Cosmology and Controversy

(2)
Cosmology and Controversy image
ISBN-10:

069100546X

ISBN-13:

9780691005461

Author(s): KRAGH, HELGE
Released: Feb 22, 1999
Format: Paperback, 488 pages
Related ISBN: 9780691026237

Description:

For over three millennia, most people could understand the universe only in terms of myth, religion, and philosophy. Between 1920 and 1970, cosmology transformed into a branch of physics. With this remarkably rapid change came a theory that would finally lend empirical support to many long-held beliefs about the origins and development of the entire universe: the theory of the big bang. In this book, Helge Kragh presents the development of scientific cosmology for the first time as a historical event, one that embroiled many famous scientists in a controversy over the very notion of an evolving universe with a beginning in time. In rich detail he examines how the big-bang theory drew inspiration from and eventually triumphed over rival views, mainly the steady-state theory and its concept of a stationary universe of infinite age. In the 1920s, Alexander Friedmann and Georges Lemaître showed that Einstein's general relativity equations possessed solutions for a universe expanding in time. Kragh follows the story from here, showing how the big-bang theory evolved, from Edwin Hubble's observation that most galaxies are receding from us, to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Sir Fred Hoyle proposed instead the steady-state theory, a model of dynamic equilibrium involving the continuous creation of matter throughout the universe. Although today it is generally accepted that the universe started some ten billion years ago in a big bang, many readers may not fully realize that this standard view owed much of its formation to the steady-state theory. By exploring the similarities and tensions between the theories, Kragh provides the reader with indispensable background for understanding much of today's commentary about our universe.

Best prices to buy, sell, or rent ISBN 9780691005461




Frequently Asked Questions about Cosmology and Controversy

You can buy the Cosmology and Controversy book at one of 20+ online bookstores with BookScouter, the website that helps find the best deal across the web. Currently, the best offer comes from and is $ for the .

The price for the book starts from $7.55 on Amazon and is available from 27 sellers at the moment.

At BookScouter, the prices for the book start at $7.90. Feel free to explore the offers for the book in used or new condition from various booksellers, aggregated on our website.

If you’re interested in selling back the Cosmology and Controversy book, you can always look up BookScouter for the best deal. BookScouter checks 30+ buyback vendors with a single search and gives you actual information on buyback pricing instantly.

As for the Cosmology and Controversy book, the best buyback offer comes from and is $ for the book in good condition.

The Cosmology and Controversy book is in very low demand now as the rank for the book is 2,922,205 at the moment. A rank of 1,000,000 means the last copy sold approximately a month ago.

The highest price to sell back the Cosmology and Controversy book within the last three months was on December 28 and it was $1.97.