Cosmic Wormholes: The Search for Interstellar Shortcuts

by Paul Halpern

Today such marvels are the stuff of science fiction. But one of the most provocative theories in modern astrophysics suggests that in the future they may well be reality.
In this lively, wondrously accessible book, physics professor Paul Halpern takes us on a fantastic intellectual journey into the world of exotic matter, black holes, white holes, and wormholes - celestial objects that could theoretically bridge distant parts of the universe. With clear and concise explanations and vivid analogies, Cosmic Wormholes illuminates the bold leaps of thought that may someday make travel across the universe as common as a transatlantic flight today. Halpern includes gripping fictional scenarios that depict some of the extraordinary events - including travel to the past and future and the mining of black hole energy - that might be possible if indeed we are able to construct wormholes. He also describes some of the baffling paradoxes inherent in such time travel.
This is fascinating reading for all who follow the leading edge of science as it pushes back the frontiers of human knowledge and expands the limits of human possibility.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Acclaimed science writer and physicist Dr. Paul Halpern is the author of fourteen popular science books, exploring the subjects of space, time, higher dimensions, dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, particle physics, and cosmology. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and an Athenaeum Literary Award. A regular contributor to NOVA's "The Nature of Reality" physics blog, he has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including "Future Quest" and "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special".

Halpern's latest book, "Einstein's Dice and Schrodinger's Cat," investigates how physicists Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger battled together against the incompleteness and indeterminacy of quantum mechanics. Their dialogue inspired Schrodinger's famous thought-experiment about a cat in a box that is in a mixed state between life and death until it is observed. They struggled to find a unified field theory that would unite the forces of nature and supersede quantum weirdness. Sadly they would never find success and their efforts would lead to a fiasco.

More information about Paul Halpern's books and other writings can be found at:
phalpern.com

Reviews

[Richard Archambault · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favourite books when I was 12-ish years old. Showing it to my kids now.

[Mark Yashar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one years ago. I think this was the first book I read about wormholes, with the exception maybe
of Hawking's first popular book. This is a popular, non-mathematical account of wormholes and possible
time machines and some related topics. I enjoyed the author's narrative/speculation about the Monolith in "2001:A Space Oddysey" being some sort of opening to a wormhole (a.k.a a "stargate") which Dave Bowman entered and fell through at the end of the movie.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this in the old/not regularly used-book-giveaway the library I currently work had, and I only picked it up because I had started watching Farscape at the time, so it was relevant to my interests (I'm looking at you, Scorpy). It turned out an interesting enough read; although it did come off as a bit dated at times (after all it was written 20 years ago).