- Hardcover: 287 pages
- Publisher: Headline Paperbacks (7 Jan 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747234965
- ISBN-13: 978-0747234968
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 239,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In his work as Cosmology Consultant for New Scientist magazine, Marcus Chown often comes across mind-blowing ideas and in The Universe Next Door he explores 12 of the most extraordinary. He delves into regions of space where time travels backwards, the possibility that the many worlds theorem implies that we can live forever and invisible mirror-matter interacting with ours only via gravity. As he points out in the foreword, such apparently crazy ideas are essential for pushing forward the frontiers of science and the concepts presented here are attempts to answer the big questions about reality, time and the origins of the universe. Why are the laws of physics so perfectly tuned that they allow atoms, stars and people to exist? Is there perhaps infinity of universes out there, all with different physical laws? Some theorists have suggested that our universe was deliberately created by vastly superior aliens, or that universes are born within the singularities of black holes and that those with physical laws like ours will reproduce themselves many times, while others will not.
It’s all well-written and thought-provoking, but there are few brand-new ideas here. If you read New Scientist or other popular cosmology books, you’ll have come across most of these concepts before, but if not, this is a good place to start. The universe is a very strange place and the more we learn about it, the stranger it becomes. Chown is a friendly guide through the weirdness. --Elizabeth Sourbut
Scotland on Sunday, January 6, 2002
Punchy, conversational and well-stocked with reader-friendly analogies. A wonderful collection of exceedingly strange ideas.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I saw this in hardback, I thought it looked good. And it is! Very good. On the cover, Matt Ridley says Marcus Chown is the "finest cosmology writer of our day". I'd go one farther. He's the finest science writer of our day. There are some people who have a deep and profound understanding of science and there are some people who can write for the man-in-the-street. But rarely does anyone combine both these skills. Chown does. The exhilarating ride he takes you on - to the very frontier of science - will, I guarantee, blow your mind. When I finished Chown's book, I immediately ordered one of his others. And I can't remember when a book last made me do that.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This fascinating book on cosmology straddles the worlds of science and science fiction, addressing questions like the nature of time, e.g. Can it run backwards?, multiple realities and the possibility of the multiverse or infinite universes. Part One, The Nature Of Reality, considers regions of the universe where time may run backwards, infinite realities, wave functions and matterwaves plus a stuff or entity called ortho-positronium. Part Two, The Nature Of The Universe, considers invisible galaxies, stars and planets, mirror matter, the interaction between ordinary and mirror matter, black holes and their significance in the model of the universe, the possibility of intelligent life creating a universe and even how to build a universe. Relativity, quantum physics, the ideas of Hoyle and Chandrasekhar and many others are involved in the speculations. Part Three discusses the likelihood of life on earth having been seeded from space, the comet connection, life as a cosmic phenomenon and the strong possibility of finding alien artefacts on the earth and the moon. The book concludes with a glossary of terms, a reading list with separate headings for Fiction and Non-Fiction and a thorough index. It is a stimulating and thought provoking read written in a manner that everyone can understand. I highly recommend it.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We sometimes need to be reminded that knowledge of our universe is gained through innovative thinking. Marcus Chown has rounded up a number of novel ideas, along with their originators and supporters. He presents these speculations along with their criticisms and defenses. Chown is careful to show why these novel ideas are worth considering and supporting the research in its quest for fuller understanding. If for nothing else, this book is valuable for introducing new concepts and why we should remain open-minded about scientific theorizing.
Chown's breezy style doesn't obscure his grasp of the sciences. He's conversant with the science and presents the radical views in a conversational format. Dividing the ideas into three sections, he begins with some fundamental issues in physics, relates some new ideas in cosmology, and examines facets of the anthropic principle. We learn of multiple dimensions tucked away in the depths of atoms. Are there other universes neighbouring ours, but with different properties? Are there maverick planets drifting through the universe, but with life present, sustained by internal heat? How did life originate on this planet - or did it truly originate here? There are many formidable mysteries involved, but Chown's ability in narrating them keeps their within our grasp. His description of Hoyle and Wikramsinghe's "panspermia" idea is one of the best summations available.
Chown has no illusions that these issues stand outside the mainstream of today's science. That is the point of his making this effort - embodied in his subtitle "the making of tomorrow's science". Bizarre ideas, he reminds us, doesn't mean that they're crazy. Science is full of the unusual. Many of the things we accept as "normal" today were unheard of even in our lifetimes. Someone pursued that "crazy" idea to give us things like personal computers or digital television. He understands how much research needs support, even when the issues don't appear "practical" for everyday life. Much work remains and he's encouraging anyone interested in pursuing fresh ideas. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Most Recent Customer Reviews
It's not rocket science ... but it is a must read
Having read a couple of books by Richard Feynman lately I was keen to veer off a little into unexpected realms. Man alive did I get what I asked for!! Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2009 by M. Rawson
Lovely book but spoilt by something........
I am a big fan of Marcus. He has a knack of making really quite unfathomable subjects accessible to the layperson. Having read some of his other books I looked forward to this one. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2009 by Richard H
Chown makes the most complex science accessible!
This was the first Marcus Chown book i'd read and I was new to the subject matter, so the last thing i needed was an extremely complex heavy going science book, I am glad I got... Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2008 by J. Farran
unputdownable
chown has to be one of the best science writers yet thrown up. i've read them all, and he seems to be the most readable, most digestable and least boring of them all. Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2007 by Hambletta-Maud
Beautiful science, beautifully told
A review on the back of Marcus Chown's earlier book, 'Afterglow of Creation', says - "Beautiful science, beautifully told". It could equally well apply to 'The Universe Next Door'. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2004
Delightful!
I found "The Universe Next Door" delightful. Furthermore, as a non-physicist, I found no difficult statements. I look forward to Marcus Chown's next book.
Published on 23 Feb 2004 by Laura Kiser
A disappointment.
I have been a fan of Marcus Chown's other work, but I have to say that I really found 'The Universe Next Door' a big disappointment. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2004 by Eleanor G
An inspirational writer
The magic and wonder of science is not learning boring facts and figures, is is about becoming aware of the possibilities that exist in each and everyone of us. Read more
Published on 15 May 2003 by Pam Young
An inspirational writer
The magic and wonder of science is not in learning boring facts and figures, it is about becoming aware of the possibilities that exist in each and every one of us. Read more
Published on 8 April 2003 by Pam Young
Science Lite...
Marcus Chown is obviously a great writer but, although well-written, I felt somewhat disappointed by "The Universe Next Door". Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2003
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
