The Cosmic Microwave Background

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. At the Centre of Creation?

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 1-32

3. A Universe of Galaxies

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 33-54

4. The Cosmic Microwave Background

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 55-89

5. The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 91-116

6. To the Ends of the Earth

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 117-142

7. The Evidence Comes Together

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 143-167

8. Up to the Present, and Beyond

   • Rhodri Evans

   Pages 169-199

9. Back Matter

   Pages 201-204

   PDF

Rhodri Evans tells the story of what we know about the universe, from Jacobus Kapteyn’s Island universe at the turn of the 20th Century, and the discovery by Hubble that the nebulae were external to our own galaxy, through Gamow’s early work on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and its subsequent discovery by Penzias and Wilson, to modern day satellite-lead CMB research. Research results from the ground-based experiments DASI, BOOMERANG, and satellite missions COBE, WMAP and Planck are explained and interpreted to show how our current picture of the universe was arrived at, and the author looks at the future of CMB research and what we still need to learn.
This account is enlivened by Dr Rhodri Evans' personal connections to the characters and places in the story.

• CMB
• Cobe Mission
• Cosmic Microwave Background Explained
• Cosmology for the General Reader
• Cosmology from the CMB
• Dasi Mission
• Gamow Cosmology
• History of Astrophysical Cosmology
• Penzias Radiation

“It provides a good overview of the CMB to those with a basic knowledge of physics and astronomy. … The text itself is pleasant to read and the book is about the right length for the discussion of this topic at this level. … The text contains numbered references which are listed at the end of each chapter in order of first appearance. … I recommend the book … .” (Phillip Helbig, The Observatory, Vol. 135 (1247), August, 2015)

“The Cosmic Microwave Background … is replete with anecdotes and entertaining histories that, by themselves, make this a worthwhile addition to a cosmology collection. … brings readers up-to-date on the controversy surrounding the polarization of the cosmic microwave background that proves, or does not, gravitational waves from the universe’s birth. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower- and upper-division undergraduates.” (J. F. Burkhart, Choice, Vol. 52 (11), July, 2015)

“This is the best book I have ever read about the history of the investigation of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the ‘echo of the Big Bang’, and what it means for our understanding of the Universe.” (John Gribbin, goodreads.com, April, 2015)

• School of Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

  Rhodri Evans

Rhodri Evans is an experienced and enthusiastic science communicator. He appears regularly on the BBC talking about Astronomy and Physics and has also been on US radio and TV. He is a research fellow at Cardiff University and lectures on Physics and Astrophysics. And he is the only UK based astronomer involved in SOFIA - the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy.

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