Other meanings of Cosmology
Science & Technology
Cosmology is a 1966 textbook by the British mathematician and cosmologist Edward Arthur Milne, published posthumously by Oxford University Press. It is a comprehensive exposition of Milne's kinematic relativity, a theory that sought to derive cosmological phenomena from the principles of special relativity and the cosmological principle, without invoking general relativity. The book is notable for its rigorous mathematical treatment and its philosophical stance on the nature of scientific explanation.
Edward Arthur Milne (1896–1950) was a British astrophysicist and mathematician who made significant contributions to stellar structure and cosmology. In the 1930s, he developed kinematic relativity as an alternative to Einstein's general relativity, aiming to explain the expansion of the universe and the redshift of galaxies using only the principles of special relativity and the cosmological principle. 1 The book Cosmology was assembled from Milne's manuscripts and lecture notes after his death, edited by his colleagues, and published in 1966. It represents the culmination of his work on the subject, providing a detailed mathematical framework and philosophical justification for his approach.
The book is divided into several parts, covering the foundations of kinematic relativity, the derivation of cosmological models, and the comparison with observational data. Milne begins with a discussion of the nature of space and time, arguing that the geometry of the universe can be derived from the properties of the velocity-distance relation. He introduces the concept of a 'cosmological principle' that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales, and then shows how this leads to a unique family of expanding models. 2 The mathematical treatment is thorough, using tensor calculus and differential geometry, but Milne also emphasizes the philosophical implications, such as the rejection of absolute space and time.
Upon publication, Cosmology was reviewed by leading physicists and cosmologists. While some praised its mathematical rigor and originality, others criticized its departure from general relativity, which had been confirmed by observations such as the bending of light and the precession of Mercury's orbit. Milne's kinematic relativity never gained widespread acceptance, and by the 1960s, the Big Bang model based on general relativity had become the standard cosmological theory. Nevertheless, the book remains a significant historical document, illustrating an alternative path in the development of modern cosmology.
One of the less-known features of Cosmology is its inclusion of Milne's concept of 'kinematic time', which differs from the time coordinate used in general relativity. Milne also proposed a 'cosmological principle' that is slightly different from the one used in standard cosmology, allowing for a universe that is expanding but not necessarily curved. 3 Additionally, the book contains a detailed discussion of the 'Milne model', which is a special case of the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker models with zero density and negative spatial curvature. This model is still used today as a pedagogical tool to illustrate the geometry of expanding universes.
Milne's work is a notable example of a scientific theory that was once considered but later superseded by the general relativistic consensus.
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