The book is aimed at physics students and professional physicists who wish to understand the basics of cosmology and general relativity as well as the most recent cosmological observations and models. It presents a self-contained introduction to general relativity that is based on the homogeneity and isotropy of the local universe. The simplicity of this space allows general relativity to be introduced in a very simple manner while laying the foundation for the treatment of more complicated problems. The latest cosmological observations and theories are discussed. Emphasis is placed on estimations of the densities of matter and of vacuum energy, and on investigations of the primordial density fluctuations and the nature of dark matter.

||From the reviews:|"[It] is a pleasure to read and distraction to review. The book provides a comprehensive and thorough explication of current cosmology at a level appropriate for a beginning graduate student or an advanced and motivated undergraduate. It covers all relevant concepts of cosmology and pertinent general relativity and contains a significant number of exercises, with solutions to a sample set. This book clearly is the result of the refining of notes from a course on cosmology . . . It provides a summary of current observations and mathematical underpinnings of the physical principles. This is an extremely valuable contribution in the filed, which has been changing rapidly as a result of new technology and new theoretical motivations from the related field of high-energy physics . . . This book provides a good look at the intellectual effort and a solid foundation for the new discoveries soon to come."|- Physics Today

PHYSICS TODAY "...was a pleasure and distraction to review...The book provides a comprehensive and thorough explication of current cosmology at a level appropriate for a beginning physics graduate student or an advanced and motivated undergraduate...Rich's approach is both mathematically and conceptually advanced and is set to develop the reader's understanding of cosmology to a deeper level than a first introduction...does present a clear, accurate, and complete description of current cosmology...This is an extremely valuable contribution in the field...modern and up to date in areas that were considered rank and speculation a few years ago...This book provides a good look at the intellectual effort and a solid foundation for the new discoveries soon to come."