Recounts the experiences, appointments and achievements of this eminent scientist. Dealing systematically with Bondi's childhood in Austria, arrival in Cambridge and his important contributions to the field of mathematics before his appointment as Master of Churchill College, Cambridge, the book conveys how an initially strictly academic career led to a range of positions in the public sector finishing with a return to academia.

Professor Herman Bondi, one of the proponents of the Steady State Theory, presented this volume as an account that would establish cosmology as a distinct branch of physics. First published in 1952, just a few years after the term 'the Big Bang' was coined, it represents an important stage in the development of cosmology. With detailed discussions of different theories including Newtonian cosmology, relativistic cosmology and kinematic relativity, it gives a remarkable insight into scientific thought at this crucial time. It will be most useful to anyone with an interest in the history of science or the progression of scientific ideas.