The Stuff of the Universe: Dark Matter, Mankind and the Coincidences of Cosmology
by John Gribbin
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In this exploration of our relationshop with the universe, the authors search for the grand design of the universe and the meaning of the so-called coincidences that allow life to exist on our planet. They present the latest advances in understanding of the nature of dark matter, explore mini and massive black holes, brown dwarfs and novel forms of matter such as quarks and quark nuggets. They discuss the search for a unified theory of all the particles and forces of nature: cosmic strings, show more superstrings and the possibility of a theory of everything. The authors also speculate on the possibility of the existence of other universes and of other intelligent life in our own. show lessTags
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An easy and very good read, but any cosmology book of this vintage is bound to be partly obsolete. As of late 2001, the latest thinking about the universe is that its expansion is *accelerating* and will continue forever; that it may quite possibly be infinite; that it may be only member of a possibly infinite ensemble of universes; that its global geometry is flat, probably because of an episode of inflation during the Big Bang; and that its mass/energy makeup consists of ~5% ordinary matter and radiation, ~30% dark matter of unknown identity, and ~65% "dark energy" in the form of either an Einsteinian cosmological constant or a time-varying "quintessence" field.
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179+ Works 15,870 Members
John R. Gribbin (born 19 March 1946) is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. The topical range of his prolific writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes show more science fiction. In 1984, Gribbin published In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, the book that he is best known for, which continues to sell well even after years of publication. At the 2009 World Conference of Science Journalists, the Association of British Science Writers presented Gribbin with their Lifetime Achievement award. (Bowker Author Biography) John Gribbin, visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. He is married to Mary Grivvin, also a science writer. (Publisher Provided) show less
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