An Introduction to Modern Cosmology [Paperback]

Andrew Liddle (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470848359 | ISBN-13: 978-0470848357 | Publication Date: May 26, 2003 | Edition: 2

A concise, accessible introduction to this exciting and dynamic subject.
* Adopts an approach grounded in physics rather than mathematics.
* Includes worked examples and student problems, along with hints for solving them and the numerical answers.
* Many reviewers have commented that this is one of the best 'introductory undergraduate level' texts on the subject and they would all welcome a Second Edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...complete and up-to-date...an excellent introduction of cosmology, and at this level it is hard to beat...highly recommended." (Choice, Vol. 41, No. 6, February 2004)

From the Back Cover

An Introduction to Modern Cosmology Second Edition is an accessible account of modern cosmological ideas.  The Big Bang Cosmology is explored, looking at its observational successes in explaining the expansion and age of the universe, the existence and properties of the cosmic microwave background, and the origin of the light elements in the universe.  Properties of the very early universe are also covered, including the motivation for the theory known as cosmological inflation.  The Second Edition includes additiional material on observational cosmology and structure formation.

• Approach grounded in physics rather than mathematics.
• Worked examples, student problems, hints for solving them and numerical answers.
• Latest observational results including WMAP satellite.
• New website with updates, full colour images and links to further information.

Published reviews of the First Edition:

"..a clear, concise and accessible book" New Scientist

"...one of the clearest introductions to cosmology on the market"  Contemporary Physics

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (May 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470848359
• ISBN-13: 978-0470848357
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.5 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars clear as crystal, July 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology (Hardcover)

This book is the most clearly written book I have ever read. Liddle has a knack for making difficult concepts easy to comprehend through his use of analogies and vividly accurate descriptions. The cosmological ideas are explained at an intuitive level and have been imprinted on my mind forever. This book is a great introduction for the less mathematically minded though also a great source of information for others. This book book covers a great amount of cosmology the big bang, nucloesynthesis, inflation, cosmological models etc and is set out in a very logical order. I would thoroughly recommend this as an introduction although for those interested in more mathematical rigour other text books may be necessary.

Well done Dr. Liddle ! A great achievement .............

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction, August 9, 2002

By 

P. A. Cook (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology (Paperback)

I came across this book because it was required reading for my cosmology course. The book gives a Newtonian (it only briefly mentions the much more complicated General Relativity equations) overview of the current theories about the universe: its mass, its age, its shape and its ultimate destiny. The text is very readable, equations are explained properly and the diagrams are useful. The reader is left with a good impression of why the currently proposed cosmological models are sensible.

The book puts the case for the hot big bang model, which is by far the most popular cosmological model at this time. There is a chapter on the successes of this model: explanation of the cosmic background radiation, universal expansion, and the relative abundance of elements in the early universe. There follows a chapter on the major problems of this model: how come the background radiation looks the same (to within one part in a hundred thousand) everywhere, even when light hasn't had time to travel between all these regions? How did the universe become structured (into things such as stars) when physics predicts that matter should be homogeneously spread? And why does the universe (seemingly) possess the exact right density (to almost infinitessimal precision) to stay flat, as we see it today? Inflation theory offers some help, but at the same time asks a bigger question: which of the many inflation theories (if any) is right? Liddle doesn't go into much detail on this point, but you get a good introduction into what inflation is and why such an odd theory would be proposed.

I'm making it sound as if the big bang model has more problems than it solves, which I don't think it does (heck, it's the best theory we've got). But the problems are more interesting!

On which subject, there are problems (solvable ones!) at the end of each chapter, with brief solutions at the end of the book.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific introduction to cosmology, May 31, 2005

By 

Yang Li "yangli320" (Ames, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology (Hardcover)

That is a very good introduction book to cosmology at an undergraduate level. Although there are not many complicated equations, the physics ideas are very clear. It covers a lot of materials with easy-to-understand languages. The big bang model is the main part, with concise introduction to dark matter/energy, neuclosynthesis, cosmic microwave background, inflation etc. After reading this book, you will have a general idea about most of the concepts in cosmology and about what is going on in modern cosmology. Each chapter is accompanied by some problems, which are good exercise to understand the context. But I think it is a little outdated now, so maybe you should buy the 2nd edition.