Big Bang or No Bang? Science, Religion and Philosophy by Finngeir Hiorth.
Lima: EFA, 2001, pp. 174 (Spanish version of the original one in English by Human-Etisk Forbund
 St. Olavsgt. 27, N-0166 Oslo, Norway, 2000. Web page: www..human.no.
E-mail: [email protected]).

This book offers a philosophical analysis and critique of some cosmological problems. "Cosmology" can be defined as a discipline dealing with the origin, evolution, and large-scale structure of the universe. The present book mainly deals with big bang cosmology and alternatives, and the origin and possible creation of the universe. It does so by presenting and analyzing a number of publications written by contemporary cosmologists.
The publications have been written by scientists and science writers such as Hannes Alfv‚n, Halton C. Arp, Roberta Brawer, Geoffrey Burbidge, Stuart Clark, Anthony Fairall, Alan Guth, Stephen Hawking, Craig J. Hogan, Fred Hoyle, Christopher R. Kitchin, Marc LachiŠze-Rey, Alan Lightman, Jayant V. Narlikar, Felix Pirani, Matts Roos, Michael Rowan-Robinson, Joseph Silk, and Steven Weinberg. These authors mainly present major results and ideas of contemporary cosmology, although some also discuss problems of religion and philosophy.
Other authors whose writings have been analyzed, pay more attention to questions of religion or philosophy. Some of these authors are scientists or science writers, whereas others are theologians or philosophers. These authors include persons like William Lane Craig, Paul Davies, Willem B. Drees, George F. R. Ellis, Timothy Ferris, Robert Jastrow, Stanley L. Jaki, John Leslie, Ted Peters, Quentin Smith, and Victor J. Stenger.
Big Bang or No Bang?, gives a thorough introduction to some aspects of contemporary cosmology from a philosophical point of view. The author has been a lecturer of philosophy at the University of Oslo. He is a convinced atheist and has published books dealing with the German philosopher Leibniz, the Scottish philosopher David Hume, the linguist Noam Chomsky, and with topics like atheism, ethics, humanism, materialism, metaphysics, and values. His last book is Studying Religion, also published by Human-Etisk Forbund in 2000.

Contents
Preface 4,
Hawking about the Universe and God 8,
Felix Pirani on the Universe 12,
Steven Weinberg 17, Christopher R. Kitchin 22,
Signals from far away 24,
Stuart Clark 28, Halton C. Arp 29,
Redshift 34, Plasma Cosmology 37,
Dark Matter 39, More on the Big Bang Theory 40,
Event Horizon 41,
Alan Guth, Inflation, and Andrei Linde 41,
Steady State and Quasi Steady State 45,
Expansion 46,
The Origin of the Universe, Creation 49,
Large-Scale Structures 50,
Craig J. Hogan on Big Bang Theory 52,
Jayant V. Narlikar 57,
Burbidge, Hoyle, and Narlikar, and Andreas Albrecht 60,
Pecker, Silk, and Narlikar 63,
Matts Roos 67,
Fred Hoyle 70,
Marc LachiŠze-Rey 73,
Michael Rowan-Robinson 75,
Alan Lightman and Roberta Brawer 80,
Timothy Ferris on God and Cosmology 90,
Paul Davies on God and Cosmology 93,
Victor J. Stenger: No Design 95,
Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology 99,
Stanley L. Jaki on God and Cosmology 99,
Theology and Cosmology 100,
Robert Jastrow 106,
George F. R. Ellis,
Philosophy and Cosmology 110,
Summaries and Comments 117,
Final Remarks 133,
Literature 136-142.

Other books by Finngeir Hiorth published by EDICIONES DE FILOSOFIA APLICADA (All translations from English into Spanish):

-Introduction to Atheism
-Introduction to Humanism
-Ethics for atheists
-Values
-Studying Religion