Pincock / Frary The Origins of the Universe for Dummies

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-470-51801-4
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 346 Seiten, E-Book

Do you want to learn about the physical origin of the Universe, butdon't have the rest of eternity to read up on it? Do you wantto know what scientists know about where you and your planet camefrom, but without the science blinding you? 'Course you do- and who better than For Dummies to tackle thebiggest, strangest and most wonderful question there is!
The Origins of the Universe For Dummies covers:
* Early ideas about our universe
* Modern cosmology
* Big Bang theory
* Dark matter and gravity
* Galaxies and solar systems
* Life on earth
* Finding life elsewhere
* The Universe's forecast

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pincock, Stephen

Frary, Mark

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 1
Part I: In the Beginning: Early Ideas About Our Universe7
Chapter 1: Exploring the Early Universe 9
Chapter 2: Looking Up at the Stars: Early Beliefs 17
Chapter 3: The Apple Drops: Newton, Gravity, and the Rotation ofthe Planets 27
Part II: Modern Cosmology: Going Off with a Bang 49
Chapter 4: Bending the Universe: Magnets and Gravity 51
Chapter 5: Measuring the Universe 73
Chapter 6: Cooking Up a Big Bang 95
Chapter 7: Letting It Rise: Expanding and Inflating the Universe107
Chapter 8: Thinking Differently About the Universe 119
Part III: Building Your Own Universe 129
Chapter 9: Building Things from Scratch 131
Chapter 10: Forcing the Pace: The Roles of Natural Forces in theUniverse 153
Chapter 11: Shedding Light on Dark Matter and Pinging Strings169
Chapter 12: Playing with the Universe's Chemistry Set181
Chapter 13: Making Stars, Solar Systems, Galaxies, and More197
Chapter 14: Giving Birth to Life 211
Chapter 15: Travelling Through Time 225
Part IV: Asking the Tough Questions 239
Chapter 16: Explaining the Unexplainable 241
Chapter 17: Finding Life Elsewhere 253
Chapter 18: Coming to an End 265
Part V: The Part of Tens 275
Chapter 19: Ten Different Beliefs about the Origins of theUniverse 277
Chapter 20: Ten Greatest Cosmological Advances 285
Appendix: Understanding Scientific Units and Equations 295
Index 303

Über Autor(innen)

Stephen Pincock has been writing about science for the past15 years, after finishing a degree in Microbiology at theUniversity of New South Wales, Australia, and realising that whilethe whole science thing is utterly fascinating, he was less thaneager to spend the rest of his life peering down amicroscope.
Stephen's currently a regular science contributor to TheFinancial Times and The Lancet among many otherpublications, and is the international correspondent for TheScientist. For quite a while he was an editor at ReutersHealth.
Mark Frary is a science and technology writer. He studiedastronomy and physics at University College London, writing adissertation on the production of positronium. While there, heworked at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory on atmosphericplasma physics. After completing his degree, he moved to Geneva andworked on the OPAL experiment at the European particle physicslaboratory CERN.
Mark co-wrote the book You Call This The Future?, a look atthe 50 best sciencefiction gadgets ever conceived and how they havebecome reality. He lives in Ampthill in Bedfordshire with his wifeand two children.
Mark and Stephen are the authors of Codebreaker: The History ofSecret Communication.