Cosmology

by Steven Weinberg

This book is unique in the detailed, self-contained, and comprehensive treatment that it gives to the ideas and formulas that are used and tested in modern cosmological research. It divides into two parts, each of which provides enough material for a one-semester graduate course. The first part deals chiefly with the isotropic and homogeneous average universe; the second part concentrates on the departures from the average universe. Throughout the book the author presents detailed analytic calculations of cosmological phenomena, rather than just report results obtained elsewhere by numerical computation. The book is up to date, and gives detailed accounts of topics such as recombination, microwave background polarization, leptogenesis, gravitational lensing, structure formation, and multifield inflation, that are usually treated superficially if at all in treatises on cosmology. Copious references to current research literature are supplied. Appendices include a brief
introduction to general relativity, and a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation for photons and neutrinos used in calculations of cosmological evolution. Also provided is an assortment of problems.

Genres: Physics, Science, Textbooks, Astronomy, Mathematics, Reference, Nonfiction

624 pages, Hardcover

First published February 21, 2008

About the author

Steven Weinberg (1933-2021) was an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.

He held the Josey Regental Chair in Science at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Physics and Astronomy Departments. His research on elementary particles and physical cosmology was honored with numerous prizes and awards, including in 1979 the Nobel Prize in Physics and in 1991 the National Medal of Science. In 2004 he received the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society, with a citation that said he was "considered by many to be the preeminent theoretical physicist alive in the world today." He was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences and Britain's Royal Society, as well as to the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Weinberg's articles on various subjects occasionally appeared in The New York Review of Books and other periodicals. He served as consultant at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, President of the Philosophical Society of Texas, and member of the Board of Editors of Daedalus magazine, the Council of Scholars of the Library of Congress, the JASON group of defense consultants, and many other boards and committees.

Reviews

[Nick Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical Weinberg firehose of excruciating calculation, but a very complete and unified presentation of a tremendous amount of material. I am not a physicist, and do not pretend to have followed much; I had to skip several entire chapters, something which doesn't typically happen (I've studied plenty of math and physics, including astrophysics, and the undergraduate level). Everywhere, though, there's copious references to exquisitely-selected and up-to-date literature (usually several per page), the writing is clear, and the printing is marvelous. Material that I was competent to review, such as that on baryogenesis and stellar nucleosynthesis, was presented with a fresh perspective and utter command of detail, both experimental and theoretical.

[Covey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a magisterial overview of the Universe at the largest possible scales of space and time. But don't try reading it before you take a few years of upper-division math and physics.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook. Hope you know allot of math and have already studied this stuff for years before cracking this one.

[Nazir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This textbook definitely earns its spot amongst one of the leading authoritative pieces on cosmology. Weinberg is known for his meticulous treatment of modern physics (his Quantum Fields series and Gravitation & Cosmology are both clear testaments of this). This trait carries over to his more modern cosmology book. Despite not containing some of the most recent measurements and notations, this textbook serves as an excellent reference for those working on a problem in the field. It could also be used as a self-study book (albeit a quite rigorous one). The chapters on ‘Evolution of cosmological fluctuations’ and ‘Inflation as the origin of cosmological fluctuations’ were amongst my favorite read thus far on the subject. Again, the text can be quite dense. Especially if your exposure to general relativity is limited. So it would be highly recommended to accompany this with other texts such as Daniel Baumann’s book (or lecture notes) or Dragan Huterer’s book. All the best to anyone else giving this book a shot!

[Jorge-IngFis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es el único libro de Weinberg que puede entender una persona con una inteligencia normal ( es solo mi opinión), se molesta en explicar las cosas en un nivel de detalle suficientemente aceptable como para que puedas seguir los cálculos. De los libros de cosmología que conozco es de los que están más al día y lo considero un buen punto de partida para estudiar con un poco de seriedad esta parte de la física.

[Richard Kleeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic in the field. Coverage is comprehensive. My only objection is that the author relies too much on algebraic manipulation without clearly motivating where derivations are going. Common fault in the theoretical physics literature unfortunately

[Vijay Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a masterpiece :-) and Steve Weinberg is best at this👌👌