Preface page xi
List of contributors xiv
1 Introduction 1
2 A guide to modern cosmology 9
2.1 The expanding universe 10
2.2 The thermal cosmic microwave background radiation 16
2.3 What is the universe made of? 18
3 Origins of the cosmology of the 1960s 23
3.1 Nucleosynthesis in a hot big bang 23
3.2 Nucleosynthesis in alternative cosmologies 34
3.3 Thermal radiation from a bouncing universe 40
3.4 Interstellar molecules and the sea of microwave radiation 42
3.5 Direct detection of the microwave radiation 44
3.6 Cosmology in the early 1960s 51
3.6.1 The steady state cosmology and the cosmological tests 53
3.6.2 Light elements from the big bang 58
3.6.3 Radiation from the big bang 60
3.6.4 Galaxy formation 66
3.6.5 The situation in the early 1960s 67
4 Recollections of the 1960s 69
4.1 Precursor evidence from communications experiments 70
4.1.1 Early low-noise and related studies at Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ David C. Hogg 70
4.2 Precursor evidence from interstellar molecules 74
4.2.1 Conversations with Dicke Neville J. Woolf 74
4.2.2 Cyanogen and the CMBR George B. Field 75
4.2.3 Measuring the cosmic microwave background with interstellar molecules Patrick Thaddeus 78
4.3 Precursor evidence from element abundances 86
4.3.1 The helium content of the universe Donald E. Osterbrock 86
4.4 The path to the hot big bang in the Soviet Union 92
4.4.1 Unforgettable Yakov Zel'dovich Yuri Nikolaevich Smirnov 92
4.4.2 Cosmology in the Soviet Union in the 1960s Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov 99
4.4.3 Cosmology in the 1960s Andrei Georgievich Doroshkevich 107
4.4.4 When we were young ... Rashid Sunyaev 108
4.4.5 Moscow 1968-1969 Malcolm S.Longair 132
4.5 Detection at Bell Laboratories 144
4.5.1 Encountering cosmology Arno Penzias 144
4.5.2 Two astronomical discoveries Robert W. Wilson 157
4.6 The Bell Laboratories-Princeton connection 176
4.6.1 Radio astronomy from first contacts to the CMBR Bernard F. Burke 176
4.6.2 Spreading the word - or how the news went from Princeton to Holmdel Kenneth C. Turner 184
4.7 Developments at Princeton 185
4.7.1 How I learned physical cosmology P. James E. Peebles 185
4.7.2 Measuring the cosmic microwave background radiation David T. Wilkinson 200
4.7.3 Recollections of the second measurement of the CMBR at Princeton University in 1965 Peter G. Roll 213
4.7.4 Early days of the primeval fireball R. Bruce Partridge 221
4.8 Developments at Cambridge 238
4.8.1 Cambridge cosmology in the 1960s Malcolm S. Longair 238
4.8.2 The day Fred Hoyle thought he had disproved the big bang theory John Faulkner 244
4.8.3 An initial impact of the CMBR on nucleosynthesis in big and little bangs Robert V. Wagoner 258
4.8.4 Cosmology and relativistic astrophysics in Cambridge Martin Rees 261
4.9 Critical reactions to the hot big bang interpretation 267
4.9.1 Some comments on the early history of the CMBR Geoffrey R. Burbridge Jayant V. Narlikar 267
4.9.2 My reaction to the discovery of the CMBR David Layzer 275
4.9.3 Not the correct explanation for the CMBR Michele Kaufman 279
4.10 Measuring the CMBR energy spectrum 280
4.10.1 The CMB - how to observe and not see Jasper V. Wall 280
4.10.2 Early CMBR observations at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory John R. Shakeshaft 288
4.10.3 Experiments with the CMBR William "Jack" Welch 293
4.10.4 Investigation of the background radiation in the early years of its discovery Kazimir S. Stankevich 296
4.10.5 Testing the fireball hypothesis Paul Boynton 302
4.10.6 Early spectral measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation Robert A. Stokes 323
4.10.7 An attempt at detecting the cosmic background radiation in the early 1960s Martin Harwit 329
4.10.8 Being a young graduate student in interesting times - Ignoring the forest for the trees Judith L. Pipher 339
4.10.9 The big bang, brighter than a thousand suns Kandiah Shivanandan 340
4.10.10 CMBR research at MIT shortly after the discovery - is there a blackbody peak? Rainer Weiss 342
4.11 Structure in the distributions of matter and radiation 361
4.11.1 Clusters and superclusters of galaxies Yu Jer-tsang 361
4.11.2 The synergy of mathematics and physics Rainer K. Sachs 364
4.11.3 CMBR reminiscences Arthur M. Wolfe 368
4.11.4 A journey through time Joe Silk 371
4.11.5 The cosmic background radiation and the initial singularity George F. R. Ellis 379
4.12 Measuring the CMBR anisotropy 385
4.12.1 Early cosmic background studies at Stanford Radio Astronomy Institute Ronald N. Bracewell Edward K. Conklin 385
4.12.2 The early days of the CMBR - An undergraduate's perspective Stephen Boughn 393
4.12.3 Going the "easy" direction - and finding a lot of the wrong thing Karl C. Davis 397
4.12.4 Driven to drink - pursuit of the cosmic microwave background radiation Paul S. Henry 401
5 Cosmology and the CMBR since the 1960s 408
5.1 The CMBR energy spectrum 412
5.2 The aether drift 424
5.3 The CMBR intrinsic anisotropy spectrum 434
5.3.1 Theoretical concepts 434
5.3.2 Advances in the anisotropy measurements and analysis 447
5.4 The cosmological tests 465
5.5 Lessons 475
Appendix 478
Glossary 510
References 531
Index 561
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