The Infinite Cosmos
Questions from the frontiers of cosmology
Published on 14. February 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
258 pages
978-0-19-953361-9 (ISBN)
Description
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 Lemaitre, Silk explains our present state of knowledge, and how much more there is to understand about our infinite cosmos.
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 Lemaitre, Silk explains our present state of knowledge, and how much more there is to understand about our infinite cosmos.
Reviews / Votes
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 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
13 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
13 black and white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
210 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-953361-9 (9780199533619)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
02/2006
Oxford University Press
€79.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Joseph Silk is Savilian Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford. He has published a number of books on cosmology for the general reader, including The Big Bang (W. H. Freeman), The Left Hand of Creation (with J. D. Barrow, published by Oxford University Press), and On the Shores of the Unknown (Cambridge University Press).
Content
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