This unique volume provides a comprehensive survey of our understanding of the Universe based on the exact solutions of the theory of relativity. More precisely, it describes those models that fit with astronomical observations of galaxy clusters, cosmic voids and other key features of our Universe. This authoritative account achieves two important goals. First, it collects all independently derived cosmological solutions since the birth of relativity in 1915, and clearly shows how they are interrelated. Second, it presents a coherent overview of the physical properties of these inhomogeneous...

This unique volume provides a comprehensive survey of our understanding of the Universe based on the exact solutions of the theory of relativity. More precisely, it describes those models that fit with astronomical observations of galaxy clusters, cosmic voids and other key features of our Universe. This authoritative account achieves two important goals. First, it collects all independently derived cosmological solutions since the birth of relativity in 1915, and clearly shows how they are interrelated. Second, it presents a coherent overview of the physical properties of these inhomogeneous...

General relativity is a cornerstone of modern physics, and is of major importance in its applications to cosmology. Plebanski and Krasinski are experts in the field and provide a thorough introduction to general relativity, guiding the reader through complete derivations of the most important results. Providing coverage from a unique viewpoint, geometrical, physical and astrophysical properties of inhomogeneous cosmological models are all systematically and clearly presented, allowing the reader to follow and verify all derivations. Many topics are included that are not found in other...

The Golden Oldies series of the journal General Relativity and Gravitation reprints key papers in general relativity theory that were published 30 or more years ago and are either hard to obtain or were originally printed in a language other than English.

The Golden Oldies series of the journal General Relativity and Gravitation reprints important papers in general relativity theory that were published 30 or more years ago and are either hard to get hold of, or were originally printed in a language other than English. They play a key part in making these important papers readily accessible today, in the language that has now become the lingua franca of scientific publication. The value of this reprinting is enhanced by an accompanying editorial note for each paper, which briefly explains the significance of the work and where it has...