Fred Hoyle was probably the greatest astrophysicist of all time. He made a major contribution to the development of naval radar in the Second World War, before going on to research and write about the origin of the universe, promoting the Steady State theory in preference to the now generally accepted Big Bang (a term, incidentally, first coined by Hoyle himself). His major achievement was as a populariser of science, putting difficult concepts of time and size into understandable forms. This book provides a comprehensive, factual and balanced account of his life and achievements.

Since writing this note I have discovered but not bought or read two other books about Fred Hoyle which have been published this year. They are:

Jane Gregory 2005 Fred Hoyle's Universe 2005. OUP, £20

Chandra Wickramasinghe 2005 A Journey with Fred Hoyle (The search for cosmic life). World Publishing, £20