The Early Universe Reprints: Frontier In Physics Series, Volume #70

by Edward W. Kolb, Michael S. Turner

The Early Universe has become the standard reference on forefront topics in cosmology, particularly to the early history of the Universe. Subjects covered include primordial nubleosynthesis, baryogenesis, phases transitions, inflation, dark matter, and galaxy formation, relics such as axions, neutrinos and monopoles, and speculations about the Universe at the Planck time. The book includes more than ninety figures as well as a five-page update discussing recent developments such as the COBE results.

Genres: Science, Physics, Textbooks, Reference, Astronomy

735 pages, Hardcover

First published January 21, 1988

About the author

AKA Rocky Kolb, and publishes under both names

Reviews

[Brian Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my go-to cosmology text when learning the subject in grad school at the start of the 2000s. It was a bit out-of-date even then, being written in the early 90's; it is therefore lacking in results from all of the recent precision observations of the cosmic microwave background and large scale structure, and the associated theoretical frameworks. That said, for the canonical and timeless material including the Robertson-Walker spacetime, thermodynamics, big bang nucleosynthesis, and the basic concepts of structure formation, it is one of the more complete and well-written references out there. The chapter on inflation is also well done, though I think more modern treatments might be more appropriate for someone setting out to learn it. It's a real testament to the quality and rigor of the writing that this text remains a strong contender amidst a congested field of newer books, almost three decades after its release.

In addition to writing an excellent textbook, I've heard second-hand that Kolb and Turner make a pretty mean croquet team.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly accessible and excellent overview even though slightly dated now. A bit tough for bedtime reading but I'm working on it! Had the privilege of working down the hall (running the library) from these guys.

[Nick Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

really good (if introductory) coverage of modern cosmology from the perspective of 1994. Despite the publisher/series (I'll have to look into more of these Frontiers of Physics selections), don't mistake it for a Springer/Elsevier-style herd of eastern europeans directed to collect the most incomprehensible papers on a subject and sell the cardboard-bound result for $95 a pop; the volume was freshly written, and with a punchy, flowing verve at that (what is it about cosmologists and being able to write? sean carroll's Spacetime and Geometry is an eighth wonder of the world. max tegmark is quite literate, not to mention penrose and Wald (the latter of General Relativity). hell, even MTW (the disarmingly forthrightly intimidating Gravitation) has some readable material (check out chapters 33 and 34!)). anyway, gotta love any book that throws in a "god forbid, this might even be evidence for the anthropic principle". the math isn't sneaky or even very difficult; it's a graduate physics text, so if you have any business reading it, you're aware of what's necessary: power series, fourier transforms, hamiltonians, you know the drill. very little PDEs in this book actually but a lot of nasty trig to integrate. you ought also be able to read a Feynman diagram and fill in an SU(3) octet/decuplet -- you could get through without, but you'd benefit more from an undergrad text. lucid, in-depth presentation of baryogenesis, old-skool and new-skool inflation, and cosmic nucleosynthesis contrasts with muddled explanation of structure at large scales, though this is likely due to the 1994 publication date. i appreciated the emphasis on entropy arguments and the paradoxes from which they flowed.

but there's a reason it cost less than $5; cosmology before 1994 was before smoot et al had analyzed the Cosmic Background Explorer's data regarding the CMBR, the dipole/quadripole search etc, and thus a good chunk of the book is suffixed with "once we know more about that damn CMBR isotropy or an-thereof".

the second volume is indeed a dredge of the literature; everything there can be easily found, so no need to purchase it.

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

El clásico de la cosmología, con la desventaja de que es una rama jóven de la física y que ha avanzado muy rápido en las últimas décadas. Está *muy* desactualizado en algunos temas que a día de hoy requerirían mucho más contexto para ser tratados con rigurosidad, así que reservaría la lectura solo para contextualizar las primeras fases de determinadas teorías que hoy en día están mucho más avanzadas de lo que aquí se explica, como son el axión o el inflatón.

Los capítulos dedicados a la historia térmica del universo son muy buenos. La tónica habitual de los libros más modernos es que den por sentado muchos conceptos que se llevan arrastrando desde el comienzo de las teorías, y la contraparte son libros como este (ya más viejos) que dan todos los detalles acerca de lo que tratan de explicar. Por eso, a día de hoy lo considero un libro introductorio que, leyéndolo con un poco de cuidado y desconfiando de lo que dice a veces, puede ser muy bueno.

[Manny]

Can't resist after seeing multiple references to it in Panek's The 4% Universe. Ordered.

[Ludwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll come back to this book later