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J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 109, 6, 1999, p.348
John Wiley & Sons, 1999. ISBN 0-471-98757-3 (hbk), 0-471-98758-1 (pbk). Pp xiii + 129, £14.99 (pbk).
reviewed by Arunas Kucinskas
Suppose you are on a quest to understand what modern cosmology is all about. Though there are plenty of books on the subject, the problem is to find the right one which would give you the guidance you need. If you are looking for one at an introductory level, Andrew Liddle's book will give you a good introduction to this interesting and fast evolving subject of modern astrophysics.
The book is based on a 16-hour course which the author (who is an expert in the field of cosmology of the early universe) has taught during the final year of the bachelor's degree at the University of Sussex. The material is structured into fifteen concise chapters (spanning less than 10 pages each on average), which makes them easily digestible for the reader. After giving a brief outline of the history of cosmological ideas and a short overview of the observational properties of the Universe, the author gradually introduces the basic ingredients of modern cosmology. The major topics include the Big Bang scenario, possible geometries of the Universe, observational cosmological parameters, early nucleosynthesis, the inflationary Universe, initial singularity, and formation of structures in the Universe. Each chapter is followed by a set of problems and a list of literature is given at the end of the book.
The presentation of the material is concise and clear. The discussion is based on Newtonian physics, avoiding the use of general relativity whenever possible. The language is lucid and simple making the book accessible for everyone with a background in physics. In some places however, the depth at which different topics are discussed is a bit uneven. Sometimes the author attempts to explain rather elementary things although some of the more important terms (like parallax, for instance) lack a detailed explanation. However, this minor drawback does not detract from the overall good quality of the book.
Many books get some Web support nowadays, and this is no exception (the interested reader may check it at: http://icstar5.ph.ic.ac.uk/~andrewl/cosbook.html). There are some details about the book itself, and a list of known errors. There is a link to current developments in modern cosmology, although when I checked the site there was no information accessible through it.
The verdict? I think that the author has done his job rather well and the final result is a concise, clear and attractive introductory account of modern cosmology. Here you will find not only information about the things you wanted to know, but you will surely pick out many new questions.
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