Description
Book Synopsis
In The Infinite Cosmos Joseph Silk takes the reader on a tour of the universe, past, present, and future, showing how the very latest observations and theories are unlocking clues about its origin and structure: X-ray, radio, and high-energy views of space are revealing fossil radiation left over from the big bang and providing us with unprecedented views of the most distant reaches of the universe. Theories from the frontiers of current research seek to explain its structure from the first moments to the present day, and we are beginning to understand its extraordinary nature and possible fate. This is a story involving the visible and the invisible; subatomic particles and unusual forces; long ages of darkness and spectacular and violent events. It tells of supernovae, dark matter, dark energy, curved spacetime, colliding galaxies, and supermassive black holes. Weaving the ideas of poets and writers as well as scientists into the story, from Kant and Keats to Einstein and Lemaître, S
Trade Review
Review from previous edition This book packs so much into a decidedly finite space. Silk covers everything you might hope to find in a book by one of the world's leading cosmologists, and much more besides... Accessible and informative. * Peter Coles, Nature *
This is an outstanding work, suited to readers of all ages and all backgrounds, and is recommended without the slightest hesitation. * Patrick Moore, THES *
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ; 2. Perspectives ; 3. Principles ; 4. Our neighbourhood ; 5. The universe of galaxies ; 6. The invisible cosmos ; 7. Supermassive black holes and the birth of galaxies ; 8. Clusters and clustering ; 9. Space is nearly flat ; 10. Dark energy and the runaway universe ; 11. The panacea of cold dark matter ; 12. Origins ; 13. The seeds of structure ; 14. Beyond the beginning ; 15. Towards the infinite universe ; 16. From time to time machines ; 17. A brief moment in time ; 18. Into the infinite future ; 19. And so to God ; 20. Where next? ; Index
