The Early Universe [Hardcover]

Edward W. Kolb (Author), Michael S. Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1990 | ISBN-10: 0201116030 | ISBN-13: 978-0201116038 | Edition: First Edition

The Early Universe has become the standard reference on forefront topics in cosmology, particularly to the early history of the Universe. Subjects covered include primordial nubleosynthesis, baryogenesis, phases transitions, inflation, dark matter, and galaxy formation, relics such as axions, neutrinos and monopoles, and speculations about the Universe at the Planck time. The book includes more than ninety figures as well as a five-page update discussing recent developments such as the COBE results.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edward W. Kolb is head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics in the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, where his teaching was recognized by the Quantrell Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1993. Dr. Kolb was a J. Robert Oppenheimer Research Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Kolb’s research involves the study of the early Universe in the first seconds after the ”Big Bang” when the energies and densities of particles in the universe were similar to conditions produced in the high-energy collisions of particles at accelerator. Kolb gives popular accounts of the Big Bang as a Harlow Shapley Visiting Lecturer under the sponsorship of the American Astronomical Society, and as a lecturer at Chicago’s Adler Plantetarium.Michael S. Turner is a professor of physics and of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, and is deputy head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center. Dr. Turner received his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, his Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was an Enrico Fermi Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. In 1983, he was awarded the Quantrell Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. His other distinctions include an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and the Helen B. Warner Prize. Dr. Turner’s research focuses on the confluence of astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics, particularly the earliest history of the Universe. Edward W. Kolb is head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics in the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, where his teaching was recognized by the Quantrell Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1993. Dr. Kolb was a J. Robert Oppenheimer Research Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. Kolb’s research involves the study of the early Universe in the first seconds after the ”Big Bang” when the energies and densities of particles in the universe were similar to conditions produced in the high-energy collisions of particles at accelerator. Kolb gives popular accounts of the Big Bang as a Harlow Shapley Visiting Lecturer under the sponsorship of the American Astronomical Society, and as a lecturer at Chicago’s Adler Plantetarium.Michael S. Turner is a professor of physics and of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago, and is deputy head of the NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center. Dr. Turner received his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, his Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was an Enrico Fermi Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. In 1983, he was awarded the Quantrell Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. His other distinctions include an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and the Helen B. Warner Prize. Dr. Turner’s research focuses on the confluence of astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics, particularly the earliest history of the Universe.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 547 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company; First Edition edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201116030
• ISBN-13: 978-0201116038
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good introduction to cosmology, May 8, 2006

By 

M. Salem "nickname1746" (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Early Universe (Frontiers in Physics) (Paperback)

The Early Universe provides an excellent introduction to the topics it covers, including the standard big bang cosmology, baryogenesis and inflation. I read Dodelson's Modern Cosmology before this text, and the two compliment each other. The Early Universe provides a more complete and physically intuitive description of the standard big bang cosmology, including the role of thermodynamics, nucleosynthesis and out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Because of the attention to the "background" dynamics, and also to baryogenesis, phase transitions, inflation, and other applications of high energy physics, one gets a better sense of the "bigger picture" with Kolb and Turner's text. On the other hand, The Early Universe lacks any technical discussion of metric perturbations and CMB analysis, which are important components of much current research. These are highly emphasized in Dodelson's text. For appropriate topics, I have found The Early Universe to be a very good reference.

8 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please create an audio adaptation ..., June 1, 1999

By 

Arnold Veness - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Early Universe (Frontiers in Physics) (Paperback)

To the publisher I would appreciate it if the publisher could produce an audio adaptation of this book. I would love to listen to this while I drive to work and to let my 16 month old son listen to it as a bedtime story. Arnold D Veness