The Universe Next Door [Hardcover]

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

Punchy, conversational and well-stocked with reader-friendly analogies. A wonderful collection of exceedingly strange ideas.

A parallel universe where science is actually fun. Chown offers a beguiling portrait of science as creative play. An exuberant book.

An enjoyable romp among the abstruse theories of 21st-century science.

Science expands the mind. It transports you to the frontiers of the unknown. And my, what frontiers these are!

'A deeply felt and genuine exploration... and strangely, the god he leaves us with, however impossible, remains attractive.'

'Immensely entertaining, and a sovereign relief against the absurdities and dangers of religious belief ... funny and whimsical ... clever and perceptive.'

'Ten out of ten for the idea, the approach, the style, the writing... Waugh writes like an impious angel; witty and rivetingly.'.'

Can time run backwards? Can we live forever? Could our universe have been created as a DIY experiment by superior beings in another universe? These questions may sound crazy but, like nothing else, they explore the limits of our current knowledge and highlight the key issues scientists at the cutting edge are wrestling to understand. As Cosmology Consultant at the New Scientist, Marcus Chown often comes across ideas that leave his head spinning. In this hugely entertaining, accessible and mind-blowing book, he explores the ramifications of, as he puts it, science with the 'wow!' factor.

Marcus Chown is the Cosmology Consultant for New Scientist magazine. He has a first-class degree in physics from the University of London and an MSc in astrophysics from the Californian Institute of Technology.

FOREWORD
The making of tomorrow's science

Among all the services that can be rendered to science, the most important is the injection of novel ideas.
J. J. Thomson

What we need is imagination. We have to find a new view of the world.
Richard Feynman

New ideas are the stuff of science. Without a constant supply of them--clay pigeons catapulted into the blue sky to be shot down-- science would be impossible. As cosmology consultant of New Scientist, I often come across ideas that blow my mind, that leave my head spinning with their far-reaching ramifications. Like the notion that time could actually run backwards; or that there might exist multiple realities playing out all possible histories; or that our Universe may have been created as a DIY experiment by superior beings in another universe!

Invariably, such ideas are attempts to answer the big questions in science. What is time? What is reality? Are we alone in the cosmos? Where did the Universe come from? Like nothing else, these questions expose the limits of our current knowledge, highlighting the key things scientists at the frontier are wrestling to understand.

What follows are my despatches from the frontier of the imagination. At first sight, the ideas may seem crazy. But, then, once upon a time, the idea that time slows down for someone travelling fast or in the presence of gravity seemed crazy. Now, "time dilation" can be demonstrated with super-accurate atomic clocks and nobody seriously doubts it. Once upon a time the idea that an atom could be in two places at once--the everyday equivalent of being able to sit down and stand up at the same time--seemed crazy. Now, not only is this easily demonstrable but inventions which exploit the ideas of "quantum theory" are estimated to account for 30 per cent of the GDP of the United States.

"Craziness", therefore, is not necessarily grounds for dismissing an idea. Nature is under no obligation whatsoever to respect our sensitivities and behave in a way that appeals to everyday common sense. "Your idea is crazy," the great physicist Niels Bohr is reported to have told a colleague. "The question is: is it crazy enough to be true?"

Of course, the scientific imagination must work within the limits of the known facts. And there is evidence for all the ideas presented here. This book is a tribute to extraordinary people with extraordinary ideas. It's a salute to those with the courage and imagination to try and make tomorrow's science. It's a homage to those who are struggling to see beyond the edge of the known universe.

I hope that in reading this book you will get some feeling of what a wonderful, weird, wacky universe we find ourselves in-- a universe far stranger than anything we could possibly have invented. And I hope that it gets you thinking. Without further ado, then, and in the words of e. e. cummings: "Listen, there's a hell of a good universe next door: let's go!"