Cosmology: The Science of the Universe

What a wonderful book. I'm amazed how much information this book contains, and at how eloquently the author paints visions for us with his words. It's worth taking a few pages at a time to truly absorb and reflect before pressing on. By the end, you will hopefully feel like I did--that Mr. Harrison has woven together the essence of all we know with the unknown of consciousness and the possibility of an unknown power. Mr. Harrison is never arrogant, and for someone with his incredible expanse of knowledge, that's saying something.Mr. Harrison has become my favorite author. I wish I would have started reading him before he passed away. If you haven't read 'Masks of the Universe', I highly recommend it also. This book illuminates the realization that if form holds, the ideas we now hold will be greatly modified or expunged by future generations. When we consider the particle/wave duality dependency on observation or the enigma of entanglement, can we truly be confident in our knowledge of the cosmos?

This book is one of the best, that I have. It contains the essence of modern cosmology, and not overloaded with different formulas or equations. At the end of each chapter there are quotations of some references, that makes your understanding of the subject enlightened by the thoughts of famous scientists and arts of great authors.The book is very beautiful and pleasure to read. This is one of those, that make me think deeper and more comprehensive, helping to understand the world, which we live in. I think, that there is a little bit more philosophy, than phisics, so if you are impressed with the lights of the dark night sky, and want to start discovering the unknown world of the Universe, even if you think, that you don't know enought phisics or math to understand the basics of cosmology, I definitely recommend you to start with this book.

Well, I'm just a layperson (i.e. not an expert or particularly learned in the arena of Cosmology), but I can say this book gives you details beyond the typical textbooks. There's a lot of surprising facts and history in here you just don't get in the typical texts or introductory cosmology course. Unfortunately, there isn't enough math, but there is a lot of interesting history in here. For example, it shares that Simon Stevinus actually performed an experiment similar to the likely allegorical story of Galileo dropping different masses and watching them fall at the same rate (I'd never even heard the name Stevinus before this book). There are many other examples of obscure scientists getting their dues in the book (names you probably never heard unless your a professor or something - even if you studied (minored in my case) physics as an undergrad you probably haven't heard these names - I sure hadn't). I was a bit concerned about the treatment of centrifugal acceleration (and yes, I know the difference between centripetal and centrifugal), however. This is a very confusing topic for most students, and this book doesn't explain it very well. Anyhow, it does discusses some of the philosophical worldviews that underpin our models of the universe which I found very interesting. Overall, it seems like a great book so far. I like it, so I think you ought to give it a chance. It isn't half bad and contains lots of obsure knowledge you probably won't find easily elsewhere.

This was a very good book to read on the subject that covered a wide range of topics on Cosmology, based on other comments it may not cover latest knowledge in the field; but as an interested reader I found it to be very informative. The book is a very good introduction to the subject. There are some mathematical concepts introduced and proper understanding may require one to have had college calculus and physics courses, but it is not necessary.

From "Cosmology: The Science of the Universe," second edition (2000), by Edward Robert Harrison:This is the last chapter of this book. Under the subheading "Where are they?," on page 547, Mr. Harrison writes:"They must demonstrate their fitness to mingle with alien creatures, and self-destruction is the perfect way of demonstrating unfitness."See also: "Galactic selection" on pages 546-547; "Not impossibly the survival of extraterrestrial technological civilizations (or ETC's) depends on a 'galactic selection' law, a law that states: 'Destructively aggressive intelligent forms of life cannot colonize the Galaxy.' Conceivably it operates in two modes: the first is automatic, and the second is judicial."I paid $40 for this book shipped, and these sentences alone is worth the price of admission.

Dr. Harrison produced one of the best book on this subject. I've been through quite a few and always fall back to Harrison.

Good

Classic text, highly recommended. A cosmology primer for the advanced beginner and someone who wants a thorough historical analysis and discourse.