Big-bang nucleosynthesis. Thermonuclear history in the early universe (Q1991529)

A key point to understand some basic facts of cosmic evolution is the chemical element formation in the first three minutes: the first 3 min! In cosmology these minutes are as actual today in the same way as in 1977, when Steven Weinberg's famous book appears. The well established scientific author team handles the subject taken into account in its observational and theoretical parts as a survey of the state of physical cosmology. This intention is very skillful. Most parts of the book are usable for readers with an advanced physics level. An introductory chapter contains a brief historical review. The central two chapters are the standard model of cosmology and models beyond the standard model. A fourth chapter discusses the Lambda-term as function of the scalar field in the Brans-Dicke theory. Cosmic acceleration, dark energy and the cosmological term are well taken into account. The main literature is well documented. The small booklet presents an excellent overview of the main problems and the state of the art of cosmology. Cosmology today surprises us with rapid observational advances. Therefore it is very useful and valuable to have such a comprehensive survey at hand. This survey is a significant contribution in understanding the running of many branched cosmological investigations.