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New Scientist: Instant Expert
Where the Universe Came From: How Einstein’s Relativity Unlocks the Past, Present and Future of the Cosmos
WHY GENERAL RELATIVITY LEAVES UNFINISHED BUSINESS WITH THE COSMOS
A little over a century ago, a young Albert Einstein presented his general theory of relativity to the world and utterly transformed our understanding of the universe. He overturned centuries of thinking about gravity by revealing how it arises from the curvature of space and time. Yet general relativity has had far greater consequences. It has revealed that our universe has been expanding from a hot dense state called the big bang. It has changed our understanding of space and time. And it predicts that the universe is an extreme place, containing black holes and possibly wormholes.
Using Einstein's insights, today's cosmologists have come to realize that most of the universe is missing in the form of mysterious dark matter and dark energy.
In Where The Universe Came From leading cosmologists and New Scientist explain that while we have made great progress, we still have plenty of unfinished business with the cosmos. How does the dark universe shape our cosmic destiny? What is really happening near black holes? Are we any closer to discovering the ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein? Why is relativity not the final answer?
ABOUT THE SERIES
New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.
A little over a century ago, a young Albert Einstein presented his general theory of relativity to the world and utterly transformed our understanding of the universe. He overturned centuries of thinking about gravity by revealing how it arises from the curvature of space and time. Yet general relativity has had far greater consequences. It has revealed that our universe has been expanding from a hot dense state called the big bang. It has changed our understanding of space and time. And it predicts that the universe is an extreme place, containing black holes and possibly wormholes.
Using Einstein's insights, today's cosmologists have come to realize that most of the universe is missing in the form of mysterious dark matter and dark energy.
In Where The Universe Came From leading cosmologists and New Scientist explain that while we have made great progress, we still have plenty of unfinished business with the cosmos. How does the dark universe shape our cosmic destiny? What is really happening near black holes? Are we any closer to discovering the ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein? Why is relativity not the final answer?
ABOUT THE SERIES
New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.
224 pages, Paperback
Published March 21, 2017
66 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 3, 2022
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
- Albert Einstein
Minkowski space-time diagram in the special relativity
"Hermann Minkowski found a neat way of explaining special relativity. He coined the idea of space-time - that space and time is intertwined. You can think about a map of how things unfold in time and space: at the bottom of the map you have the far past, at the top the far future, while left or right mark different places. Minkowski realized that, when you are moving, you point in a different direction in space-time: instead of straight up the page, you tilt to the left or right. Mathematically, it is very much like a rotation that interchanges some of your space for time and some of your time for space. This abstract view correctly generates the results of special relativity in a beautifully streamlined way."
"Минковский предложил лаконичное объяснение специальной теории относительности, соединив воедино пространство и время. События, разворачивающиеся в пространстве и времени, можно представить в виде карты: нижняя часть карты – это далекое прошлое, верхняя – отдаленное будущее, а слева и справа располагаются самые различные места в пространстве. Минковский понимал, что движение происходит по различным направлениям пространства-времени: вместо того, чтобы двигаться строго вверх, вы отклоняетесь то влево, то вправо. Математически это очень похоже на вращение, когда часть вашего пространства заменяется временем, а часть вашего времени – пространством. Такая абстрактная картина правильно, в стройной и логичной манере, приводит к результатам специальной теории относительности."
Physicists extend special relativity beyond the speed of light
*This passage I included is actually from the article I just read that corresponds to one of the themes within this book:
James Hill: "People wondered what would happen. Were we all going to disintegrate? Would the plane fall apart? It turns out passing through the speed of sound led to a big bang. I suspect going through the speed of light will be more interesting. I have a feeling the world will change in some dramatic way as we move through the speed of light. All sorts of things could happen. Time and space could interchange."
"Первые образовавшиеся гало темной материи были, вероятно, размером с Землю, но гораздо менее плотными. Со временем они начали слипаться и постоянно росли. В конце концов некоторые выросли настолько, что начали притягивать большое количество атомов водорода, гелия и других элементов обычного вещества. Так стали появляться зерна первых звезд и галактик.
Поражает совпадение форм и размеров структур, получаемых при моделировании поведения темной материи, с теми, которые реально наблюдаются в нашей Вселенной. Практически не остается сомнений, что темная материя реально существует и, более того, что именно она послужила питомником для формирования галактик, таких как наш Млечный Путь."
"В 1998 году аргентинский физик Хуан Малдасена показал, что все события, происходящие внутри Вселенной, можно описать в M-теории с помощью взаимодействия частиц на ее границе. Этот «голографический принцип» может означать, что мы – всего лишь тени на границе Вселенной большего числа измерений."
"Являются ли все законы природы, с которыми мы имеем дело, следствием фундаментальной теории или некоторые из них могли возникнуть по чистой случайности? Это вопросы первостепенной важности, и они могут еще долго оставаться без ответа."
- Albert Einstein
Minkowski space-time diagram in the special relativity
"Hermann Minkowski found a neat way of explaining special relativity. He coined the idea of space-time - that space and time is intertwined. You can think about a map of how things unfold in time and space: at the bottom of the map you have the far past, at the top the far future, while left or right mark different places. Minkowski realized that, when you are moving, you point in a different direction in space-time: instead of straight up the page, you tilt to the left or right. Mathematically, it is very much like a rotation that interchanges some of your space for time and some of your time for space. This abstract view correctly generates the results of special relativity in a beautifully streamlined way."
"Минковский предложил лаконичное объяснение специальной теории относительности, соединив воедино пространство и время. События, разворачивающиеся в пространстве и времени, можно представить в виде карты: нижняя часть карты – это далекое прошлое, верхняя – отдаленное будущее, а слева и справа располагаются самые различные места в пространстве. Минковский понимал, что движение происходит по различным направлениям пространства-времени: вместо того, чтобы двигаться строго вверх, вы отклоняетесь то влево, то вправо. Математически это очень похоже на вращение, когда часть вашего пространства заменяется временем, а часть вашего времени – пространством. Такая абстрактная картина правильно, в стройной и логичной манере, приводит к результатам специальной теории относительности."
Physicists extend special relativity beyond the speed of light
*This passage I included is actually from the article I just read that corresponds to one of the themes within this book:
James Hill: "People wondered what would happen. Were we all going to disintegrate? Would the plane fall apart? It turns out passing through the speed of sound led to a big bang. I suspect going through the speed of light will be more interesting. I have a feeling the world will change in some dramatic way as we move through the speed of light. All sorts of things could happen. Time and space could interchange."
"Первые образовавшиеся гало темной материи были, вероятно, размером с Землю, но гораздо менее плотными. Со временем они начали слипаться и постоянно росли. В конце концов некоторые выросли настолько, что начали притягивать большое количество атомов водорода, гелия и других элементов обычного вещества. Так стали появляться зерна первых звезд и галактик.
Поражает совпадение форм и размеров структур, получаемых при моделировании поведения темной материи, с теми, которые реально наблюдаются в нашей Вселенной. Практически не остается сомнений, что темная материя реально существует и, более того, что именно она послужила питомником для формирования галактик, таких как наш Млечный Путь."
"В 1998 году аргентинский физик Хуан Малдасена показал, что все события, происходящие внутри Вселенной, можно описать в M-теории с помощью взаимодействия частиц на ее границе. Этот «голографический принцип» может означать, что мы – всего лишь тени на границе Вселенной большего числа измерений."
"Являются ли все законы природы, с которыми мы имеем дело, следствием фундаментальной теории или некоторые из них могли возникнуть по чистой случайности? Это вопросы первостепенной важности, и они могут еще долго оставаться без ответа."
July 7, 2017
These books are based on the Instant Expert events that New Scientist hosts on various topics. I’ve been to two of them (one on genetics, one on consciousness), and they’re pretty great: pitched at a level most educated people can understand, but delving a bit deeper into some of the latest events and innovations in whatever area of science they cover. They generally have a panel of experts and, honestly, some pretty good food… Anyway, so I was interested to read this one, even without the good food.
Sadly, it’s more relativity than Big Bang; it’s more worried about how to resolve the issues between quantum physics and relativity than about what we do know. That said, it’s pretty accessible and I did follow most of it, which is more than can be said for most attempts to educate me about relativity. However, it does contain repeated material from New Scientist collections and possibly also previous books; how much, I couldn’t say, since I haven’t read those exhaustively.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
Sadly, it’s more relativity than Big Bang; it’s more worried about how to resolve the issues between quantum physics and relativity than about what we do know. That said, it’s pretty accessible and I did follow most of it, which is more than can be said for most attempts to educate me about relativity. However, it does contain repeated material from New Scientist collections and possibly also previous books; how much, I couldn’t say, since I haven’t read those exhaustively.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
August 20, 2018
Although I always find reading about general relativity, membranes, baryons and mesons something like eating cardboard, I did manage to get through this mind blower quite quickly without any brain damage. Apart from the cardboard of relativity and especially quantum mechanics I can boldly go and gain some food for thought with black holes and the ideas of a multiverse.
The barman says, "Sorry, we don't serve hypothetical faster than light particles in here."
A tachyon walks into a bar.
The barman says, "Sorry, we don't serve hypothetical faster than light particles in here."
A tachyon walks into a bar.
April 21, 2020
This book is a yarn about trying to make relativity (special and general) applicable to current experimental and mathematical developments in present day physics.
It seems far too same-ish from many of the other similar books. This is an 'instant expert' series. I am simultaneously less aware and more aware about Einstein. And no that's not a veiled joke about superposition: I am genuinely confounded by the concepts.
It seems far too same-ish from many of the other similar books. This is an 'instant expert' series. I am simultaneously less aware and more aware about Einstein. And no that's not a veiled joke about superposition: I am genuinely confounded by the concepts.
September 12, 2021
Great book that summaries the current progress of theoritical physics
December 13, 2021
was good but had too much big brain stuff towards the end
December 30, 2021
A book not about "Where the universe came from" but rather a book concerning about the mysteries and unsolved wonders of the scientists and physicist. The book focuses on them. No philosophy whatsoever.
In summary, it's a collection of hypotheses generated to justify the BigBang theory. To "make sense of the principles of gravity, space-time" theories-to my understanding at least.
Ironically, in the book's "fun facts" section for which Einstein was quoted...
" A man should look for what is, and not what he thinks should be."
defies this quote.
If you want to know "where" the "visible" universe came from, this isn't the book for you. As such question is out of the scope of Science of Physics. But if you're looking for "how the visible universe came to be", you might as well enjoy this book and its scientific shenanigans.
The book's contents needs a little justification by perhaps having a better title to it.
Aside from all of that, I enjoyed most the interesting Scientific discoveries of so many people, how they contributed to Einstein's theories, and how Einstein's doubts benefited the theories of later physicists such as Stephen Hawking's theory on Black Holes.
I enjoyed personally the introduction to some sensors and devices used in detecting gravitational waves and how there are so many theories on what the shape of the visible universe could be or whether there are even multiverses beyond our understanding and capabilities. Such things encite creativity and increase our drive to know more about the world.
In summary, it's a collection of hypotheses generated to justify the BigBang theory. To "make sense of the principles of gravity, space-time" theories-to my understanding at least.
Ironically, in the book's "fun facts" section for which Einstein was quoted...
" A man should look for what is, and not what he thinks should be."
defies this quote.
If you want to know "where" the "visible" universe came from, this isn't the book for you. As such question is out of the scope of Science of Physics. But if you're looking for "how the visible universe came to be", you might as well enjoy this book and its scientific shenanigans.
The book's contents needs a little justification by perhaps having a better title to it.
Aside from all of that, I enjoyed most the interesting Scientific discoveries of so many people, how they contributed to Einstein's theories, and how Einstein's doubts benefited the theories of later physicists such as Stephen Hawking's theory on Black Holes.
I enjoyed personally the introduction to some sensors and devices used in detecting gravitational waves and how there are so many theories on what the shape of the visible universe could be or whether there are even multiverses beyond our understanding and capabilities. Such things encite creativity and increase our drive to know more about the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 18, 2023simplified version of my physic book but i don't think i can make a power point out of it now (cool info though! if this is a basic in physics about universe, now i know why i am not designed to be in science major back then)
March 4, 2024
DNF’ing this.
It’s sold as a quick way to get to the heart of the matter.
That seems to be true only if you have at least a Bachelor’s degree in physics.
For the layperson, this is definitely too dense.
It’s sold as a quick way to get to the heart of the matter.
That seems to be true only if you have at least a Bachelor’s degree in physics.
For the layperson, this is definitely too dense.
July 20, 2024
am basically a physicist now
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews