Cosmology : The Science of the Universe

This is a substantial book with 26 chapters thus giving a comprehensive introduction to the science of cosmology. However the reader needn't be intimidated, as each of the chapters can be read on its own if desired, and the book mostly uses only simple mathematics. There is plenty of historical material and philosophical discussion - readers with questions like 'does the universe have a centre or an edge' will find help in this book. Each chapter ends with sections entitled 'Reflections', 'Projects', 'Further reading' and 'Sources', and so the reader is certainly encouraged to think about and helped to delve deeper into the subject.

The fact that the chapters are largely independent shouldn't lead the reader into the trap of not looking at the book as a whole. It is an important contribution to the philosophy of cosmology, as it pulls together ideas from plenty of sources.

The book does adopt what I call the Stretchy Space view, which I'm not keen on. Also the chapter on horizons seemed a bit muddled, but this might just be that one diagram (21.7) was wrongly placed. The important thing is that there is a wide ranging discussion of topics, which enables the reader to recognise controversial areas.