Discovering the Expanding Universe (Hardcover)

Acknowledgments; Foreword; 1. Introduction; 2. Cosmological concepts at the end of the Middle Ages; 3. Nebulae as a new astronomical phenomenon; 4. On the construction of the Heavens; 5. Island universes turn into astronomical facts: a universe of galaxies; 6. The early cosmology of Einstein and de Sitter; 7. The dynamical universe of Friedmann; 8. Redshifts: how to reconcile Slipher and de Sitter?; 9. Lemaitre discovers the expanding universe; 10. Hubble's contribution of 1929; 11. The breakthrough for the expanding universe; 12. Hubble's anger about de Sitter; 13. Robertson and Tolman join the game; 14. The Einstein?de Sitter universe; 15. Are Sun and Earth older than the universe?; 16. In search of alternative tracks; 17. The seed for the Big Bang; 18. Summary and postscript; Appendix; References; Index.