Joseph Silk is Savilian Professor of Astronomy and Head of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. He is an experienced and successful author of books on cosmology for the general reader: his published titles include The Big Bang (W. H. Freeman) and The Left Hand of Creation (with J. D. Barrow, published by Oxford University Press).

This book packs so much into a decidedly finite space. Silk covers everything you might hope to find in a book by one of the world's leading cosmologists, and much more besides... Accessible and informative.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. Perspectives ; 3. Principles ; 4. Our neighbourhood ; 5. The universe of galaxies ; 6. The invisible cosmos ; 7. Supermassive black holes and the birth of galaxies ; 8. Clusters and clustering ; 9. Space is nearly flat ; 10. Dark energy and the runaway universe ; 11. The panacea of cold dark matter ; 12. From time to time machines ; 13. Origins ; 14. The seeds of structure ; 15. Beyond the beginning ; 16. Towards the infinite universe ; 17. Into the infinite future ; 18. And so to God ; 19. Conclusion ; 20. Glossary ; 21. Index

Joseph Silk is Savilian Professor of Astronomy and Head of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. He is an experienced and successful author of books on cosmology for the general reader: his published titles include The Big Bang (W. H. Freeman) and The Left Hand of Creation (with J. D. Barrow, published by Oxford University Press).

This book packs so much into a decidedly finite space. Silk covers everything you might hope to find in a book by one of the world's leading cosmologists, and much more besides... Accessible and informative.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. Perspectives ; 3. Principles ; 4. Our neighbourhood ; 5. The universe of galaxies ; 6. The invisible cosmos ; 7. Supermassive black holes and the birth of galaxies ; 8. Clusters and clustering ; 9. Space is nearly flat ; 10. Dark energy and the runaway universe ; 11. The panacea of cold dark matter ; 12. From time to time machines ; 13. Origins ; 14. The seeds of structure ; 15. Beyond the beginning ; 16. Towards the infinite universe ; 17. Into the infinite future ; 18. And so to God ; 19. Conclusion ; 20. Glossary ; 21. Index

Joseph Silk is Savilian Professor of Astronomy and Head of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. He is an experienced and successful author of books on cosmology for the general reader: his published titles include The Big Bang (W. H. Freeman) and The Left Hand of Creation (with J. D. Barrow, published by Oxford University Press).

This book packs so much into a decidedly finite space. Silk covers everything you might hope to find in a book by one of the world's leading cosmologists, and much more besides... Accessible and informative.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. Perspectives ; 3. Principles ; 4. Our neighbourhood ; 5. The universe of galaxies ; 6. The invisible cosmos ; 7. Supermassive black holes and the birth of galaxies ; 8. Clusters and clustering ; 9. Space is nearly flat ; 10. Dark energy and the runaway universe ; 11. The panacea of cold dark matter ; 12. From time to time machines ; 13. Origins ; 14. The seeds of structure ; 15. Beyond the beginning ; 16. Towards the infinite universe ; 17. Into the infinite future ; 18. And so to God ; 19. Conclusion ; 20. Glossary ; 21. Index