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"The Big Bang Revolutionaries: The Untold Story of Three Scientists Who Reenchanted Cosmology" by Jean-Pierre Luminet is a book that explores the contributions of Alexander Friedman, Georges Lemaître, and George Gamow to the field of cosmology. The book focuses on their work on the expansion of the universe, the Big Bang theory, and the evidence supporting it. Luminet also discusses the disagreement between Gamow and Fred Hoyle regarding the Steady State theory. The book provides a comprehensive account of these scientists' insights and their impact on the development of cosmology. [Extracted from the article]

This document contains two book reviews. The first review discusses a biography of Hippolyte Fizeau, a physicist known for his work on light and optics. The biography provides insight into Fizeau's education and collaborations with other scientists, as well as his contributions to the understanding of light and the measurement of its velocity. The second review examines a book about humanity's fascination with Mars throughout history. The author explores the evolving ideas and theories about Mars, from fictional depictions to scientific understandings. Both books offer valuable insights into the history and development of scientific knowledge. [Extracted from the article]

Panspermia is the philosophical proposition that the precursors of life are present in space and able to initiate life on reaching a suitable environment (especially the Earth). Only in the past century has the subject advanced from the lowly status of a dreamy hypothesis to a vibrant new science that is testable and observable. This history of panspermia presents the major figures associated with such hypotheses. It examines their motives, methods, and arguments, situated when possible in their historical context and culture rather than their impact on the present. From antiquity to the early modern period (1500–1800), the debates on the plurality of worlds and panspermia overlapped considerably. In the later modern period (1800 to the present), the narrative thread interweaves panspermia with the origin of life and the theory of evolution, and we can see authentic inputs from scientists rather than philosophers. In the interests of concision, I have omitted topics such as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the exploration of the solar system by probes and landers, planetary protection (the inverse of panspermia), and the discovery of exoplanets. The historical literature is sometimes confusing: to correct for that, I have personally examined the original sources of every work cited rather than simply accepting the published findings of other scholars at face value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that, following the emergence of the first evidence for an expanding universe, Albert Einstein banished the cosmological constant term from his cosmology. Indeed, he is reputed to have labelled the term, originally introduced to the field equations of general relativity in 1917 in order to predict a static universe, his "biggest blunder." However, serious doubts about this reported statement have been raised in recent years. We interrogate the legend of Einstein's "biggest blunder" statement in the context of our recent studies of Einstein's cosmology in his later years. We find that the remark is highly compatible with Einstein's cosmic models of the 1930s, with his later writings on cosmology, and with independent reports by at least three physicists. We conclude that there is little doubt that Einstein came to view the introduction of the cosmological constant term as a serious error and that he very likely labelled the term his "biggest blunder" on at least one occasion. This finding may be of some relevance for those theoreticians today who seek to describe the recently discovered acceleration in cosmic expansion without the use of a cosmological constant term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fred Hoyle was the leading light in theoretical astronomy in the United Kingdom from just after WWII until his retirement in 1972, almost single-handedly dragging the sector out of the doldrums into which it had sunk. Despite damage done to Hoyle's reputation caused by his involvement in fields outside his expertise following his retirement, the legacy of Hoyle, who died on 20 August 2001, is still felt in British astronomy.

We present a historical review of Einstein's 1917 paper ' Cosmological Considerations in the General Theory of Relativity' to mark the centenary of a key work that set the foundations of modern cosmology. We find that the paper followed as a natural next step after Einstein's development of the general theory of relativity and that the work offers many insights into his thoughts on relativity, astronomy and cosmology. Our review includes a description of the observational and theoretical background to the paper; a paragraph-by-paragraph guided tour of the work; a discussion of Einstein's views of issues such as the relativity of inertia, the curvature of space and the cosmological constant. Particular attention is paid to little-known aspects of the paper such as Einstein's failure to test his model against observation, his failure to consider the stability of the model and a mathematical oversight concerning his interpretation of the role of the cosmological constant. We recall the response of theorists and astronomers to Einstein's cosmology in the context of the alternate models of the universe proposed by Willem de Sitter, Alexander Friedman and Georges Lemaître. Finally, we consider the relevance of the Einstein World in today's 'emergent' cosmologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simon Mitton remembers the famous eclipse follower and outstanding astronomy educator [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information regarding the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Specialist Discussion Meeting held in London, England on October 9, 2015, is presented. Particular focus was given on English astronomer Fred Hoyle, including his centennial birth, his pioneering work on nucleosynthesis and significant contribution in aspects of astrophysics and cosmology. The meeting featured several scientists and professors including Martin Rees, Leon Mestel, and Andy Fabian.

Returned to Cambridge in 1974 as a research associate in the Cavendish Laboratory, a transition that put him on the threshold of a dazzling career in millimetre wave astronomy. Graph B Richard Hills (1945-2022) b Simon Mitton remembers a world-class pioneer and innovator of submillimetre astronomy. Emeritus Professor Richard Edwin Hills FRS, a world leading innovator of millimetre and submillimetre radio astronomy died on 5 June 2022. [Extracted from the article]

Simon Mitton reports from the joint meeting in April of the European Geophysical Society, the American Geophysical Union and The European Union of Geosciences, the largest geosciences meeting in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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