The Distribution of the Galaxies (Q4947456)

From the title of the book one could get the impression that it represents nothing but one of those many in the astrophysical literature describing the observations of galaxies and the methods to get these results. However, the present book is also mathematically well-founded, and even if one is not at all interested in any results on the distribution of galaxies, this book is worth being consulted: Part I is on the history of cosmology: 3000 years' development are comprised into 50 well-arranged pages. Part II, ``Descriptions of clustering'' represents an almost self-contained mathematical apparatus for describing any kind of inhomogeneities and how they develop from an almost homogeneous initial state. Correlation functions, percolation analysis, minimal spanning trees, topology and fractals are the other main ingredients. For the growth of inhomogeneities both the particle and the thermodynamical fluid model are represented, and both analytical and numerical methods are applied. Parts III and IV bring also gravity into the consideration, part V gives several results of numerical integration, and part VI compares them with the observed distribution of galaxies.