The Cosmic Microwave Background: How It Changed Our Understanding of the Universe (Astronomers' Universe)

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. From Kapteyn To Hubble -- George Gamow, Ralph Alpher And Robert Herman -- Penzias And Wilson And Dicke Et Al -- Cobe -- Dasi And Boomerang And Other Ground-based Experiments -- Wmap -- Planck -- The Future. By Rhodri Evans. "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." -- Publisher's description. Front Matter....Pages i-x At the Centre of Creation?....Pages 1-32 A Universe of Galaxies....Pages 33-54 The Cosmic Microwave Background....Pages 55-89 The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)....Pages 91-116 To the Ends of the Earth....Pages 117-142 The Evidence Comes Together....Pages 143-167 Up to the Present, and Beyond....Pages 169-199 Back Matter....Pages 201-204