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The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science
The idea that an atom can be in two places at once defies logic. Yet this is now an established scientific fact. In The Universe Next Door , science writer Marcus Chown examines a dozen mind-bending new ideas that also fly in the face of reason--but that, according to eminent scientists, might
just be crazy enough to be true.
Could time run backwards? Is there a fifth dimension? Does quantum theory promise immortality? To explore these questions, Chown has interviewed some of the most imaginative and courageous people working at the forefront of science, and he has come away with a smorgasbord of mind-expanding
ideas. For instance, Lawrence Schulman at New York's Clarkson University believes there could be regions in our Universe where stars unexplode, eggs unbreak and living things grow younger with every passing second. Max Tegmark, at the University of Pennsylvania, believes there could be an infinity
of realities stacked together like the pages of a never-ending book (with an infinite number of versions of you, living out an infinite number of different lives). And David Stevenson of Cal Tech argues that life may exist on worlds drifting in the cold, dark abyss between the stars, worlds without
suns to warm them. Indeed, these worlds may be the most common sites for life in the universe.
Was our universe created by super-intelligent beings from another universe? Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life lying right beneath our feet? The Universe Next Door ponders these and many other thought-provoking questions. You may not agree with all the answers but your head will be
spinning by the time you reach the last page.
just be crazy enough to be true.
Could time run backwards? Is there a fifth dimension? Does quantum theory promise immortality? To explore these questions, Chown has interviewed some of the most imaginative and courageous people working at the forefront of science, and he has come away with a smorgasbord of mind-expanding
ideas. For instance, Lawrence Schulman at New York's Clarkson University believes there could be regions in our Universe where stars unexplode, eggs unbreak and living things grow younger with every passing second. Max Tegmark, at the University of Pennsylvania, believes there could be an infinity
of realities stacked together like the pages of a never-ending book (with an infinite number of versions of you, living out an infinite number of different lives). And David Stevenson of Cal Tech argues that life may exist on worlds drifting in the cold, dark abyss between the stars, worlds without
suns to warm them. Indeed, these worlds may be the most common sites for life in the universe.
Was our universe created by super-intelligent beings from another universe? Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life lying right beneath our feet? The Universe Next Door ponders these and many other thought-provoking questions. You may not agree with all the answers but your head will be
spinning by the time you reach the last page.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 7, 2002
12 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Chown
30 books238 followersMarcus Chown is an award-winning writer and broadcaster. Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, he is currently cosmology consultant of the weekly science magazine New Scientist. He is the author of the bestselling Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You, The Never Ending Days of Being Dead and The Magic Furnace. He also wrote The Solar System, the bestselling app for iPad, which won the Future Book Award 2011. Marcus Chown has also written a work for children, Felicity Frobisher and the Three-Headed Aldebaran Dust Devil.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 17, 2019
Entertaining and over the top
This is an interesting book of cosmological speculation aimed at the general reader. What science writer Marcus Chown does especially well is to excite our imagination about what might be possible in light of what we now know or think we know.
This is not, however a book to give comfort to mainstream physicists. Chown's emphasis is on minority report notions including parallel universes, invisible universes, time travel, universes created by super-intelligent beings, extra dimensions, and the like. His technique is to introduce the ideas of maverick scientists (e.g., Max Tegmark, Edward Harrison, David Stevenson, etc.) and, where possible, meld them with the ideas of more established scientists. He avoids (I think) the impossible while concentrating on the exciting.
Since most of the ideas presented in this book are of the "not likely to be proven any time soon" variety, I would like to give them a kind of aesthetic grade just for fun and as a way to show you what the book is about.
First, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, an idea championed by physicist David Deutsch in his book, The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes—and Its Implications (1997). Grade: A+. This is a beautiful notion that expands the mind wonderfully. A entire new universe with every tick of the quantum! Mind-boggling in the extreme, yet eye-opening in the sense that by contemplating such an amazement, we might have a better idea of the thought of infinity. (Personally, though, I prefer in everyday life, the Copenhagen interpretation.) By the way, see my review of Deutsch’s book.
Second, the idea of parallel universes (a possibility that can be independent of the many worlds interpretation of QM). Grade: A-. Too easy by itself to imagine. But what gives it elegance is the underlying question that it begs: what is the nature of reality? "Where" do these parallel universes reside? Is "where" really a meaningful concept? Do we have any idea of what "where" really means?
Third, time travel backwards based on an imploding universe headed for crunch time. Grade: C. My problem is the "so what" nature of this idea. Clearly it is not supposed that broken cups and scrambled eggs will go a-mending and unscrambling as time moves backwards as in a movie run in reverse.
Fourth, time travel based on worm holes, etc. Grade C+. I like the idea that somewhere else (as we emerge from the worm hole) is also some other time, but I just don't see in my wildest imaginings how we might control our destination, either in terms of where or when.
Fifth, time travel that avoids the grandfather paradox by having the changes take effect in parallel universes. Grade: A. This really is a nice answer to both the paradoxes and the salient question that Stephen Hawking asked, "Where are the tourists?" (from the future). Incidentally, time travel into the future is no problem logically in this world. It just takes time. (Ha!) It is time travel to the past that leads to all the logical and conceptional problems.
Sixth: Invisible universes. Grade: D-. If they can in some way affect our visible universe, make that a C. Invisible universes that we cannot become aware of in any way are effectively speaking not much different than parallel universes.
Seventh: the idea that black holes "explode" or bud out into a new universe elsewhere. Grade: A. Although this is about as close to an untestable idea as one can imagine, it has a beautiful symmetry to it that is infectious. Our universe itself could be the result of such a budding out.
Eighth: the idea that universes propagate by giving birth to new universes, either through black holes or some other manner. Grade: B. What I like about this idea is the suggestion of infinity, one universe leads to another to another, etc., etc., truly mind-exploding! What I don't like is the somewhat biological taint. Testability? (Grin.)
Ninth: the idea that there are dark planets in interstellar space teeming with life. Grade: A+. Eminently reasonable. I predict this idea will become a common assumption in a few years. The impetus for this idea is the fairly recent realization here on earth of just how common life is, underground, at the bottom of deep ocean trenches, that does not rely on photosynthesis. This is also an idea that could conceivably, even in my lifetime, find some empirical support.
Tenth: panspermia (from Chandra Wickramasinghe and Fred Hoyle), or the idea that the origin of life is extraterrestrial. Grade: A. This is also eminently reasonable and likely to be given some support before too long (if it is true). This really is the most likely idea in the book.
Eleven: alien garbage, or the notion that artifacts from ET's are littering up interstellar space and some of those artifacts have hit the earth and are under our feet. Grade C-. I have several problems with this, mainly that I think the amount of debris is a huge overestimate, primarily because I don't think the superior technicians envisioned would be as careless as radio astronomer Alexey Arkhipov seems to think.
I could go on but better you should read Chown's book and do your own grading.
Bottom line: this is an entertaining excursion up to and over the edge of the known.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
This is an interesting book of cosmological speculation aimed at the general reader. What science writer Marcus Chown does especially well is to excite our imagination about what might be possible in light of what we now know or think we know.
This is not, however a book to give comfort to mainstream physicists. Chown's emphasis is on minority report notions including parallel universes, invisible universes, time travel, universes created by super-intelligent beings, extra dimensions, and the like. His technique is to introduce the ideas of maverick scientists (e.g., Max Tegmark, Edward Harrison, David Stevenson, etc.) and, where possible, meld them with the ideas of more established scientists. He avoids (I think) the impossible while concentrating on the exciting.
Since most of the ideas presented in this book are of the "not likely to be proven any time soon" variety, I would like to give them a kind of aesthetic grade just for fun and as a way to show you what the book is about.
First, the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, an idea championed by physicist David Deutsch in his book, The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes—and Its Implications (1997). Grade: A+. This is a beautiful notion that expands the mind wonderfully. A entire new universe with every tick of the quantum! Mind-boggling in the extreme, yet eye-opening in the sense that by contemplating such an amazement, we might have a better idea of the thought of infinity. (Personally, though, I prefer in everyday life, the Copenhagen interpretation.) By the way, see my review of Deutsch’s book.
Second, the idea of parallel universes (a possibility that can be independent of the many worlds interpretation of QM). Grade: A-. Too easy by itself to imagine. But what gives it elegance is the underlying question that it begs: what is the nature of reality? "Where" do these parallel universes reside? Is "where" really a meaningful concept? Do we have any idea of what "where" really means?
Third, time travel backwards based on an imploding universe headed for crunch time. Grade: C. My problem is the "so what" nature of this idea. Clearly it is not supposed that broken cups and scrambled eggs will go a-mending and unscrambling as time moves backwards as in a movie run in reverse.
Fourth, time travel based on worm holes, etc. Grade C+. I like the idea that somewhere else (as we emerge from the worm hole) is also some other time, but I just don't see in my wildest imaginings how we might control our destination, either in terms of where or when.
Fifth, time travel that avoids the grandfather paradox by having the changes take effect in parallel universes. Grade: A. This really is a nice answer to both the paradoxes and the salient question that Stephen Hawking asked, "Where are the tourists?" (from the future). Incidentally, time travel into the future is no problem logically in this world. It just takes time. (Ha!) It is time travel to the past that leads to all the logical and conceptional problems.
Sixth: Invisible universes. Grade: D-. If they can in some way affect our visible universe, make that a C. Invisible universes that we cannot become aware of in any way are effectively speaking not much different than parallel universes.
Seventh: the idea that black holes "explode" or bud out into a new universe elsewhere. Grade: A. Although this is about as close to an untestable idea as one can imagine, it has a beautiful symmetry to it that is infectious. Our universe itself could be the result of such a budding out.
Eighth: the idea that universes propagate by giving birth to new universes, either through black holes or some other manner. Grade: B. What I like about this idea is the suggestion of infinity, one universe leads to another to another, etc., etc., truly mind-exploding! What I don't like is the somewhat biological taint. Testability? (Grin.)
Ninth: the idea that there are dark planets in interstellar space teeming with life. Grade: A+. Eminently reasonable. I predict this idea will become a common assumption in a few years. The impetus for this idea is the fairly recent realization here on earth of just how common life is, underground, at the bottom of deep ocean trenches, that does not rely on photosynthesis. This is also an idea that could conceivably, even in my lifetime, find some empirical support.
Tenth: panspermia (from Chandra Wickramasinghe and Fred Hoyle), or the idea that the origin of life is extraterrestrial. Grade: A. This is also eminently reasonable and likely to be given some support before too long (if it is true). This really is the most likely idea in the book.
Eleven: alien garbage, or the notion that artifacts from ET's are littering up interstellar space and some of those artifacts have hit the earth and are under our feet. Grade C-. I have several problems with this, mainly that I think the amount of debris is a huge overestimate, primarily because I don't think the superior technicians envisioned would be as careless as radio astronomer Alexey Arkhipov seems to think.
I could go on but better you should read Chown's book and do your own grading.
Bottom line: this is an entertaining excursion up to and over the edge of the known.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
September 9, 2022
Muy interesante. Nos abre la puerta a nuevas teorías científicas sobre cosmología. Ya tiene sus años y se nota en algunas cosas pero la mayoría siguen de actualidad a día de hoy y seguro que por mucho mucho tiempo.
September 1, 2010
Cool book on the new theories in physics - specifically quantum physics.
Immortality in an alternate quantum reality? Black holes that give birth to new universes? Galactic regions where time runs backward? Mere fiction simply cannot keep up with the wild rush of contemporary science. And no writer makes it easier for general readers to come along for the dizzying ride than Chown, cosmology consultant for New Scientist. Whether assessing the latest evidence for comet-borne life or probing the implications of 10-dimensional models for space, Chown frees readers from the technical rigors of theorizing but ceaselessly challenges us to enlarge our imaginative horizons. The galaxy itself cannot contain ideas that open up onto a multiuniverse of cosmic possibilities, including invisible mirror planets and cosmic laboratories for detonating new big bangs. To be sure, Chown ventures far beyond what scientists have actually proved, delving deep into what they only wildly conjecture. But even the wildest of speculations (that, for instance, each atom is a miniature time machine) show us how brilliant scientists grapple with fundamental questions. Many of these theoretical forays will eventually be exposed as fantasies. But others are bound to revolutionize the way scientists--and ordinary humans--view our cosmos and our place in it. For sheer intellectual exhilaration, few books offer more. Bryce Christensen
The idea that an atom can be in two places at once defies logic. Yet this is now an established scientific fact. In The Universe Next Door, science writer Marcus Chown examines a dozen mind-bending new ideas that also fly in the face of reason--but that, according to eminent scientists, might just be crazy enough to be true. Could time run backwards? Is there a fifth dimension? Does quantum theory promise immortality? To explore these questions, Chown has interviewed some of the most imaginative and courageous people working at the forefront of science, and he has come away with a smorgasbord of mind-expanding ideas. For instance, Lawrence Schulman at New York's Clarkson University believes there could be regions in our Universe where stars unexplode, eggs unbreak and living things grow younger with every passing second. Max Tegmark, at the University of Pennsylvania, believes there could be an infinity of realities stacked together like the pages of a never-ending book (with an infinite number of versions of you, living out an infinite number of different lives). And David Stevenson of Cal Tech argues that life may exist on worlds drifting in the cold, dark abyss between the stars, worlds without suns to warm them. Indeed, these worlds may be the most common sites for life in the universe. Was our universe created by super-intelligent beings from another universe? Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life lying right beneath our feet? The Universe Next Door ponders these and many other thought-provoking questions. You may not agree with all the answers but your head will be spinning by the time you reach the last page.
Immortality in an alternate quantum reality? Black holes that give birth to new universes? Galactic regions where time runs backward? Mere fiction simply cannot keep up with the wild rush of contemporary science. And no writer makes it easier for general readers to come along for the dizzying ride than Chown, cosmology consultant for New Scientist. Whether assessing the latest evidence for comet-borne life or probing the implications of 10-dimensional models for space, Chown frees readers from the technical rigors of theorizing but ceaselessly challenges us to enlarge our imaginative horizons. The galaxy itself cannot contain ideas that open up onto a multiuniverse of cosmic possibilities, including invisible mirror planets and cosmic laboratories for detonating new big bangs. To be sure, Chown ventures far beyond what scientists have actually proved, delving deep into what they only wildly conjecture. But even the wildest of speculations (that, for instance, each atom is a miniature time machine) show us how brilliant scientists grapple with fundamental questions. Many of these theoretical forays will eventually be exposed as fantasies. But others are bound to revolutionize the way scientists--and ordinary humans--view our cosmos and our place in it. For sheer intellectual exhilaration, few books offer more. Bryce Christensen
The idea that an atom can be in two places at once defies logic. Yet this is now an established scientific fact. In The Universe Next Door, science writer Marcus Chown examines a dozen mind-bending new ideas that also fly in the face of reason--but that, according to eminent scientists, might just be crazy enough to be true. Could time run backwards? Is there a fifth dimension? Does quantum theory promise immortality? To explore these questions, Chown has interviewed some of the most imaginative and courageous people working at the forefront of science, and he has come away with a smorgasbord of mind-expanding ideas. For instance, Lawrence Schulman at New York's Clarkson University believes there could be regions in our Universe where stars unexplode, eggs unbreak and living things grow younger with every passing second. Max Tegmark, at the University of Pennsylvania, believes there could be an infinity of realities stacked together like the pages of a never-ending book (with an infinite number of versions of you, living out an infinite number of different lives). And David Stevenson of Cal Tech argues that life may exist on worlds drifting in the cold, dark abyss between the stars, worlds without suns to warm them. Indeed, these worlds may be the most common sites for life in the universe. Was our universe created by super-intelligent beings from another universe? Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life lying right beneath our feet? The Universe Next Door ponders these and many other thought-provoking questions. You may not agree with all the answers but your head will be spinning by the time you reach the last page.
July 31, 2013
The Universe Next Door
contains lots of interesting concepts from theoretical physics – mainly the more exotic implications of theories such as general relativity and quantum mechanics. It explores a number of ideas that have captivated both professional scientists and curious laymen alike since Einstein's annus mirabilis.
The author, Marcus Chown, discusses many ideas that have been popularised by the likes of Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose and Max Tegmark, to name but a few.
The book capitalises on concepts such as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, the extra dimensions postulated by string theory, and some of the more extreme predictions of the mathematics of general relativity. It then endeavours to explain in a non-technical language the mind-bending implications of these theories, and does a good job of it too.
I would highly recommend this book to a newcomer to physics, or to someone who has never really thought in detail about the idea of the multiverse/parallel universes etc. However, readers who have a scientific background, or even just hobbyists who have read all the popular science books or watched a lot of documentaries on space, may find that this book is lacking in any original stimulating ideas, and may want to try something else.
Overall, a good book considering its scope and audience.
The author, Marcus Chown, discusses many ideas that have been popularised by the likes of Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose and Max Tegmark, to name but a few.
The book capitalises on concepts such as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, the extra dimensions postulated by string theory, and some of the more extreme predictions of the mathematics of general relativity. It then endeavours to explain in a non-technical language the mind-bending implications of these theories, and does a good job of it too.
I would highly recommend this book to a newcomer to physics, or to someone who has never really thought in detail about the idea of the multiverse/parallel universes etc. However, readers who have a scientific background, or even just hobbyists who have read all the popular science books or watched a lot of documentaries on space, may find that this book is lacking in any original stimulating ideas, and may want to try something else.
Overall, a good book considering its scope and audience.
March 5, 2012
If you are not familiar with quantum theory and relativity theory then these essays will certainly seem like science fiction and will be very difficult to take seriously. This is because the background for these theories is not given here. However Chown knows that quantum physics hobbyists such as myself are everywhere, making this kind of book a plausible money spinner. For those familiar with the bizarre world of quantum physics, these theories that Chown describes are some of the more (and less as in multiverses) contentious attempts to address some of the remaining holes in quantum theory, and the ever enticing task of uniting relativity and quantum theory. The interesting parts for me were in the last section of the book where Chown describes one theory which proposes how there may be millions of "invisible" planets sustaining life in the dark of interstellar space, and another theory showing how life may originally have evolved to bacteria stage, elsewhere in the universe and arrived fully formed on early earth.
November 3, 2022
About Tomorrow.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2004
Marcus Chown deserves an award. He jumps forward without wasting time for rewriting Newton's or Einstein's history, and expands on what is new and controversial: Schulman's reversed time, Maris' electron bubbles, Tegmark quantum interpretation, Harrison's natural selection of self-reproducing universes, Mark Hadley's unification of QT and GR, Gnienko's and Foot's "mirror" matter, plus very interesting probability calculation by Arhipov - whether we can find ET junk on Earth; just a few subjects that you will not find even in currently published new Brian Greene's book "The Fabric of the Cosmos".
Excellent writing, so well, that lack of any pictures or drawings is not detrimental at all.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2004
Marcus Chown deserves an award. He jumps forward without wasting time for rewriting Newton's or Einstein's history, and expands on what is new and controversial: Schulman's reversed time, Maris' electron bubbles, Tegmark quantum interpretation, Harrison's natural selection of self-reproducing universes, Mark Hadley's unification of QT and GR, Gnienko's and Foot's "mirror" matter, plus very interesting probability calculation by Arhipov - whether we can find ET junk on Earth; just a few subjects that you will not find even in currently published new Brian Greene's book "The Fabric of the Cosmos".
Excellent writing, so well, that lack of any pictures or drawings is not detrimental at all.
May 18, 2020
While a little out of date, starting operations at CERN in 2006 in discussed as a future event, this is the best book I've read so far on quantum physics and parallel universes. Apart from some sections on plancks and branes that went over my head, I got a lot from it as a lay-person and it made me want to learn more. Mirror worlds and particles; tricksy atoms that can be in more than one place at once; the likelihood that our universe is teeming with life, originating from asteroids that seed any planet with enough warmth to have liquid water; and that six missing dimensions that must exist for wave theory to be correct, might be folded so small that we cannot perceive them.
December 7, 2022
I actually borrowed this book by accident from library inter-loan. A friend recommended this title but she was referring to an entirely different book with the same title but a different subtitle! She recommended: The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog by James W. Sire. Nevertheless, I manage to read a few chapters but did not have time to finish the book before it was due back at the library. Interesting stuff, to be sure!
April 16, 2022
A little complicated but very interesting definitely recommend to anyone interested in learning more about quantum physics
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September 28, 2022"Koncepcja wielu światów [...] stwierdza, że jeśli ołówek postawimy na ostrzu to przewróci się on równocześnie we wszystkich kierunkach" (37).
"Sąsiednie rzeczywistości są bardzo podobne do siebie. Pewne dwie rzeczywistości mogą się na przykład różnić tylko tym, że w jednej z nich subatomowa cząstka przechodzi przez lewą przesłonę w szczelinie, a w drugiej - przez prawą. Przez miliardy lat, które poprzedzały to konkretne doświadczenie, te dwie rzeczywistości miały identyczne historie. [...] Na przykład gdzieś wśród nich jest Ziemia, której nie zdewastowało uderzenie komety 65mln lat temu, a inteligentne istoty pojawiły się na niej w wyniku dalszej ewolucji dinozaurów. Na innej Ziemi rewolucja przemysłowa zaczęła się w Chinach, a nie w Wielkiej Brytanii, Marilyn Monroe poślubiła Einsteina, a naziści zwyciężyli w drugiej wojnie światowej" (40).
"Jedna z naczelnych zasad fizyki głosi, że mimo powszechnie widocznej, ogromnej złożoności świata natura w istocie swej jest całkiem prosta. To jest bardziej akt wiary niż rozumu - nie wiemy, dlaczego wszechświat miały być zbudowany w taki sposób - lecz przez wszystkie minione lata wiara ta została wynagrodzona bezprecedensowym zrozumieniem praw natury oraz bezprecedensowym poziomem kontroli nad nią" (112).
"W XX wieku astronomowie zastosowali zasadę kopernikańską do całego kosmosu. Obserwując kosmos przez swe gigantyczne teleskopy, doszli do wniosku, że nie tylko Ziemia nie zajmuje jakiego wyróżnionego miejsca w Układzie Słonecznym, lecz także Układ Słoneczny nie zajmuje wyróżnionego miejsca w naszej Galaktyce, a nasza Galaktyka nie zajmuje wyróżnionego miejsca we Wszechświecie. Cała konstrukcja współczesnej kosmologii jest oparta na zasadzie kopernikańskiej. Droga Mleczna jest tylko jedną z nieprzeliczonych galaktyk we wszechświecie [...]" (124-125).
"Najbardziej przekonujące dowody istnienia multiświata pochodzą z fundamentalnych praw, które rządzą wszechświatem. Prawa te wykazują pewną szczególną włąściwość. Wydaje się, że są ściśle dostrojone tak, żeby istoty ludzkie albo przynajmnie istoty żywe mogły żyć we wszechświecie" (126).
"Gdziekolwiek fizycy spojrzą, widzą przykłąd dostrojania - mówi astronom królewski, Sir Martin Rees z Cambridge Uniwersity. - Wydaje się, że większość zbadanych obecnie stałych fizycznych i warunków poczatkowych wszechświata jest mniej lub bardziej dostrojona" (128).
"Albo wszechświat został stworzony przez Stwórcę specjalnie dla nas, albo istnieje duża liczba wszechświatów, a w każdym z nich wartości stałych fizycznych są inne. Wtedy nie byłoby nic dziwnego w tym, że znaleźliśmy się we wszechświecie, w którym stałe mają takie wartości, aby mogły powstać galaktyki, gwiazdy i życie" - Max Tegmark (128-129).
"Koncepcja multiświata stanowi potencjalnie równie drastyczną zmianę naszej kosmicznej perspektywy jak przejście od przedkopernikańskiej idei do zrozumienia, że Ziemia krąży wogół przecietnej gwiazdy na peryferiach Drogi Mlecznej, która jest tylko jedną z niezliczonych galaktyk we wszechświecie" - mówi Rees (129).
Zdaniem Johna Wheelera [...] nawet jeśli fizycy odkryją kiedyś teorię wszystkiego, to nadal będą niezadowoleni, ponieważ wciąż pozostanie otwarte pytanie: Dlaczego natura przestrzega właśnie tego układu równań, a nie innego?" (133).
"Sąsiednie rzeczywistości są bardzo podobne do siebie. Pewne dwie rzeczywistości mogą się na przykład różnić tylko tym, że w jednej z nich subatomowa cząstka przechodzi przez lewą przesłonę w szczelinie, a w drugiej - przez prawą. Przez miliardy lat, które poprzedzały to konkretne doświadczenie, te dwie rzeczywistości miały identyczne historie. [...] Na przykład gdzieś wśród nich jest Ziemia, której nie zdewastowało uderzenie komety 65mln lat temu, a inteligentne istoty pojawiły się na niej w wyniku dalszej ewolucji dinozaurów. Na innej Ziemi rewolucja przemysłowa zaczęła się w Chinach, a nie w Wielkiej Brytanii, Marilyn Monroe poślubiła Einsteina, a naziści zwyciężyli w drugiej wojnie światowej" (40).
"Jedna z naczelnych zasad fizyki głosi, że mimo powszechnie widocznej, ogromnej złożoności świata natura w istocie swej jest całkiem prosta. To jest bardziej akt wiary niż rozumu - nie wiemy, dlaczego wszechświat miały być zbudowany w taki sposób - lecz przez wszystkie minione lata wiara ta została wynagrodzona bezprecedensowym zrozumieniem praw natury oraz bezprecedensowym poziomem kontroli nad nią" (112).
"W XX wieku astronomowie zastosowali zasadę kopernikańską do całego kosmosu. Obserwując kosmos przez swe gigantyczne teleskopy, doszli do wniosku, że nie tylko Ziemia nie zajmuje jakiego wyróżnionego miejsca w Układzie Słonecznym, lecz także Układ Słoneczny nie zajmuje wyróżnionego miejsca w naszej Galaktyce, a nasza Galaktyka nie zajmuje wyróżnionego miejsca we Wszechświecie. Cała konstrukcja współczesnej kosmologii jest oparta na zasadzie kopernikańskiej. Droga Mleczna jest tylko jedną z nieprzeliczonych galaktyk we wszechświecie [...]" (124-125).
"Najbardziej przekonujące dowody istnienia multiświata pochodzą z fundamentalnych praw, które rządzą wszechświatem. Prawa te wykazują pewną szczególną włąściwość. Wydaje się, że są ściśle dostrojone tak, żeby istoty ludzkie albo przynajmnie istoty żywe mogły żyć we wszechświecie" (126).
"Gdziekolwiek fizycy spojrzą, widzą przykłąd dostrojania - mówi astronom królewski, Sir Martin Rees z Cambridge Uniwersity. - Wydaje się, że większość zbadanych obecnie stałych fizycznych i warunków poczatkowych wszechświata jest mniej lub bardziej dostrojona" (128).
"Albo wszechświat został stworzony przez Stwórcę specjalnie dla nas, albo istnieje duża liczba wszechświatów, a w każdym z nich wartości stałych fizycznych są inne. Wtedy nie byłoby nic dziwnego w tym, że znaleźliśmy się we wszechświecie, w którym stałe mają takie wartości, aby mogły powstać galaktyki, gwiazdy i życie" - Max Tegmark (128-129).
"Koncepcja multiświata stanowi potencjalnie równie drastyczną zmianę naszej kosmicznej perspektywy jak przejście od przedkopernikańskiej idei do zrozumienia, że Ziemia krąży wogół przecietnej gwiazdy na peryferiach Drogi Mlecznej, która jest tylko jedną z niezliczonych galaktyk we wszechświecie" - mówi Rees (129).
Zdaniem Johna Wheelera [...] nawet jeśli fizycy odkryją kiedyś teorię wszystkiego, to nadal będą niezadowoleni, ponieważ wciąż pozostanie otwarte pytanie: Dlaczego natura przestrzega właśnie tego układu równań, a nie innego?" (133).
May 18, 2020
One of my favourite popular science writers. Not his best but a good one nonetheless. However, a lot of the theories / papers etc are from c1997-2000 and I can't help but think they've probably all changed since then.
October 3, 2013
Very interesting book with a number of different theories about the universe. Definitely recommended!
December 10, 2018
Un libro de divulgación de física cuántica, astrofísica y astrobiología poco al uso. La parte regulera es que los conceptos se van repitiendo en muchos de los 12 ensayos, e incluso algún dato va cambiando entre ellos. La buena, que es muy especulativo. Chown muestra hipótesis sobre el funcionamiento del universo bastante heterodoxas, habla mucho de Max Tergmark (que lo tengo pendiente) y se atreve con multiversos matemáticos y nubes de cometas rebosantes de vida congelada, antes viva gracias a un isótopo de aluminio. Interesante.
January 26, 2019
As an avid reader of this author's popular science books, I was enthralled! I'm new to theoretical science and found this book to be a great introduction. Well worth reading 🙂
May 7, 2023
Nice introduction to some big ideas
May 1, 2010
Interesting and easy-to-read survey of some of the more astounding postulations in recent Physics and Astronomy.
'Easy-to-read' is why I didn't appreciate this book more. Obviously, unless you are a scientist and 'get' the math, you can't really understand the mind-bending theories presented.
But the best science writing uses metaphors and detailed descriptions of experiments to help the non-specialist who is willing to think hard at least approach understanding. There's little of this kind of writing here, not much encouragement to think hard, and so not much help in gaining more than a very surface level of knowledge.
An enjoyable and quick read, but I won't remember most of it next month.
'Easy-to-read' is why I didn't appreciate this book more. Obviously, unless you are a scientist and 'get' the math, you can't really understand the mind-bending theories presented.
But the best science writing uses metaphors and detailed descriptions of experiments to help the non-specialist who is willing to think hard at least approach understanding. There's little of this kind of writing here, not much encouragement to think hard, and so not much help in gaining more than a very surface level of knowledge.
An enjoyable and quick read, but I won't remember most of it next month.
January 29, 2015
Fascinating material...although I get the feeling that when theoretical physicists know that their predictions won't be testable in their lifetimes (if ever), that they just start making up crazy stuff in order to get attention. A fun read regardless, and it definitely gets the imagination going on all kinds of bizarre tangents. Note: I filed this under non-fiction, but I'm not really sure that is completely appropriate.
September 2, 2008
Excellent exploratory science writing that celebrates the creativity and wonder of the universe. Well written and with an ear towards layman like myself.
October 7, 2008
Yes. It's pseudoscience and fringe science.
No. I don't care. It's an interesting read and fun, I just wouldn't take it to be gospel.
No. I don't care. It's an interesting read and fun, I just wouldn't take it to be gospel.
September 29, 2013
Occam's razor need not apply.
March 25, 2017
Feels old already!
Easy to follow and understand quantum physics.
Written in 2002, so I bet things have changed already!
Easy to follow and understand quantum physics.
Written in 2002, so I bet things have changed already!
December 30, 2015
Marcus Chown is one of the best communicators of scientific ideas around
August 4, 2011
Wow.Some weird shit in here
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