Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the UniversePenguin, 2004 M06 1 - 304 pages Humankind has grappled for millennia with the fundamental questions of the origin and end of the universe--it was a focus of ancient religions and myths and of the inquiries of Aristotle, Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Today we are at the brink of discoveries that should soon reveal the deepest secrets of the universe. Alpha and Omega is a dispatch from the front lines of the cosmological revolution that is being waged at observatories and laboratories around the world-in Europe, in America, and even in Antarctica--where scientists are actually peering into both the cradle of the universe and its grave. Scientists--including galaxy hunters and microwave eavesdroppers, gravity theorists and atom smashers, all of whom are on the trail of dark matter, dark energy, and the growing inhabitants of the particle zoo-now know how the universe will end and are on the brink of understanding its beginning. Their findings will be among the greatest triumphs of science, even towering above the deciphering of the human genome. This is the book you need to help understand the frequent front-page headlines heralding dramatic cosmological discoveries. It makes cutting-edge science both crystal clear and wonderfully exciting. |
Contents
1 | |
The First Cosmological Revolution THE COPERNICAN THEORY | 10 |
The Second Cosmological Revolution HUBBLE AND THE BIG BANG | 25 |
The Third Revolution Begins THE UNIVERSE AMOK | 49 |
The Music of the Spheres THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND | 63 |
The Dark Universe WHATS THE MATTER WITH MATTER? | 90 |
Darker Still THE ENIGMA OF EXOTIC DARK MATTER | 103 |
The Big Bang in Our Backyard THE BIRTH OF BARYONS | 116 |
The Good Nus THE EXOTIC NEUTRINO | 132 |
Supersymmetry FEARLESSLY FRAMING THE LAWS OF MATTER | 150 |
Seeing the Invisible MACHOS WIMPS AND ILLUMINATING THE DARKEST REGIONS OF THE UNIVERSE | 163 |
The Deepest Mystery in Physics A THE VACUUM AND INFLATION | 182 |
Wrinkles in Spacetime GRAVITATIONAL WAVES AND THE EARLY UNIVERSE | 199 |
Beyond the Third Revolution VOYAGE TO THE ENDS OF TIME | 215 |
Other editions - View all
Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and the End of the Universe Charles Seife No preview available - 2003 |
Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and the End of the Universe Charles Seife No preview available - 2011 |
Alpha & Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe Charles Seife No preview available - 2003 |