|
The classic big bang theory is great at
describing what happened after the bang. Yet, until recently,
particle physicists and cosmologists were stuck on many
questions that the big bang theory couldn't answer, including:
What made the big bang BANG in the first place? If matter
can be neither created nor destroyed, how could so much
matter arise from nothing at all? Why can we only see a
minute part of the mega-universe?
In 1979, a young particle physicist named
Alan Guth answered these questions and made front-page news
with one of the greatest discoveries in modern cosmology:
cosmic inflation. This is the compelling, first-hand account
of Guth's paradigm-breaking discovery of the origins of
the universe; and it is a fascinating chronicle of his dramatic
struggle to justify it.
From a young researcher who couldn't land
a permanent job to becoming a physics superstar, Guth's
story is part scientific detective story and part autobiography.
Although many of his scientific peers immediately sought
to disprove the inflation theory, Guth also drew the attention
of such noted figures as Stephen Hawking and Andrei D. Linde,
and spent his time researching and refining his ideas. It
wasn't until 1992, however, when the space probe COBE brought
stunning confirmation of the validity of inflation, that
Guth's theory was widely regarded as one of the most important
contributions to science during the twentieth century.
Guth's startling theory states that in the
billion-trillion-trillionth of a second before the big bang,
there was a period of hyper-rapid "inflation"
that got the big bang started. Inflation modifies our picture
of only the first small fraction of a second in the history
of the universe and then it joins onto the standard big
bang theory, preserving all of the successes of the older
theory. But because inflation explains the bang itself,
it is a much richer theory than the older version of the
big bang.
The Inflationary Universe is the
passionate account of one leading scientist's effort to
look behind the cosmic veil and explains how the universe
began.
Alan H. Guth is V.F. Weisskopf Professor
of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In addition to receiving many distinguished academic awards,
Newsweek has called him one of "The 25 Top American
Innovators," and Science Digest has ranked him
among the "100 Brightest Scientists Under 40."
He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife and two
children.
|
