This is a textbook for graduate students in astrophysics. The author is
extremely well known not only as an astrophysicist but also as a writer of
superb talent. The presentation is clear and the book should become a favourite
text for students. It deals with the matter and radiation content of the
universe, and the formation of galaxies, and it gives a comprehensive
introduction to relativistic astrophysics as needed for the clarification of
cosmological ideas.