This new textbook provides a readable and accessible introduction to the subject for those students taking a first course in cosmology. An Introduction to Modern Cosmology introduces models of the expanding universe and explores all the successes of the hot big bang, including the cosmic microwave background and nucleosynthesis. A brief discussion of the inflationary cosmology is also included. No prior knowledge of astronomy is assumed and the book's general approach tends to avoid relativity, deriving the crucial results using newtonian theory. This allows a discussion of all the evidence in favour of the hot big bang in a treatment which is based in physics rather than mathematics. (view table of contents)

Enormous progress has been made in inflationary cosmology in the past few years and this book is the first to provide a modern and unified overview of the subject. Coverage examines every aspect of inflationary cosmology and carefully compares predictions with the latest observations, including those of the cosmic microwave background, the clustering and velocities of galaxies and the epoch of structure formation. Problems are included throughout to help the student develop a thorough understanding. An ideal introduction to what promises to be one of the most fruitful topics of research in science in the next decade, this volume will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, theoretical physics and applied mathematics. (view table of contents)