Cosmos in Transition

Studies in the History of Cosmology

Stanley L. Jaki

Written by a leading historian of astronomy and cosmology this book contains nine essays on major developments, since the early 17th century, leading to scientific breakthroughs towards a more accurate knowledge of the cosmos. The essays deal with the Milky Way, planetary cosmology, the bending of light, the gravitational paradox, and the primordial chaos. Their principal aim is to show that while scientific data about the cosmos have undergone major transitions, the perception of the scientific community notoriously lagged behind in assimilating those very same transitions.