The Cosmic Microwave Background

Rhodri Evans is an experienced and enthusiastic science communicator. He appears regularly on the BBC talking about Astronomy and Physics and has also been on US radio and TV. He is a research fellow at Cardiff University and lectures on Physics and Astrophysics. And he is the only UK based astronomer involved in SOFIA - the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy.

From Kapteyn to Hubble.- George Gamow, Ralph Alpher and Robert Herman.- Penzias and Wilson and Dicke et al.- COBE.- DASI and BOOMERANG and other ground-based experiments.- WMAP.- Planck.- The Future.

"It provides a good overview of the CMB to those with a basic knowledge of physics and astronomy. ... The text itself is pleasant to read and the book is about the right length for the discussion of this topic at this level. ... The text contains numbered references which are listed at the end of each chapter in order of first appearance. ... I recommend the book ... ." (Phillip Helbig, The Observatory, Vol. 135 (1247), August, 2015)

"The Cosmic Microwave Background ... is replete with anecdotes and entertaining histories that, by themselves, make this a worthwhile addition to a cosmology collection. ... brings readers up-to-date on the controversy surrounding the polarization of the cosmic microwave background that proves, or does not, gravitational waves from the universe's birth. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower- and upper-division undergraduates." (J. F. Burkhart, Choice, Vol. 52 (11), July, 2015)

"This is the best book I have ever read about the history of the investigation of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the 'echo of the Big Bang', and what it means for our understanding of the Universe." (John Gribbin, goodreads.com, April, 2015)