The twentieth-century witnessed the development of astrophysics and cosmology from subjects which scarcely existed to two of the most exciting and demanding areas of contemporary scientific inquiry. In this book Malcolm Longair reviews the historical development of the key areas of modern astrophysics, linking the strands together to show how they have led to the extraordinarily rich panorama of modern astrophysics and cosmology. While many of the great discoveries were derived from pioneering observations, the emphasis is upon the development of theoretical concepts and how they came to be accepted. These advances have led astrophysicists and cosmologists to ask some of the deepest questions about the nature of our Universe and have pushed astronomical observations to the very limit. This is a fantastic story, and one which would have defied the imaginations of even the greatest story-tellers.

马尔科姆·朗盖尔，1967年在剑桥大学卡文迪什实验室射电天文研究组取得博士学位。1968—1969年，他以皇家学会交换学者身份前往莫斯科别列捷夫研究所工作。他曾以交换学者身份6次前往前苏联空间研究所从事学术交流，并一直是美国多家研究机构的客座教授和观察员。1980—1990年期间。他先后荣获多项职衔：苏格兰皇家天文学会会员、爱丁堡大学天文学雷吉乌斯(Regius)讲席教授和爱丁堡大学皇家天文台台长。1997年以来，他担任剑桥大学卡文迪什实验室主任，并在2000年千禧年荣誉表彰中荣获高级英帝国勋爵士(CBE)称号。朗盖尔的主要研究领域是高能天体物理学和天体物理宇宙学。他已出版了15本著作，发表250多篇学术研究论文。

王文浩 现执教于清华大学工程物理系，早年毕业于中国科学技术大学近代物理系。近年译著有：《时空的大尺度结构》(S·W·霍金、G·F·艾利斯著)，《通向实在之路》(R·彭罗斯著)等。