Table of Contents

1. Astronomy in ancient and medieval China Joseph Needham; 2. Indian astronomy: an historical perspective B. V. Subbarayappa; 3. Making of astronomy in ancient India Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya; 4. The impact of astronomy on the development of western science Jean-Claude Pecker; 5. Man and the Universe Hubert Reeves; 6. Understanding the Universe - challenges and directions in modern observational astronomy Harlan Smith, Jr: 7. Frontiers in cosmology Fred Hoyle; 8. Did the Universe originate in a big bang? Jayant Narlikar; 9. The dark matter problem Bernard Carr; 10. Geometry and the Universe C. V. Vishveshwara; 11. The origin and evolution of life Cyril Ponnamperuma; 12. The anthropic principle: self selection as an adjunct to natural selection Brandon Carter; 13. Astrology and science: an examination of the evidence Ivan Kelly, Roger Culver and Peter Loptson; 14. Astronomy and science fiction Allen Janis.

Promotional Information

Modern cosmology and its relationship to the development of human civilization is the subject of this book.

Reviews

"...it will be of interest to many lay readers, containing nice articles on the history of astronomy, the frontiers of cosmology, debunking astrology, and astronomy and science fiction." Mercury