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How old is the universe? How far away are the galaxies and how
fast are they travelling away from us? What do the atoms in our bodies, and our
very own existence, tell us about the history of the universe? Are we in a special
place in the universe? What is dark matter and why do astronomers think it pervades
the universe? How heavy is the vacuum? How do galaxies form? Michael
Rowan-Robinson answers these and other questions in a highly original and intriguing
way: he encapsulates our current knowledge of the universe into nine numbers.
Each chapter is built around a very basic fact about the universe, beginning with
the simple but profound one that we exist. Along the way, ideas that underpin
modern cosmology, like the origin of the elements, the General Theory of Relativity,
quantum theory, and the standard model of particle physics, are explained clearly
and accessibly. And while speculative ideas like inflation, 'Theories of Everything,'
and strings and superstrings are here, they are treated with a refreshing scepticism.
Here, then, is a masterly account of what we know (and, equally important, what
we don't know) about the origin and nature of the universe. Although
most of what we know has been learnt during the twentieth century, Rowan-Robinson
provides a historical perspective, paying homage to the achievements of the Greeks,
Renaissance astronomers and the age of Newton. He ends the book with a look to
the future, predicting that with the measurements to be made by the MAP and the
PLANCK-Surveyor space missions, the Large Hadron Collider and other planned projects,
all of the nine numbers described in the book will be accurately known by 2015.
But many questions and mysteries will remain and the book concludes with the prediction
that the origin of the Big Bang itself will still be a mystery at the end of the
twenty-first century, and perhaps even in the year 3000. Michael
Rowan-Robinson is Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the Astrophysics Group
at Imperial College, London. An internationally recognised expert on observational
cosmology, he leads several major international collaborations in infrared and
submillimetre astronomy. He has served on numerous advisory bodies for ground-based
and space astronomy, and has received a NASA Public Service award for his work
on the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission. His previous books for
the general reader are Ripples in the Cosmos, Universe (Our
Universe: An Armchair Guide in the USA), Fire and Ice: The Nuclear Winter,
and Cosmic Landscape. He is the author of two textbooks, Cosmology
and The Cosmological Distance Ladder. |
