1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910464869403321

Autore

Kragh Helge <1944->

Titolo

Conceptions of cosmos [[electronic resource] ] : from myths to the accelerating universe : a history of cosmology / / Helge S. Kragh

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford ; ; New York, : Oxford University Press, 2007

ISBN

0-19-966514-1

0-19-152616-9

1-4294-7052-6

1-280-75347-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (285 p.)

Disciplina

523.109

Soggetti

Cosmology - History

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [253]-265) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Introduction; 1 From myths to the Copernican universe; 1.1 Ancient cosmological thought; 1.2 The Greek cosmos; 1.3 Medieval cosmology; 1.4 The Copernican revolution; 2 The Newtonian era; 2.1 Newton's infinite universe; 2.2 Enlightenment cosmologies; 2.3 Astrophysics and the nebulae; 2.4 Thermodynamics and gravitation; 2.5 The Via Lacta; 3 Foundations of modern cosmology; 3.1 Early relativistic models; 3.2 The expanding universe; 3.3 Towards a finite-age universe; 3.4 Alternative cosmologies; 4 The hot Big Bang; 4.1 Cosmology-a branch of nuclear physics?

4.2 The steady-state challenge4.3 Relativistic standard cosmology; 5 New horizons; 5.1 Early-universe cosmology; 5.2 Observational surprises; 5.3 Anthropic and other speculations; 5.4 The problem of creation; 5.5 Cosmology in perspective; References; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; X; Y; Z

Sommario/riassunto

This book presents the history of how the universe at large became the object of scientific understanding. Starting with the ancient creation myths, it offers an integrated and comprehensive account of cosmology that covers all major events from Aristotle's Earth-centred cosmos to the recent discovery of the accelearting universe. - ;This book is a



historical account of how natural philosophers and scientists have endeavoured to understand the universe at large, first in a mythical and later in a scientific context. Starting with the creation stories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the book