Contributors to this volume aim to provide the layperson with the fundamental concepts of cosmology - the science of the origin and structure of the universe. Topics covered include: the Big Bang Theory and the birth and expansion of the universe; the formation of galaxies; the creation of the Milky Way; star death and birth; the cration of the Solar System; the birth of our Sun and a tour of the nine planets; and an exploration of life on earth and the possibility of discovering intelligent extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
David H. Levy is the author of several books, including Skywatching, More Things in Heaven, Sharing the Sky, and The Ultimate Universe, a book-and-CDROM that was a Main Selection of the Astronomy Book Club. Levy also succeeded Carl Sagan as Science columnist for Parade magazine.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This is not a "definitive book" of cosmology.,
By
This review is from: The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos (Hardcover)
I have been waiting for one month to read this book and I was disapointed. It was advertised that the book was a State-of-The -Art of cosmology and in my opinion it was not,it is a recollection of articles that have been published before,most of the articles are not updated and forty percent of them are not illustrated,and the ones that are illustrated are of poor quality and they ara black and white, there are some colored pictures in the center of the book that are not enougt to make up the deficiences in the rest of the book.I advice the readers interested in cosmology to read the book of Edward Harrison, Cosmology:the science of the universe.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nice cover but...,
By Sandra Labrietta (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos (Hardcover)
The book fails to offer a comprehensive perspective and is certainly not the definitive work described in the publisher's promo. The "S.A. Book of the Cosmos" is neither up to date nor does it provide a coherent retrospective view. It flits about from topic to topic and leaves important questions unanswered. In my opinion, there are far better books on cosmology for the casually interested reader: Look for titles by Harrison, Gribbon, Davies, Guth, and Thorne.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable survey of Cosmology.,
By John R. Peak (Monroeville, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos (Hardcover)
This book is not as bad as others have indicated here. It is more an anthology of Cosmology related "essays" from Scientific American than it is an academic treatment of cutting-edge Cosmology.If you want hardcore Cosmology, look elsewhere. But if you want brief, easy-to-read overviews of current ideas in Cosmology, this should be an enjoyable book for you. Yes, there is a general lack of pictures, but the color pictures that are present are very nice. Besides, I am more interested in the content of the text. I found the first three historical essays to be of special interest. One is by Einstein and concerns Relativity. The most fascinating for me is the one by Erwin Schrodinger titled "What is Matter?". This article alone was worth the price of the book for me. Schrodinger's essay helped me to understand, more than any other book, what we mean by the terms matter, energy, and force.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In the life of anyone interested in science, there are bound to appear certain articles that capture the heart-seminal pieces that point the way. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stellar fane, symmetrical tensor field, black hole complementarity, disk instability model, new inflationary model, standard big bang theory, sunlike stars, dwarf novae, dynamic collapse, standard big bang model, false vacuum, inflationary theory, big bang picture, carbon burial, cataclysmic variables, accretion disk, primordial universe, inflationary universe, protoplanetary disk, observed universe, extrasolar planets, top quark, outer solar system, inflationary scenario Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Milky Way, Hubble Space Telescope, University of California, University of Arizona, Mauna Kea, Mount Wilson, Comet Shoemaker-Levy, Local Group, Scientific American, Great Attractor, Albert Einstein, California Institute of Technology, New Mexico, United States, Edwin Hubble, Johnson Space Center, Magellanic Clouds, Southern Hemisphere, World War, Cosmic Background Explorer, Fred Hoyle, Geological Survey, Global Climatic Change, Palomar Observatory, Santa Cruz New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In the life of anyone interested in science, there are bound to appear certain articles that capture the heart-seminal pieces that point the way. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stellar fane, symmetrical tensor field, black hole complementarity, disk instability model, new inflationary model, standard big bang theory, sunlike stars, dwarf novae, dynamic collapse, standard big bang model, false vacuum, inflationary theory, big bang picture, carbon burial, cataclysmic variables, accretion disk, primordial universe, inflationary universe, protoplanetary disk, observed universe, extrasolar planets, top quark, outer solar system, inflationary scenario Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Milky Way, Hubble Space Telescope, University of California, University of Arizona, Mauna Kea, Mount Wilson, Comet Shoemaker-Levy, Local Group, Scientific American, Great Attractor, Albert Einstein, California Institute of Technology, New Mexico, United States, Edwin Hubble, Johnson Space Center, Magellanic Clouds, Southern Hemisphere, World War, Cosmic Background Explorer, Fred Hoyle, Geological Survey, Global Climatic Change, Palomar Observatory, Santa Cruz New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 43
books:
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6
books
cite this book:
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- The Inflationary Universe by Alan Guth on 4 pages
- X-Ray Emission from Clusters of Galaxies (Cambridge Astrophysics) by Craig L. Sarazin in Back Matter
- Don Quixote (English Picture Readers) by Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra on page 25
- Destination Mars. by Martin, Caidin in Back Matter
- Water on Mars by Michael H. Carr in Back Matter
See all 43 books this book cites
- Don't Know Much About the Universe: Everything You Need to Know About Outer Space but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis in Back Matter
- The Day Without Yesterday: Lemaitre, Einstein, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology by John Farrell in Back Matter
- Environmental Chemistry (Routledge Introductions to Environment: Environmental Science) by John Wright on page 112
- Cosmic Discoveries: The Wonders of Astronomy by David H. Levy in Back Matter
- Complexity: Introduction and Fundamentals (Mathematical Chemistry, 7) by D.G. Bonchev on page 25
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