Galaxy Formation and Evolution , Houjun Mo, Frank van den Bosch, and Simon WhiteCambridge U. Press, New York, 2010. $85.00 (820 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-85793-2
How Did the First Stars and Galaxies Form? , Abraham LoebPrinceton U. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2010. $24.95 paper (193 pp.). ISBN 978-0-691-14516-7
Galaxies are the fundamental building blocks of the universe. They come in many varieties, including giant spheroids, magnificent spiral disks of grand design, and irregulars that look like galactic-scale train wrecks. Once, long ago, there was a first generation of galaxies—progenitors and infant precursors of today’s galaxies. We determine how they formed by studying star formation in nearby mature galaxies and applying known physical principles to extrapolate back in time to the galaxies’ infancy and adolescence. Though incomplete, our models, along with detailed observations using the world’s largest telescopes, help us to predict what we might see at...
