1907 the seven lessons in philosophy contained in this book were prepared for more advanced students. This book is recommended only form those who are advanced spiritually. Contents: the Seven Cosmic Periods of Evolution; the Seven Planets of Evoluti.

From the reviews: "It survives the pitfalls of this fashion-conscious era by pursuing a rigorously independent-minded attitude to contemporary ideas. The level is introductory undergraduate, with rather little mathematics but a strong physical basis. ...The second part, on general relativity and cosmology, provides a good account of modern theoretical ideas, from rotating black holes to Grand Unified Theories and inflation. The third part is an excellent and profound discussion of the fundamental problems of cosmology. For anyone with a philosophical turn of mind this section alone makes the book essential reading." Nature

Bridging astronomy and physics, cosmology seeks to examine the nature of the universe as a whole. Scientific investigation of cosmology began in ancient times and progressed rapidly after the Scientific Revolution, which produced the discovery of gravity and the heliocentric model of Copernicus. This volume examines the historical developments in the field of cosmology, the evidence supporting the Big Bang theory, and the future implications of dark matter and an expanding universe. Readers will also be introduced to the various thinkers who helped advance study of this endlessly fascinating field.

Lee Smolin offers a new theory of the universe that is at once elegant, comprehensive, and radically different from anything proposed before. Smolin posits that a process of self organization like that of biological evolution shapes the universe, as it develops and eventually reproduces through black holes, each of which may result in a new big bang and a new universe. Natural selection may guide the appearance of the laws of physics, favoring those universes which best reproduce. The result would be a cosmology according to which life is a natural consequence of the fundamental principles on which the universe has been built, and a science that would give us a picture of the universe in which, as the author writes, "the occurrence of novelty, indeed the perpetual birth of novelty, can be understood." Smolin is one of the leading cosmologists at work today, and he writes with an expertise and force of argument that will command attention throughout the world of physics. But it is the humanity and sharp clarity of his prose that offers access for the layperson to the mind bending space at the forefront of today's physics.

This volumes in the Greenwood Guides to the Universe series covers the current scientific understanding of the creation and evolution of the universe. Cosmology and the Evolution of the Universe provides readers with an up-to-date survey of the current scientific understanding of how the universe has evolved in the almost 14 billion years since the Big Bang. Scientifically sound and written with the student in mind, it is an excellent first step for students researching the science of cosmology and a resource for all who wish to know more about the evolution of the universe. Cosmology and the Evolution of the Universe discusses all areas of what is known about the subject. Topics include: the large-scale structure of the universe; the discovery and importance of cosmic microwave background radiation; and the forces and particles involved in the evolution of the universe. The book even tackles that most provocative of questions: How will the universe end?