Origins of the Universe: The Cosmic Microwave Background and the Search for Quantum Gravity

by Keith Cooper

The quest to find a theory of quantum gravity that could potentially explain everything. Nearly 60 years ago, Nobel Prize-winners Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson stumbled across a mysterious hiss of faint radio static that was interfering with their observations. They had found the key to unravelling the story of the Big Bang and the origin of our universe. That signal was the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the earliest light in the universe, released 379,000 years after the Big Bang. It contains secrets about what happened during the very first tiny increments of time, which had consequences that have rippled throughout cosmic history, leading to the universe of stars and galaxies that we live in today. This is the enthralling story of the quest to understand the CMB radiation and what it can tell us of the origins of time and space, from bubble universes to a cyclical cosmos - and possibly leading to the elusive theory of quantum gravity itself.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Physics, Space

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2020

Reviews

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book is amazing. Truly phenomenal.
It covers so many fascinating cosmology questions, theories and vast speculations about the known & unknown. Everything from Dark Energy vs Dark Matter, String Theory vs M Theory, Steady State vs Big Bang and my favorite Black Holes!
Very highly recommended.

[Richard Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to understand the audience for which this book was intended. As a non-physics student in university and lacking any formal training since, elements of the book were beyond the scope of my knowledge. The basic story of the Big Bang, the roles of Hubble’s theories, and the significance of the Doppler Effect, Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, and COBE’s imagery, quantum gravity, etc., were well described but I felt an appreciation of the details escaped me. On the other hand, for the specialist, the book is probably too simple and short.

[Austra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besī tie brīži, kad Audible ar, labākajā gadījumā, divu nedēļu brīdinājumu izņem no b/m kataloga pusi grāmatu, ko esmu sagrābusies savā bibliotēkā. Un besī tas, ka tad nākas triecientempā raut cauri tās grāmatas, ko gribas paspēt izlasīt. Šī grāmata noteikti būtu pelnījusi lēnāku lasīšanu, īpaši tās membrānu u.tml. teorijas. Varbūt kādreiz pārlasīšu, bet ciktāl runa par šāda tipa grāmatām - Icon Books atkal pierāda, ka pat vissarežģītāko var pasniegt (puslīdz) saprotami.

[Ian McGaffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read, it made all the concepts very easy to understand, but also showed some the amazing places particle physics and the observation of our universe can take us.

[عشق · Rating 1 out of 5]

الكتاب علمي بحت فيزياء صعبه لمن يحبها ولكن لاتناسبني اطلاقا الكتاب لا يستهويني ولا انصح به