Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation at 4080 Megahertz, pp. 1100-1101 in: Science, Volume 156, Number 3778, 26 May 1967. THE HORIZON PROBLEM

PENZIAS, Arno & WILSON, Robert

Publication Date: 1967

About this Item

First edition, journal issue in the original printed wrappers, of this important sequel to Penzias & Wilson's epoch-making discovery two years earlier of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1978. In the present paper, Penzias & Wilson show that the observed temperature of the CMB is the same in all directions within 0.1 degrees Kelvin. The discovery of the CMB in 1965 was the first observational evidence for the big bang theory of cosmogenesis. "The discovery of the cosmic background radiation created a sensation in the scientific world, and was widely reported also in newspapers and popular journals" (Kragh, Cosmology and Controversy, p. 354). Harvard physicist Edward Purcell read this announcement and concluded that "It just may be the most important thing anybody has ever seen" (quoted in T. Ferris, The Red Limit (1978), p. 151) and astronomer Robert Jastrow echoed this conclusion by stating that Penzias and Wilson "made one of the greatest discoveries in 500 years of modern astronomy" (Jastrow, God and the Astronomers (1978), p. 20). In 1967 Martin Rees and Dennis Sciama suggested that observers should look for large-scale anisotropies in the CMB in order to detect inhomogeneities in the early universe. The observed uniformity of the CMB created a problem, known as the 'horizon problem', since it suggested that regions of the universe that are now widely separated were once close enough to 'communicate' with each other in order to equalise their temperature. However, this is not possible given standard Big Bang theory, the age of the universe, and the finite speed of light. The horizon problem was solved by the introduction of 'inflation theory' in the late 1970s. Large 8vo, pp. 999-1162. Original printed wrappers (address label on rear wrapper, sticker of library of the Museum of Natural History, Albertson College of Idaho, at foot of front wrapper). Seller Inventory # ABE-1686744225084

Bibliographic Details

Title: Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation at ...

Publication Date: 1967

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: Near Fine

Edition: 1st Edition