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While supporting his sick parents, Moffat spent his free time in the library, teaching himself in the course of a year both modern physics and the mathematics needed to work in it. Then, daringly, he wrote a letter to Einstein, identifying problems in one of the great man's papers. A correspondence was struck, but, because Moffat couldn't read German, he would take the letters to his barber to have them translated. The press caught wind of the story, which brought Moffat to the attention of Niels Bohr.With Einstein and Bohr's help, Moffat soon began a doctorate at Cambridge. His first bold stroke had taken him far, and would take him farther, ultimately to point out not just some of Einstein's small mistakes, but to revise his entire theory. Physicists have long known that something is wrong: Einstein's relativity and the theory of quantum mechanics are fundamentally incompatible, which has prompted the last twenty years' work in string theory. But Moffat has identified a bigger problem: not only does Einstein's theory not work in the world of the small, it doesn't seem to work in the world of the very large either.
About the Author
John Moffat is a professor emeritus of physics at the University of Toronto and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a resident affiliate member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada. Moffat earned a doctorate in physics at the University of Cambridge.
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27 reviews
45 of 45 people found the following review helpful
nice!
17 Nov 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very well written book on some pressing issues in cosmology/astronomy
and gravity.
The author presents a complete historical view starting from Aristotle's physics
(including also the pioneering contributions of Aristarchos) and ending to his own contributions of asymmetric gravity theory. These are some major points:
(a) this book could easily be considered a layman's book on astronomy and cosmology,
since it has a nice introduction of structure formation, cosmic microwave background, as well quite lucid discussions of dark matter and energy
(b) the author is a down-to-earth scientist paying the due respect to data and
experience; his discussions on string theory and scientific method should be read by all young scientists, since they present the tradition that made science the central focus of our societies from the time of ancient greeks to present (as nicely depicted in the book)
(c) the various alternatives to general relativity are honestly presented with
nicely structured arguments and with a progressing degree of difficulty
(d) I did not like the complete absence of mathematics as well as the fact that
some of the discussions despite their honesty and insight did not treat some
important concepts with adequate detail and depth.
Overall, this is a book that everybody with interest in modern cosmology/gravity
could read with interest. I particularly recommend it for young people that
are thinking of following careers in science.
and gravity.
The author presents a complete historical view starting from Aristotle's physics
(including also the pioneering contributions of Aristarchos) and ending to his own contributions of asymmetric gravity theory. These are some major points:
(a) this book could easily be considered a layman's book on astronomy and cosmology,
since it has a nice introduction of structure formation, cosmic microwave background, as well quite lucid discussions of dark matter and energy
(b) the author is a down-to-earth scientist paying the due respect to data and
experience; his discussions on string theory and scientific method should be read by all young scientists, since they present the tradition that made science the central focus of our societies from the time of ancient greeks to present (as nicely depicted in the book)
(c) the various alternatives to general relativity are honestly presented with
nicely structured arguments and with a progressing degree of difficulty
(d) I did not like the complete absence of mathematics as well as the fact that
some of the discussions despite their honesty and insight did not treat some
important concepts with adequate detail and depth.
Overall, this is a book that everybody with interest in modern cosmology/gravity
could read with interest. I particularly recommend it for young people that
are thinking of following careers in science.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Do not buy the Kindle edition!
17 Mar 2009
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The kindle edition of this book, like all the other science books with math or other symbols offered in the kindle format, leaves much to be desired. There is no indication for superscripts, so that "ten to the power of forty" is presented as 1040, obscuring the context.
It is surprising to me that nobody checks this and the other science books when they are offered in kindle edition. No quality control whatsoever.
In terms of content, the book is wonderful (see other reviews). I also bought the paper version, because of the errors in the kindle version.
It is surprising to me that nobody checks this and the other science books when they are offered in kindle edition. No quality control whatsoever.
In terms of content, the book is wonderful (see other reviews). I also bought the paper version, because of the errors in the kindle version.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
A Fabulous Review of Modern Cosmology
11 Nov 2008
Format:Hardcover
For amateurs interested in modern cosmology, this book is a fabulous treat. It poses all the problems and offers solutions that are empirically testable. No more dark matter. No more big bang. Wow!
Moffat's solutions derive from "MOG," or Modified Gravity theory. MOG, as Moffat explains, is similar to MOND, a modification of Newton's theory to accommodate observational data, such as the rapid rotation of galaxies. However, where as MOG has background independence as required by Einstein's theory of relativity, MOND does not. String theory does not have background independence either. So in this respect MOG is superior to both of these theories.
MOG eliminates the singularity at the centre of black holes. Hence, there is no event horizon surrounding the final state of a collapsed start, and no singularity at its centre. This nicely solves the black hole information-loss problem treated extensively in a recent book by Leonard Susskind.
MOG neatly handles the miracle of creation problem. No need to posit a big bang that defies the second law of thermodynamics. At the beginning of the MOG universe, both negative and positive time evolve with increasing entropy and cancel out.
MOG does not have dark matter, but instead posits a stronger gravity at the beginning of time than the standard model. The CMB does not need to arise from a big bang at all. In addition, the flatness and uniformity problem is solved by suggesting that the speed of light is not constant, but rather the ratio of G to c is. Hence, if G is stronger, c is faster, allowing all parts of the early universe to communicate.
I found that Moffat's book was best read in conjunction with Lee Smolin's recent book, "The Trouble with Physics." In his book, Smolin praises Moffat as a friend whom he respects for his boldness and originality. Perhaps they will write their next book together.
Moffat's solutions derive from "MOG," or Modified Gravity theory. MOG, as Moffat explains, is similar to MOND, a modification of Newton's theory to accommodate observational data, such as the rapid rotation of galaxies. However, where as MOG has background independence as required by Einstein's theory of relativity, MOND does not. String theory does not have background independence either. So in this respect MOG is superior to both of these theories.
MOG eliminates the singularity at the centre of black holes. Hence, there is no event horizon surrounding the final state of a collapsed start, and no singularity at its centre. This nicely solves the black hole information-loss problem treated extensively in a recent book by Leonard Susskind.
MOG neatly handles the miracle of creation problem. No need to posit a big bang that defies the second law of thermodynamics. At the beginning of the MOG universe, both negative and positive time evolve with increasing entropy and cancel out.
MOG does not have dark matter, but instead posits a stronger gravity at the beginning of time than the standard model. The CMB does not need to arise from a big bang at all. In addition, the flatness and uniformity problem is solved by suggesting that the speed of light is not constant, but rather the ratio of G to c is. Hence, if G is stronger, c is faster, allowing all parts of the early universe to communicate.
I found that Moffat's book was best read in conjunction with Lee Smolin's recent book, "The Trouble with Physics." In his book, Smolin praises Moffat as a friend whom he respects for his boldness and originality. Perhaps they will write their next book together.
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