Introduction to Cosmology (1/5)

<!--HTML-->Lecture 1: Seeing the edge of the universe: from speculation to science Lecture 2: Constructing the Universe: relativistic world models Lecture 3: The history of the Universe: decoupling of the relic radiation and synthesis of the light elements Lecture 4: The content of the Universe: baryons, dark matter and dark energy Lecture 5: Making sense of the Universe: fundamental physics and cosmology Prerequisite knowledge: A good background in basic undergraduate physics would be adequate. Some excellent popular-level books are: 1) The First Three Minutes (2nd ed 1981) - Steven Weinberg 2) Darkness at Night: A Riddle of the Universe (1987) – Edward Harrison 3) Poetry of the Universe: A Mathematical Exloration of the Cosmos (1995) - Robert Osserman 4) The Little Book of the Big Bang: A Cosmic Primer (1998) – Craig Hogan 5) Quintessence: the Mystery of Missing Mass in the Universe (2000) – Lawrence Krauss Recommended undergraduate texts are: 1) Introduction to cosmology (1995) – Jeremy Bernstein 2) Introduction to cosmology (2nd ed 1997) - Matts Roos 3) An Introduction to Modern Cosmology (2nd ed 2003) - Andrew Liddle 4) Introduction to Cosmology (2003) - Barbara Ryden See also Ned Wright's superb cosmology tutorial on the web: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm