Download or read book Before the Big Bang written by Laura Mersini-Houghton and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A riveting tour of the cosmos from one of the brightest minds in astrophysics." —The Washington Post A revolutionary new account of our universe’s creation—and a breathtaking exploration of the landscape from which we sprang—from one of the world’s most celebrated cosmologists What came before the Big Bang, and what exists outside of the universe it created? Until recently, scientists could only guess at what lay past the edge of space-time. However, as pioneering theoretical physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton explains, new scientific tools are now giving us the ability to peer beyond the limits of our universe and to test our theories about what is there. And what we are finding is upending everything we thought we knew about the cosmos and our place in it. Mersini-Houghton is no stranger to boundaries—or to pushing through them. As a child growing up in Communist Albania, she discovered a universe beyond her walled-off world through the study of math and science, and through music. As a female cosmologist in a male-dominated field, she transcended the limits that society and her profession tried to place on her. And as a trailblazing researcher, she helped to revolutionize the study of our universe by revealing that, far from living in a cosmic Albania, with a world that ends at its borders, we are part of a larger family of universes—a multiverse—that holds wonders we are only beginning to unlock. Mersini-Houghton’s groundbreaking research suggests that we sit in a quantum landscape whose peaks and valleys hide a multitude of other universes, and even hold the secret to the origins of existence itself. Recent evidence has revealed the signatures of such sibling universes in our own night sky, confirming Mersini-Houghton’s theoretical work and offering humbling evidence that our universe is just one member of an unending cosmic family. The incredible scientific saga of one woman’s mind-expanding journey through the multiverse, Before the Big Bang will reshape our understanding of humanity’s place in the unfathomable vastness of the cosmos.
Download or read book Before the Big Bang written by Brian Clegg and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2009-08-04 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to a recent survey, the most popular question about science from the general public was: what came before the Big Bang? We all know on some level what the Big Bang is, but we don't know how it became the accepted theory, or how we might know what came before. In Before the Big Bang, Brian Clegg (the critically acclaimed author of Upgrade Me and The God Effect) explores the history of this remarkable concept. From the earliest creation myths, through Hershel's realization that the Milky Way was one of many galaxies, to on-going debates about Black Holes, this is an incredible look at the origins of the universe and the many theories that led to the acceptance of the Big Bang. But in classic scientist fashion Clegg challenges the notion of the "Big Bang" itself, and raises the deep philosophical question of why we might want to rethink the origin of the universe. This is popular science at its best, exploratory, controversial, and utterly engrossing.
Download or read book A Little Book about the Big Bang written by Tony Rothman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tony Rothman offers a primer on the science of the big bang and the questions we still can’t answer about the origins of the universe. Enlisting thoughtful analogies and a step-by-step approach, Rothman guides readers through dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, and other topics at—and beyond—the cutting edge of cosmology.
Download or read book Before Time Began written by Helmut Satz and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the origin of the universe? What was there before the universe appeared? We are presently witnessing a second Copernican revolution: neither our Earth and Sun nor our galaxy nor even our universe is the end of all things. This account of recent developments in modern cosmology introduces how the Big Bang took place and what preceded it.
Download or read book Cycles of Time written by Roger Penrose and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-09-06 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Nobel prize-winner Roger Penrose, this groundbreaking book is for anyone "who is interested in the world, how it works, and how it got here" (New York Journal of Books). Penrose presents a new perspective on three of cosmology’s essential questions: What came before the Big Bang? What is the source of order in our universe? And what cosmic future awaits us? He shows how the expected fate of our ever-accelerating and expanding universe—heat death or ultimate entropy—can actually be reinterpreted as the conditions that will begin a new “Big Bang.” He details the basic principles beneath our universe, explaining various standard and non-standard cosmological models, the fundamental role of the cosmic microwave background, the paramount significance of black holes, and other basic building blocks of contemporary physics. Intellectually thrilling and widely accessible, Cycles of Time is a welcome new contribution to our understanding of the universe from one of our greatest mathematicians and thinkers.
Download or read book Big Bang written by Simon Singh and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2005-01-04 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We've all heard of the Big Bang, and yet few of us truly know what it is. Renowned for making difficult ideas much less difficult than they might first appear, Simon Singh is our perfect guide to explaining why cosmologists believe that the Big Bang is an accurate description of the origin and evolution of the universe. This highly readable and entertaining book tells the story of the many brilliant, often eccentric scientists who fought against the establishment idea of an eternal and unchanging cosmos. From such early Greek cosmologists as Anaximander to recent satellite measurements taken deep in space, Big Bang is a narrative full of anecdotes and personal histories. With characteristic clarity, Simon Singh tells the centuries-long story of mankind's attempt to understand how the universe came to be, a story which itself begins some 14 billion years ago (give or take a billion years). Simon Singh shows us that it is within the capability of all of us -- in his expert hands -- to understand the Big Bang: the fundamental theory in all of science, and a high point -- perhaps the high point -- of human achievement.
Download or read book The Big Bang Never Happened written by Eric Lerner and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1992-10-27 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mesmerizing challenge to orthodox cosmology with powerful implications not only for cosmology itself but also for our notions of time, God, and human nature -- with a new Preface addressing the latest developments in the field. Far-ranging and provocative, The Big Bang Never Happened is more than a critique of one of the primary theories of astronomy -- that the universe appeared out of nothingness in a single cataclysmic explosion ten to twenty billion years ago. Drawing on new discoveries in particle physics and thermodynamics as well as on readings in history and philosophy, Eric J. Lerner confronts the values behind the Big Bang theory: the belief that mathematical formulae are superior to empirical observation; that the universe is finite and decaying; and that it could only come into being through some outside force. With inspiring boldness and scientific rigor, he offers a brilliantly orchestrated argument that generates explosive intellectual debate.
Download or read book The Accidental Universe written by Alan Lightman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author of Einsteins Dreams explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by recent discoveries in science with passion and curiosity. He looks at the dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world; and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws. Behind all of these considerations is the suggestion--at once haunting and exhilarating--that what we see and understand of the world is only a tiny piece of the extraordinary, perhaps unfathomable whole.
Download or read book Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-03-12 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances made by physicists in understanding matter, space, and time and by astronomers in understanding the universe as a whole have closely intertwined the question being asked about the universe at its two extremesâ€"the very large and the very small. This report identifies 11 key questions that have a good chance to be answered in the next decade. It urges that a new research strategy be created that brings to bear the techniques of both astronomy and sub-atomic physics in a cross-disciplinary way to address these questions. The report presents seven recommendations to facilitate the necessary research and development coordination. These recommendations identify key priorities for future scientific projects critical for realizing these scientific opportunities.
Download or read book Once Before Time written by Martin Bojowald and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his introduction to a revolutionary theory of the cosmos, Martin Bojowald shows how the big bang theory may give way to the big bounce theory, which describes our universe as an eternal series of expansions and contractions, with no beginning and no end. In 2000, Bojowald, then a twenty-seven-year-old postdoctoral student at Pennsylvania State University, used a relatively new theory called loop quantum gravity—a cunning combination of Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics—to create a simple model of the universe. Loop quantum cosmology, or LQC, was born, and with it, a theory that managed to do something even Einstein’s general theory of relativity had failed to do—illuminate the very birth of the universe.
Download or read book A Universe from Nothing written by Lawrence M. Krauss and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place. “Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing?” One of the few prominent scientists today to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss describes the staggeringly beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending new theories that demonstrate not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing. With a new preface about the significance of the discovery of the Higgs particle, A Universe from Nothing uses Krauss’s characteristic wry humor and wonderfully clear explanations to take us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting the most recent evidence for how our universe evolved—and the implications for how it’s going to end. Provocative, challenging, and delightfully readable, this is a game-changing look at the most basic underpinning of existence and a powerful antidote to outmoded philosophical, religious, and scientific thinking.
Download or read book The Whole Shebang written by Timothy Ferris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1998-07-06 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summarizes what science has learned about the universe as of the end of the twentieth century, and offers predictions about what may emerge in the near future.
Download or read book Dismantling the Big Bang written by Dr. John Hartnett and published by New Leaf Publishing Group. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why did Ptolemy's theory cause problems for the church? What is the big secret concerning the "?Age" of the earth? Why do many scientists reject the use of design in explaining origins? The seemingly absurd idea that all matter, energy, space, and time once exploded from a point of extreme density has captured the imagination of scientists and laypersons for decades. The big bang has provided a central teaching for the eons of time of "cosmic evolution", undermining the history and cosmology of the Bible. It is a theory that fails, even violating the very physical laws on which it is purportedly based. In this easy-to-read format, authors Alex Williams and John Hartnett explode this naturalistic explanation for the universe, and show that the biblical model provides a far better explanation of our origins. This fully indexed, illustrated analysis of the big bang theory is an invaluable help in understanding and countering a world view that is as chaotic and destructive as its name implies.
Download or read book From Eternity to Here written by Sean Carroll and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An accessible and engaging exploration of the mysteries of time." -Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe Twenty years ago, Stephen Hawking tried to explain time by understanding the Big Bang. Now, Sean Carroll says we need to be more ambitious. One of the leading theoretical physicists of his generation, Carroll delivers a dazzling and paradigm-shifting theory of time's arrow that embraces subjects from entropy to quantum mechanics to time travel to information theory and the meaning of life. From Eternity to Here is no less than the next step toward understanding how we came to exist, and a fantastically approachable read that will appeal to a broad audience of armchair physicists, and anyone who ponders the nature of our world.
Download or read book Cosmology A Very Short Introduction written by Peter Coles and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2001-08-23 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a simple, non-technical introduction to cosmology, explaining what it is and what cosmologists do. Peter Coles discusses the history of the subject, the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern issues like quantum cosmology, superstrings, and dark matter. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book Flashes of Creation written by Paul Halpern and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A respected physics professor and author breaks down the great debate over the Big Bang and the continuing quest to understand the fate of the universe. Today, the Big Bang is so entrenched in our understanding of the cosmos that to doubt it would seem crazy. But as Paul Halpern shows in Flashes of Creation, just decades ago its mere mention caused sparks to fly. At the center of the debate were Russian American physicist George Gamow and British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. Gamow insisted that a fiery explosion explained how the elements of the universe were created. Attacking the idea as half-baked, Hoyle countered that the universe was engaged in a never-ending process of creation. The battle was fierce. In the end, Gamow turned out to be right -- mostly -- and Hoyle, along with his many achievements, is remembered for giving the theory the silliest possible name: "The Big Bang." Halpern captures the brilliance of both thinkers and reminds us that even those proved wrong have much to teach us about boldness, imagination, and the universe itself.
Download or read book The Creation of the Universe written by George Gamow and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-08-02 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lively and authoritative, this survey by a renowned physicist explains the formation of the galaxies and defines the concept of an ever-expanding universe in simple terms. 1961 edition. 40 figures.
