Written by three celebrated astronomers renowned for their excellence in both research and teaching, the central theme is approached in three complementary ways: the smooth evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present structures of matter; as a meandering road paved by our observations of stars, galaxies, and clusters; and how these approaches have been gradually developed and intertwined in the historical process leading to modern-day cosmology.

InhaltsangabeEvolution in the Galaxy Population.- Foundations of Galaxy Evolution Models.- Evolutionary Synthesis Models.- Basic Statistics of Galaxies.- Computing Models for Faint-Galaxy Samples.- Distant Galaxy Observations in the Real World.- Galaxy Profiles at High Redshift.- Reconciling Counts with the Redshift Distribution.- The Butcher-Oemler Effect - A Case Study.- Deep-Universe Programs for the Future.- to the Standard Model.- The Physics of Background Radiation.- Observations of the Extragalactic Background Radiation.- The Robertson-Walker Metric.- World Models.- Number Counts and the Background Radiation.- The Origin of the X-ray and Gamma-ray Backgrounds.- A Brief Thermal History of the Universe.- The Origin of the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe.- Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation.- Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.- The Intergalactic Gas.- Galaxy Formation and the Background Radiation.- The First Test: The Count-Magnitude Relation: Theory and Practice I (The Early Phase 1920-1938).- The Count-Magnitude Relation: Theory and Practice II (The Modern Attempts).- The Second Test: Angular Size = f(z,q0).- The Third Test: The Redshift-Distance Relation Based on the m(z, qo) Hubble Diagram.- Is the Expansion Real?.- The Fourth Test: Timing (Age of the Galaxy).- Timing Test Continued.- The Hubble Constant from Type Ia Supernovae.- Observational Selection Bias.