Discordance
The Troubled History of the Hubble Constant
Published on 23. October 2025
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-19-286406-2 (ISBN)
Description
The troubled history of the Hubble constant told in an authoritative, comprehensible, and entertaining manner
In 1927 Georges Lemaitre argued that our universe is expanding, a conclusion rendered more startling by the astronomical data that backed it up, presented two years later by Edwin Hubble. The speed of this expansion is governed by Hubble's constant, and Discordance tells its troubled history.
This unpredictable and fascinating story begins with the first tentative steps to measure the distances to nearby stars and galaxies. It traces the extraordinary interplay between cosmological theory and astronomical observation which has given us the standard Big Bang theory. It was not all plain sailing, and the narrative takes us through the discovery of dark matter, the Hubble Wars of the 1970s, the invention of cosmic inflation, and other crucial scientific moments. Further satellite missions were expected to add to the clarity of our measurements. But from about 2009 onward, the results began to diverge. This is the Hubble tension and perhaps even a crisis.
Jim Baggott clearly and entertainingly guides the reader through this gripping scientific voyage--one littered with crises of confidence, astonishing discoveries, and extraordinary personalities--which still continues today.
In 1927 Georges Lemaitre argued that our universe is expanding, a conclusion rendered more startling by the astronomical data that backed it up, presented two years later by Edwin Hubble. The speed of this expansion is governed by Hubble's constant, and Discordance tells its troubled history.
This unpredictable and fascinating story begins with the first tentative steps to measure the distances to nearby stars and galaxies. It traces the extraordinary interplay between cosmological theory and astronomical observation which has given us the standard Big Bang theory. It was not all plain sailing, and the narrative takes us through the discovery of dark matter, the Hubble Wars of the 1970s, the invention of cosmic inflation, and other crucial scientific moments. Further satellite missions were expected to add to the clarity of our measurements. But from about 2009 onward, the results began to diverge. This is the Hubble tension and perhaps even a crisis.
Jim Baggott clearly and entertainingly guides the reader through this gripping scientific voyage--one littered with crises of confidence, astonishing discoveries, and extraordinary personalities--which still continues today.
Reviews / Votes
This is an exciting romp through the Universe in pursuit of its important and elusive measurement. Highly recommended. * Adam Riess, Nobel laureate 2011, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute * Navigates its way smoothly between the various rivalries ... providing a crystal-clear assessment of the challenges of the past and the future prospects for concordance of the Hubble parameter. * Joseph Silk, Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford, formerly Savilian Chair of Astronomy at the University of Oxford's Department of Physics * Accessible, highly detailed and demanding - and therefore highly rewarding - ... Baggott's well-researched work will be of as much interest to astronomers and physicists as it is to lay readers fascinated by the mysteries of the Universe. * Helge Kragh, Nature * Jim Baggott is one of the most reliable hands in the business when it comes to exploring complex physics and cosmology issues in an approachable but never over-simplified fashion. * Brian Clegg, Popular Science * Baggott takes us on an interesting, well informed and clearly explained journey around the important developments and discoveries, especially over the last century or so. * Simon Cocking, Irish Tech News * Baggott ... has written an eminently readable and well-researched book. * A. Spero, CHOICE *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Illustrations
44 figures and 20 photos
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 166 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
542 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-286406-2 (9780192864062)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jim Baggott is an award-winning science writer. Trained as a scientist in the Universities of Oxford and Stanford, and a former lecturer at the University of Reading, he has written popular books on science, philosophy, and history. His books include Higgs (2012), Mass (2017), for which he won the 2020 Premio Cosmos prize, Quantum Reality (2020), Quantum Space (2018), and, with the late John L. Heilbron, Quantum Drama (2024). His books have been translated into a dozen different languages, and he has won awards both for his scientific research and his science writing.
Content
Preface Prologue: Starry Messengers 1: Miss Leavitt's Law 2: The Scale of the Universe 3: Hubble's Constant 4: Divine Curves of Creation 5: Parameters of the Universe 6: Hubble Wars 7: The Inflationary Universe 8: Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe 9: Concordance 10: The Hubble Tension Epilogue: Discordance Appendix 1: Symbols and Acronyms Appendix 2: Cosmic Distances Appendix 3: Redshifts and 'Look-back' Times Acknowledgements Endnotes Bibliography