Thread: book explaining principles of cosmology

Hi

I have interest in science and space especially, but i didn't at school and didn't pay any attention in science class so ive got very little knowledge of the subject.

I know some of the basic theories of cosmology but have no grounding in them - would anyone be so kind as to recommend me a book which will explain the basic principles behind the subject - Preferably one that wont just reel off facts as i already have a fair few of these but no substance behind them. I am willing to try to digest some equations if required

Thanks for reading

How is your mathematical prowess?

If you can do calculus like it is "second nature" and are willing to spend time learning anything you might need above and beyond that, then a book that is not that long and also introduces general relativity in the context of cosmology is a book by J.N. Islam called "An Introduction to Mathematical Cosmology."

Cheers,
william

Oh...
and if that is a bit too mathematical, then a book by Andrew Liddle called "An Introduction to Modern Cosmology" might be better, although... you'll need some math for that one too.

Cheers

Thanks for replying

My maths is quite minimal really, havn't looked at it since i left school, but I have quite a good brain, think logically and am keen to learn. Having said that i got a book on tensor calculus a while back and it was all greek to me. I will google the book you recommend and try to get a copy.

Any website recommendations?

My maths is quite minimal really....

You might not get very much from the books I suggested.

I'm not too keen on any websites - I have never looked for any. But somebody here should be able to help you. And off the top of my head, I can't think of any pop-sci book that specifically covers cosmology....

Cheers,
wm

I've read "In quest of the universe", by Karl Kuhn. It explain's how we got to the level of knowledge we now have about astrophysics, and pays a lot of attention to how we could find out distances to stars, masses of bodies, temperatures etc. The book offers some math behind it as well, but they are small textboxes you can skip.
But I'm not sure whether this is exactly what you're looking for. It's mainly about astrophysics, with only one chapter about cosmology. But I learned a lot from it.

Originally Posted by hiptobesquare

Hi

I have interest in science and space especially, but i didn't at school and didn't pay any attention in science class so ive got very little knowledge of the subject.

I know some of the basic theories of cosmology but have no grounding in them - would anyone be so kind as to recommend me a book which will explain the basic principles behind the subject - Preferably one that wont just reel off facts as i already have a fair few of these but no substance behind them. I am willing to try to digest some equations if required

Thanks for reading

A book I would recommend is COSMOLOGY, The Science of The Universe by Edward R Harrison.
It was printed in 1981 and 1985, so it could be out of print.
But most libraries should have one. It would be a good starter.

NS

Thanks for all the tips. I started again on a brief history of time - tried it before a few years ago but got to a point where i was too confused to carry on. Once ive done that il look into the books mentioned.