latest incarnation of the steady-state theory that Fred Hoyle first devised in 1948. It argues that the famous cosmic microwave background radiation is diffuse starlight rather than the afterglow of a hot big bang; that stars synthesized the chemical elements usually attributed to the bang; and that matter is continuously created and ejected from the cores of galaxies. The heterodoxy is seductive. But in a commentary in the April 1999 issue of Physics Today, cosmologist Andreas Albrecht outlined the failings of the theory and the tests it would need to pass before being taken seriously by most cosmologists. If nothing else, a critical reading of this book shows that "mainstream" isn't such a dirty word after all. Science is tricky. Seemingly plausible ideas can have subtle flaws, and it takes a collective effort of problem solving to find them out.

Review

"Professor Sir Fred Hoyle, Britain's greatest living astrophysicist...launches his most comprehensive attack against the Big Bang theory, in a book with the archly subversive title A Different Approach to Cosmology...when Hoyle makes a cosmic pronouncement, it is invariably worth hearing...Together with two other respected astrophysicists, Hoyle systematically reviews the evidence for the Big Bang theory, and gives it a good kicking...it's hard not to be impressed with the audacity of the demolition job...I can only hope that I possess one-thousandth of Hoyles' fighting spirit when I, like him, have reached my 85th year." The Sunday Telegraph

"The writing style is lively and personal, and the scientific arguments are written in such a way as to be accessible to upper-division undergraduate students in physics and astrophysics. The book is very well referenced and illustrated with suitable and approproate illustrations. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and two-year technical program students." Choice

"This is a fascinating book, expressing the views of three scientists who choose to go against the conventional cosmological wisdom. It is extremely important for such skepticism to exist and for such books to be written." Physics Today

"The book is a serious and professional contribution to scientific cosmology." Sky & Telescope

"Throughout the last few decades, Fred Hoyle, Geoffrey Burbidge, and Jayant Narlikar have done the cosmology community a great service by developing and defending a serious alternative to Big Bang models of cosmic origins. A Different Approach to Cosmology is a summary of their work...by elucidating one of the hot Big Bang's competitors, the authors provide a good educational exercise for any graduate student interested in fundamental cosmology." Science

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 369 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (March 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521662230
• ISBN-13: 978-0521662239
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,565,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling! the cosmology paradigm debates ended too soon!, March 22, 2000

By 

LG (southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Different Approach to Cosmology: From a Static Universe through the Big Bang towards Reality (Hardcover)

Sir Fred Hoyle and fellow authors, Geoffrey Burbidge and Jayant Narlikar show why the paradigm debates in modern cosmology ended too soon! Their sweeping analysis includes the early static universe concepts, the Einstein, de Sitter, and Friedmann-Lemaitre relativistic models, the controversy of the classic Steady-State vs. the Big Bang, and the contemporary Big Bang paradigm. As participants, they discuss the controversies over interpretation of the Hubble velocity-distance relation, light element origins, the radio sources and their fabled distributions, the quasars, the cosmic microwave background, and large-scale matter distribution.

They summarize the accumulating evidences for intrinsic-peculiar redshifts, and ejection of compact X-ray and optical sources from active galactic nuclei. The Big Bang is found wanting both in theoretical assumption and observationally. Building on their Quasi-Steady-State cosmology, the authors propose that both observation and scale-invariant gravitational equations require us to consider an ongoing-episodic creation of matter within the universe. . . .

Don't let prevailing theory (or episodic mathematical equations) keep you from reading this important book!

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seeing the Universe in a different light..., April 16, 2000

By 

Brakaway "American citizen" (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Different Approach to Cosmology: From a Static Universe through the Big Bang towards Reality (Hardcover)

A rare and well balanced scientific discussion of the relative merits of the new Quasi Steady State versus Big Bang concept of the Universe. This book gives the reader a feel for the basis of our understanding of the Universe. A feeling for the vast uncertainties concerning our interpretation of distant objects, such as Quasars.

Please note: This book is for serious students of cosmology. The authors presume the reader has an understanding of general relativity.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for Anyone Interested In How Science Is Done, March 26, 2010

By 

Rick M. - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Different Approach to Cosmology: From a Static Universe through the Big Bang towards Reality (Paperback)

First, Ignore the 1-star review. That reviewer does not know what this book is about & probably never read it. The other reviews are by people who did read it, thoughtfully. Any person interested in cosmology & in how science should be done will find this book clear & gripping. It does use the equations of (e. g.) Relativity in reasoning about the Universe, but always with clear verbal treatment, too. I have no training in mathematical physics, but gained insight into how formulas & equations are used in cosmology by scanning thru their presentation! Above all, this book provides a fine critical account of cosmological studies from the early 20th C. to its end, with emphasis on where good scientific practice has or has not been used. The problems they find have only worsened & spread in the 10 years since the book was written, which makes it's content even more essential. Finally, all 3 authors are tops in astronomy & are excellent writers. I hope the paperback edition will be reprinted at a nice low price so anyone can own a copy of this important book.