Title: Alpha & omega : the search for the beginning and end of the universe /
Authors: Seife, Charles
Publisher: Viking,
Year: 2003
Subjects: Cosmology.; Astronomy; Cosmology.
Abstract: 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 on the verge 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. The cast of characters includes 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. Scientists 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, towering above even the deciphering of the human genome. This is the book you need to help you understand the frequent front-page headlines heralding dramatic cosmological discoveries. It makes cutting-edge science both crystal clear and wonderfully exciting.
Contents: The first cosmology : the golden age of the gods -- The first cosmological revolution : the Copernican theory -- The second cosmological revolution : Hubble and the Big Bang -- The third revolution begins : the universe amok -- The music of the spheres : the cosmic microwave background -- The dark universe : what's the matter with matter? -- Darker still : the enigma of exotic dark matter -- The Big Bang in our backyard : the birth of baryons -- The good nus : the exotic neutrino -- Supersymmetry : fearlessly framing the laws of matter -- Seeing the invisible : MACHOs, WIMPs, and illuminating the darkest regions of the universe -- The deepest mystery in physics : L, the vacuum, and inflation -- Wrinkles in spacetime : gravitational waves and the early universe -- Beyond the third revolution : voyage to the ends of time -- Appendix A : tired light retired -- Appendix B : Where does matter come from? -- Appendix C : Nobel prizes in physics, past and future -- Appendix D : some experiments to watch.