Intelligible Universe: An Overview of the Last Thirteen Billion Years (2nd Edition) Book

Prologue to 2nd Enlarged Edition xiii Acknowledgements and Credits xv The Intelligible Universe (Shanghai/Madrid 1993) 1
1 Man and His Universe 3
1.1 Einstein's Eternal Mystery 3
1.2 From Antiquity to the XVI Century 4
1.3 From Galileo and Newton to Kirchhoff 15
1.4 The XX Century 21 Bibliography 28
2 The Importance of Precision 30
2.1 The Last Word in Physics 30
2.2 Precise Astronomical Observations 32
2.3 The New Generation of Telescopes 42 Bibliography 49
3 Masses, Distances and Times in the Universe 50
3.1 Masses 50
3.2 Distances 57
3.3 Times 64 Bibliography 70
4 Relativistic Cosmology 72
4.1 Relativity, Special and General 72
4.2 The Cosmological Dynamic Equations 74
4.3 The Matter Dominated and the Radiation Dominated Eras 83
4.4 The Cosmic Baryon to Photon Ratio 87 Bibliography 89
5 The Fundamental Physical Forces in the Universe 91
5.1 Gravitational, Electromagnetic and Nuclear Forces 91
5.2 Conservation Laws 98
5.3 Elementary Particles 100
5.4 Universal Constants 104
5.5 Understanding the Universe, and Open-Ended Process 108 Bibliography 109
6 Cosmology and Transcendence 111
6.1 Towards the Confines of the Universe 111
6.2 Observable Data and Big Bang Model 115
6.2.1 Approximately isotropic distribution of galaxies in space 115
6.2.2 Universal recession of the galaxies 116
6.2.3 Relative abundance of [superscript 4]He and other primordial light elements 117
6.2.4 Cosmic background radiation 119
6.3 Implications of Contemporary Cosmology 121
6.4 The Physical Universe and Its Creator 124
6.5 God and the Scientists 126 Bibliography 128 The Cosmic Background Radiation (El Escorial1993) 131
7 The COBE Project John C. Mather 133
8 COBE Observations of the Early Universe George F. Smoot 169
8.1 Introduction 169
8.2 COBE Mission 171
8.3 DMR Instrument 174
8.4 DMR Limits on Potential Systematica 176
8.5 DMR Observations 177
8.6 DMR Result Discussion 183
8.7 DIRBE Measurements 188
8.8 FIRAS Instruments Descriptions 191
8.9 FIRAS Measurements 193
8.10 FIRAS Interpretation 197
8.11 Summary 202 Bibliography 202 The Last Thirteen Billion Years... (Krakow, 1998/Madrid, 2002) 205
9 Unexpected Coincidence between Decoupling and Atom Formation Times 207
9.1 Introduction 208
9.2 Radiation/Matter Equality Temperature 209
9.3 Atom Formation 213
9.4 Concluding Remarks 215 Bibliography 216
10 An Amazing Story: From the Cave Man to the Apollo Mission 217 Bibliography 227
11 From the Big Bang to the Present 228 Bibliography 240
12 Astrophysical Cosmology Around Year 2000 AC 241
12.1 The COBE Project 241
12.2 The Hubble Space Telescope 245
12.3 The Spacial Mission Hipparcos 252 Bibliography 259 The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (Singapore/Madrid, 2005) 261
13 The Report of the WMAP's First Year Observation in the NY Times: 02/12/2003 263 Bibliography 271 The Medieval Roots of Contemporary Science (Oviedo, 2007) 273
14 Why Not in China? 275
14.1 Why Not in China 275
14.2 Early Medieval "Natural Philosophers" 278 Bibliography 281
15 Tomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon 282
15.1 Tomas Aquinas and the Ways to God 282
15.2 Roger Bacon and the Experimental Method 285 Bibliography 286
16 From Buridan and Oresme to Copernicus and Newton 287 Bibliography 293
17 The Wisdom of God Manisfested in the Works of Creation 294
17.1 Physicists 295
17.2 Chemists 299
17.3 Mathematicians 300
17.4 Geologists and Geographers 302
17.5 Astronomers 304 Bibliography 306 Cosmic Numbers and Concluding Remarks 307
18 Cosmic Numbers 309 Bibliography 318
19 Concluding Remarks 319 Bibliography 320 Glossary 321 Index 333