This is the second edition of my book Galaxy Formation. Many people liked the rst edition which appeared in 1998, just before the explosion of magni cent new data which have completely changed the face of astrophysical cosmology. Many of the agonies which had to be gone through in the rst edition have disappeared and, to many people's amazement, including mine, there is now a concordance model for cosmology, the cosmologist's equivalent of the particle physicist's standard model. Just like the standard model, however, the concordance model creates as many problems as it solves. This is not a cause for concern, but rather one for celebration because we are now able to ask much better and deeper questions than in the past. These questions indicate clearly the need for physics and astrophysics 'Beyond the Concordance Model'. Theobjectofthisneweditionistobringthisamazingstoryup-to-date,verymuch inthespiritofthe rstedition.Torecapitulatesomeofthepointsmadeintheprevious prefaceabouttheoriginofthebook,IwasaskedbySpringer-Verlagtoexpandtheset of lecture notes that I prepared in 1988 for the First Astrophysics School organised by the European Astrophysics Doctoral Network into a full-length book. The set of notes was entitled Galaxy Formation and was published as a chapter of the volume Evolution of Galaxies: Astronomical Observations (eds. I. Appenzeller, H.J. Habing andP.Lena,pages1to93,Springer-VerlagBerlin,Heidelberg,1989).Inthatchapter, Iattemptedtobridgethegapbetweenelementarycosmologyandthetechnicalpapers appearing in the literature which can seem quite daunting on rst encounter. The objective was to present the physical ideas and key results as clearly as possible as an introduction and guide to the technical literature.
Reviews / Votes
From the reviews of the first edition:
"This book is yet another example of the author's outstanding expository skills and deserves to be hailed as a brilliant and up-to-date account of current understanding in the field of cosmology and galaxy formation."
The Observatory, 1999
".Despite its title, the book actually covers pretty much all of extragalactic astronomy and cosmology.offers one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the topic, in particular where observational data are concerned..Longair never fails to place the results within the big picture.Besides completeness, it is also the most up-to-date textbook. Even very recent developments are included....I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I am sure I will make use of it the next time I teach a cosmology graduate course, as both a textbook for the students and a guide in preparing my lectures."
Physics Today, September 1999
From the reviews of the second edition:
"This second edition of Longair's 1998 book is extensively revised and updated. It is a superb and extensive overview of the physics and evolution of the universe . . Longair . succeeds in his goal of writing at an appropriate level for upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students. He makes difficult material understandable by using clever analogies . . The book is valuable both for academic coursework and as a reference source. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections." (T. Barker, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (10), June, 2008)
Series
Edition
Softcover reprint of the original 2nd ed. 2008
Language
Place of publication
Publishing group
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
ISBN-13
978-3-662-49579-7 (9783662495797)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-540-73478-9
Schweitzer Classification
Malcolm Longair, CBE, FRS, FRSE is Jacksonian Professor Emeritus of Natural Philosophy and Director of Development, Cavendish Laboratory. He has held many highly respected positions within the fields of physics and astronomy. He was appointed the ninth Astronomer Royal of Scotland in 1980, as well as the Regius Professor of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, and the Director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. He was head of the Cavendish Laboratory, the Physics Department of Cambridge University, from 1997 to 2005. He has served on and chaired many international committees, boards and panels, working with both NASA, the European Space Agency and the ERC. He has received much recognition for his work over the years. His main research interests are in high energy astrophysics, astrophysical cosmology and the history of physics and astrophysics. He has chaired numerous committees for specific science projects, including the Planck and Euclid missions of ESA. His major books, in addition to the present volume, include Theoretical Concepts in Physics (3rd edition 2020), High Energy Astrophysics (3rd edition 2011), Quantum Concepts in Physics (2013), the Cosmic Century: A History of Astrophysics and Cosmology (2008) and Maxwell's Enduring Legacy: A Scientific History of the Cavendish Laboratory (2016).
Preliminaries.- A Brief History of Cosmology and Galaxy Formation.- The Large-Scale Structure of the Universe.- Galaxies.- Clusters of Galaxies.- The Basic Framework.- The Theoretical Framework.- An Introduction to Relativistic Gravity.- The Friedman World Models.- The Robertson-Walker Metric for an Empty Universe.- The Determination of Cosmological Parameters.- The Thermal History of the Universe.- Nucleosynthesis in the Early Universe.- The Development of Primordial Fluctuations Under Gravity.- The Evolution of Perturbations in the Standard Big Bang.- More Tools and Problems.- Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation.- Correlation Functions and the Spectrum of the Initial Fluctuations.- Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.- The Post-Recombination Universe.- The Post-Recombination Era.- The Evolution of Galaxies and Active Galaxies with Cosmic Epoch.- The Intergalactic Medium.- Making Real Galaxies.- The Very Early Universe.
