Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Oct 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008cqgra..25t9001.&link_type=abstract
Classical and Quantum Gravity, Volume 25, Issue 20, pp. 209001 (2008).
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Cosmology has a special status as a science, as it strives to combine the quantitative statistical rigour of observational astronomy with a theoretical framework emerging from rather speculative ideas about fundamental physics. It also has wider repercussions too, as the quest for an understanding of the origin of the Universe sometimes strays into territory traditionally associated with religious modes of enquiry.
The Oxford Companion to Cosmology aims to provide a 'comprehensive but accessible overview' of this 'enduringly popular subject' suitable for students, teachers and others with a serious interest in cosmology. It consists of an introductory overview about the big bang cosmological model, followed by an encyclopedia-like section containing over 300 entries of varying length and technical level. One of the authors (Liddle) is a theorist and the other (Loveday) an observer, so between them they have sufficient authority to cover all aspects of the vigorous interplay between these two facets of the discipline.
This is not the sort of volume that can easily be read from cover to cover. The best way to test its effectiveness is to dip into it randomly. In my sampling of the entries I found most to be well-written and informative. The first entry I looked at ('correlation function') had an incorrect formula in it, but I didn't find any further significant errors, which says something about the limitations of statistical inference!
The only criticisms I have are very minor. Some of the figures are so small as to be virtually invisible to an oldie like me. I also think the book would have benefitted from more references, and am not sure the web links given in their place will prove very useful as these tend to be rather ephemeral. Overall, though, I would say that the book succeeds admirably in its aims.
About ten years ago, I was involved in compiling a similar volume, which ended up as The Routledge Companion to the New Cosmology. I will refrain from trying to compare the two books as I am clearly biased, but looking at mine again in the course of writing this review it struck me how much the landscape of cosmology has changed in the relatively short time that has elapsed between their publication dates. The past decade has seen the discovery of cosmic acceleration, detailed all-sky maps of the microwave background, the completion of huge galaxy surveys, and the synthesis of these observations into a standard 'concordance' cosmological model. If someone has the time and energy to undertake a project like this in ten years' time, I wonder if the current consensus will have survived.
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