Cosmology for the Curious. A Complete Course on the Science of Space

As the current hypothesis states, the universe originated as a result of the Big Bang. For almost a century, scientists have been trying to describe exactly how it expanded and cooled, and how galaxies were formed under the influence of... gravity. The nature of the Big Bang has only recently come into focus: an inflationary model of the universe was proposed for its interpretation, which formed a completely new view of cosmic space.
The university lectures contained within this cover were delivered by Alexander Vilenkin at Tufts University. They present all the main concepts of cosmological science, articulated in the language of physics and mathematics. The reader will learn not only what scientists know but also what led them to these ideas. One of the recurring themes of the book is the attempt to answer the main cosmic questions: is the universe finite or infinite? Has it always existed? If not, how did it come into being? Will it one day come to an end?