This is a book review of Fundamental Ideas in Cosmology: Scientific, philosophical and sociological critical perspectives by Martin López-Corredoira. Fundamental Ideas in Cosmology: Scientific, philosophical and sociological critical perspectives, by Martin López-Corredoira (IoP Publishing), 2022. Pp. 244, 26 x 18.5 cm. Price $120 (hardbound, ISBN 978 0 7503 3773 1).
This book is mainly about the pillars of the standard model of cosmology (expansion, dark matter, dark energy, the CMB, big-bang nucleosynthesis, structure formation) and alternative explanations for various aspects; it provides not only a good summary of the standard model but also of alternatives to it. It is rare that someone is so well informed both about standard cosmology and alternative theories. There are good summaries of the inflationary paradigm and the history of dark matter, mentioning details often glossed over in similar books. The last three chapters examine sociological and cultural factors and the author's own stance. There is much information here which would require many sources and much work to duplicate and the book could prove a valuable resource as a jumping-off point for those interesting in learning about debates in modern cosmology, but readers will have to judge for themselves which debates are actually worth worrying about.