From Publishers Weekly
Recent breakthroughs in physics are causing a revolution in how scientists view the universe, according to Davies ( The Cosmic Blueprint ) and Gribbin ( In Search of the Big Bang ). The authors survey the discoveries that have caused this shift from the traditional mechanistic worldview (which sees the universe as "a gigantic purposeless machine") to a less rigidly determined one that includes chaos, black holes, antimatter and even the possibility of multiple universes. They explore how it would feel to be swallowed by a black hole (one would be stretched and squeezed before being crushed into nonexistence) and why going through a wormhole, a kind of space tunnel, would allow one to travel backward in time. The authors explain why cosmic strings (which may stretch across the universe and outweigh galaxies) could fit into a single atom and how space can be curved. This accessible work also examines fundamental questions such as how the universe's "big bang" origin probably sealed its fate (it will end in a reverse process known as the "big crunch") and whether time is real or simply an illusion.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.
From Library Journal
Wormholes, cosmic strings, quarks, relativity, quantum mechanics--Davis and Gribbin explain all the basic elements of the universe in a comprehensive summary of modern physics written on the layperson's level. Beginning with Isaac Newton's conception of the universe as a great cosmic clock, they follow the growth of materialistic determinism, where all events were assumed to result from absolutely determinable interactions of inert particles. This idea of matter turned out to be a myth, shattered early in this century by the uncertainties of relativity and quantum physics. The authors unseat materialism from its exalted position and along the way discuss chaos, the origin of the universe, multidimensional spacetime, evolution, the Gaia hypothesis, and extraterrestrial life. Very readable, with mathematics kept to a minimum. An essential volume for anyone wanting to understand today's physics. Recommended for all libraries.
-Doug Kranch, Ambassador Coll. Lib., Big Sandy, Tex.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Doug Kranch, Ambassador Coll. Lib., Big Sandy, Tex.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
