- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; Mass Market Paperback edition (11 Dec 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753824426
- ISBN-13: 978-0753824429
- Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.2 x 19.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 203,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
A very readable tale of scientific investigation (DAILY EXPRESS )
Sir Martin Rees
'Two brilliant theorists offer a true-to-life account of their quest to solve one of the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Anyone interested in cosmology (the large-scale structure of space and time - including the question about the beginning of time) should read this book. It describes, in a very interesting way, a cyclic universe alternative to the prevailing cosmological orthodoxy of the Big Bang being followed by a period of Inflation (in which space is stretched incredibly huge in the merest instant of time).
The cyclic universe model also has a Big Bang, but dispenses with the need for Inflation. In fact the model has a whole series of Big Bangs. This may sound like rather ancient metaphysics, but the authors review how it is a plausible consequence of very contemporary mathematics known as M-theory, which involves multi-dimensional [mem]branes.
There's no mathematics in the book, but there's plenty of pictures, so it's accessible to lay readers. What's really intriguing is that the idea may have observational consequences. The book has value in highlighting some significant issues with Inflation, and in giving fascinating accounts of the development of cosmological theories
The cyclic universe model also has a Big Bang, but dispenses with the need for Inflation. In fact the model has a whole series of Big Bangs. This may sound like rather ancient metaphysics, but the authors review how it is a plausible consequence of very contemporary mathematics known as M-theory, which involves multi-dimensional [mem]branes.
There's no mathematics in the book, but there's plenty of pictures, so it's accessible to lay readers. What's really intriguing is that the idea may have observational consequences. The book has value in highlighting some significant issues with Inflation, and in giving fascinating accounts of the development of cosmological theories
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was a reminiscent of university lecturers who are unable or can't be bothered to give a precise explanation of a complicated subject. It is replete with statements which have no logical integrity, perhaps because the only logic involved is ultimately mathematics which would be incomprehensible to the lay reader. At no point is the theory of the cyclic universe summarized in a focused, meaningful, step-by-step manner. There are far too many gaps in explanations, far too many corners cut, far more questions raised than questions answered. Ultimately I found the book confused, confusing, and frustrating in its inability to present a cogent, believable theory and therefore, in the final analysis, boring, disappointing, and more likely to alienate the public from than to endear the public to cosmology.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a good enough read in that it pulls quite a few threads of modern cosmological thought together, but it doesn't take us anywhere new in terms of explaining the meaning of life, the universe and everything. It seems as if the authors are desperately struggling to free themselves from the need for God (what they appear to barely disguise as 'the anthropic view') and only succeed in making a creator all the more likely the only explanation out, which is frightfully pesky when one wants to be so Dawkins chique. Of course Dawkins and his anti-God crew flounder on these same rocks of the infinite beyond creation, which is why they so studiously avoid cosmology.
In the end the authors' branes collide with the fact that they need to draw their entropy balancing energy from gravity, which neatly gets them nowhere. Until the gravity waves they need are found and measured, their theory goes on the pile and the big bang and inflation, with its mysterious cosmological constant, reign supreme, pointing to that God who is subtle, but never devious.
Maybe one day someone will get around to writing a book having a go at explaining some possible solutions to a lot of the things they don't seem to have pictured, such as the progression of matter from its inception and gravity formation after the creationary startup, the filling bounce which rocked the expansion constant, how and why dark energy grew in influence, how matter is still merrily deposited, why there will be an accelerated, polarised collapse and why a second big bang need not be followed by a third etc. If so I hope it's done in quite so easy going a way as they have managed. Now where did my tongue get to? Oh! Here it is, stuck firmly in my cheek.
In the end the authors' branes collide with the fact that they need to draw their entropy balancing energy from gravity, which neatly gets them nowhere. Until the gravity waves they need are found and measured, their theory goes on the pile and the big bang and inflation, with its mysterious cosmological constant, reign supreme, pointing to that God who is subtle, but never devious.
Maybe one day someone will get around to writing a book having a go at explaining some possible solutions to a lot of the things they don't seem to have pictured, such as the progression of matter from its inception and gravity formation after the creationary startup, the filling bounce which rocked the expansion constant, how and why dark energy grew in influence, how matter is still merrily deposited, why there will be an accelerated, polarised collapse and why a second big bang need not be followed by a third etc. If so I hope it's done in quite so easy going a way as they have managed. Now where did my tongue get to? Oh! Here it is, stuck firmly in my cheek.
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