Introduction to Cosmology 2nd Edition by Barbara Ryden (PDF)

Description

This second edition of Introduction to Cosmology is an exciting update of an award-winning textbook. It is aimed primarily at advanced undergraduate students in physics and astronomy, but is also useful as a supplementary text at higher levels. It explains modern cosmological concepts, such as dark energy, in the context of the Big Bang theory. Its clear, lucid writing style, with a wealth of useful everyday analogies, makes it exceptionally engaging. Emphasis is placed on the links between theoretical concepts of cosmology and the observable properties of the universe, building deeper physical insights in the reader. The second edition includes recent observational results, fuller descriptions of special and general relativity, expanded discussions of dark energy, and a new chapter on baryonic matter that makes up stars and galaxies. It is an ideal textbook for the era of precision cosmology in the accelerating universe.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐In the Preface to this 2nd edition the reader is advised that this textbook was written assuming the reader has a good background in electrodynamics, statistical mechanics, classical dynamics, and quantum physics. Also assumed was a very good background in integral and differential calculus. I found this to be the case!Chapters included are:CH 1- Introduction of standard units in astronomy including Planck scale units of length, mass, time, energy, and temperature.CH 2- Fundamental Observations on which modern cosmology is based including ideas regarding the universe being isotropic and homogeneous, redshift, Hubble’s Law, scale factor and the Cosmic Microwave Background. I found this all nicely explained.CH 3- Both Newton’s and Einstein’s way of viewing the universe including the ideas about curvature, the Robertson-Walker Metric and how scale factors and redshift relate are covered. Once again I found all of this nicely explained.CH 4- Cosmic Dynamics including a very brief description of Einstein’s Field Equation is covered. Also included was a derivation of the famous Friedmann Equation along with equations for Critical Density, Density Parameter, Fluid and Acceleration Equations, Equations of State, and the Cosmological Constant. Again, I found all of this explained very nicely and could follow all the derivations.CH 5- A very important chapter on Model Universes with the Friedmann Equation applied to various types of universes: Empty Universes, Single Component Universes: Flat, Matter only, Radiation only, deSitter Universes (flat with cosmological constant-Lambda). The chapter then became more complex with Multiple-component Universes: Matter/Curvature, Matter/Lambda, Matter/Curvature/Lambda, Radiation/Matter, and our current model: Flat/Radiation/Matter/Lambda. I really enjoyed working thru all the derivations from one equation to another in this interesting chapter.CH 6- Measuring Cosmological Parameters dealt with scale factors, measuring distances using Luminosity and Angular-Diameter, and Standard Candles all in a very mathematical way. I loved the mathematical descriptions and derivations.CH 7- Dark Matter. A nice mathematical description showing evidence for dark matter in galaxies and galactic clusters and gravitational lensing.Ch 8- The Cosmic Microwave Background, its history, and explanation using the Hot Big Bang model. This chapter became quite complex in describing the possible epochs since the initial Big Bang that would explain what we now observe. This was the first chapter where I got lost in the highly detailed mathematics but could still follow the general idea of what was being described.CH 9- Nucleosynthesis in the Early Universe. This also was a very complex chapter with a fairly detailed analysis of the nuclear reactions thought to have taken place resulting in the element ratios we observe today. My difficulty understanding it was probably due to my limited background in nuclear physics.CH 10,11,12 dealing with Inflation, Gravitational Instability, and Baryonic Matter’s role in Structural Formation were highly mathematical and a bit beyond my reach. I probably would have done much better if these chapters were presented by a teacher in a live classroom rather than being tackled as a self-study by myself.Each chapter is also followed by a set of very challenging problems. I was able to solve many of them in the first half of the book but had greater difficulty in the later chapters.In short, the book lives up to its claim as geared toward the upper level student with a rigorous background in mathematics and physics.

⭐I’ll briefly review two separate components, the shipping, and the material itself.Shipping: The book came extremely quickly, but have some minor damage on the front edges of the book and some minor cracking damage on the spine. Keep in mind this is the same kind of damage I would expect my own book to take after the first two weeks of use if actively carrying it to campus for studying. I’ll only drop one star for it because by the third time I opened the book I no longer noticed it until I wrote this review.Material: The author is clear, easy to understand, and develops the readers intuition rather than emphasizing mathematical perfection while still delivering a sizable mathematical footprint . As an introductory course text aimed at the advanced undergraduate I’d have to say even at graduate level I still find this book provides a challenge. It is not the easiest book and it is not the most challenging. If you need background on concepts like luminosity or flux density then you should look at a book such as the Cosmic Perspective which is a true introduction to astronomy. If you want something more challenging, or find yourself capable of very high level reasoning then Dr. Weinberg’s text book on cosmology and gravitation would be more suitable.

⭐Low ratings for this book are by those who don’t have the math skills. The skills are quite low, however. You just have to like going through lots of simple algebra arguments. It’s really logic + empirical evidence.Much of physics is simple equations that no one knows how to solve. Cosmology is simple equations (one you get beyond the difficulties of general relativity theory, which Ryden just finesses) plus lots of very difficult empirical analysis.I liked this text a lot, although the derivation of the basic equations was hand-waving to the point of being incorrect. I would have preferred just stating the equations (Friedmann model, Robertson-Walker metric).

⭐This book is very well written and understandable. It does require a solid knowledge of calculus. If you have calculus under your belt, the math is really quite simple. There are many mathematical derivations used in developing a deeper understanding of the subject. Also, many intermediate steps in the derivations are given making it much easier to follow. The prose is very well written and enjoyable. I really enjoyed this book and have read it several times.

⭐My name is David Butler. I create educational YouTube videos for teachers and students in the areas of Physics and Astronomy. My most recent video book is “How old is it” (howfarawayisit.com) with early chapters on the Big Bang ΛCDM Cosmology with Inflation. This book was so well put together, that I used it extensively throughout the videos to illustrate and explain the most complex ideas such as the anisotropy of the CMB, Dark Energy, Nucleosynthesis and Inflation just to name a few. Barbara Ryden puts it all together in a very logical order that is easy to follow. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a basic calculus background who is interested in understanding our current Big Bang benchmark model.

⭐Good book on introductory Cosmology. The book explains ideas pretty well, but there were a few ideas that were explained better elsewhere. If you use this book, I recommend also watching Leonard Susskind’s lectures at Stanford on Youtube to get a better grasp of the material; the videos align well with the chapters in the book.

⭐I am a cosmo curious professional. I have read many works from Brian Green, Stephen Hawking, Neil Dedrasse Tyson, Carlo Rovelli, Feynman, and the like. I have enjoyed them. This book is not for those without a much more advanced understanding of mathematics than me. Rather than explaining concepts, it provides formulas. It is probably a very good book for those with the math skills to grasp the concepts. For me, more words, fewer formulae . . .

⭐I’m about 1/3rd of the way through and am finding this a very enjoyable introduction to a subject I have not studied before and which I wanted to learn about purely out of curiosity now I have more time on my hands. Not hard going IMO, partly because a lot of results are quoted ratter than derived, but I have a PhD in applied maths, from 30+ years ago, so I suppose you have to say I am not in the target demographic. I liked the chatty style, but I can see it might annoy some more serious folks. Recommended.I would buy it again, if you know what I mean!

⭐A very good text for introductory cosmological physics. Very easy to follow, well organised chapters, unfortunately no solutions to exercises. In my opinion better than the 1st edition (which you can check online before buying the product).It would be a good combination with Liddle’s “A modern introduction to Cosmology” for beginners in the area.

⭐This book is very well written and easy to follow.suitable for University level.

⭐Excellent clear writing -not everything is explicitly explained en route to the logical destination but that helps the flow The reader can explore derivations elsewhere.

⭐My dad enjoyed it cheers lads

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