Concepts of the Cosmos: An Introduction to Astronomy

Science & Math

PARKER, Barry R.

Astronomy & Space Science

Harcourt

Thirty years ago Albert Einstein died, his dream of a theory that would unify the universe unfulfilled. He spent the last decades of his life searching for such a theory-a theory that would explain everything from elementary particles and their interac tions to the overall structure of the universe. But he failed, not because he didn't try hard enough, but because the attempt was ahead of its time. When Einstein worked on the problem liter ally nothing was known about black holes, white holes, sin gularities, the Big Bang explosion and the early universe, quarks, gauge invariance, and weak and strong nuclear forces. Today we know that all these things are important in relation to a unified theory, and that they must be incorporated in and explained by such a theory. Thus, in a sense, our problem is much more complex today than it was in Einstein's day. But scientists have persevered and as a result we are now tan talizingly close to achieving this long-sought goal. Important breakthroughs have been made. In this book we will look at these breakthroughs and at recent unified theories-theories that go by the names supergravity, superstrings, GUTs, and twistor theory. In order to understand the problem, however, we must begin at the beginning.

Einstein’s Dream: The Search for a Unified Theory of the Universe

Biographies & Memoirs

Springer

Looks at the use of particle accelerators to probe the atom, discusses the discovery of quarks, and explains the superstring theory

Search for a Supertheory: From Atoms to Superstrings

Physics

I remember once watching a presentation of the creation of the universe in a planetarium. It was a fascinating experience: lights flashing, particles appearing to rush by as an explosive roar echoed throughout the planetarium. Then suddenly ... black ness. And after a few seconds ... tiny lights--stars blinking into existence. I tried to imagine myself actually going back to this event. Was this really what it was like? It was an interesting facsimile, but far from what the real thing would have been like. The creation of the universe is an event that is impossible to imagine accurately. Fortunately, this has not discouraged peo ple from wondering what it was like. In Creation I have attempted to take you back to the begin ning-the big bang explosion-so that you can watch the uni verse grow and evolve. Starting with the first fraction of a sec ond, I trace the universe from its initial dramatic expansion through to the formation of the first nuclei and atoms. From here I go to the formation of galaxies and the curious distribu tion they have taken in space. Finally I talk about the formation of elements in stars, and the first life on the planets around them.

Creation: The Story of the Origin and Evolution of the Universe

I remember sitting spellbound, watching the movie When Worlds Collide. Two planets hurled through space toward Earth while scientists and engineers frantically raced to complete a rocket ship that would take them to safety. In the final moments the spaceship lifted off as the occupants watched the Earth bulge, crack, then literally explode as one of the planets struck it. As I left the theater I wondered if it was really possible for another world to collide with Earth. Later I learned that while many catastrophic collisions no doubt occurred early in the his tory of the solar system, today they are exceedingly rare. I was relieved, but in another sense I was disappointed (not that I hoped a collision of this type would actually occur). A collision of two objects in space, say, two stars, I was sure would be a spectacular event. It is quite unlikely, however, that we will ever witness the collision of two stars. The event is just too rare. But collisions of systems of stars-galaxies-oddly enough, are relatively com mon. In fact, we see evidence of several in the sky right now.

Colliding Galaxies: The Universe in Turmoil

Parker writes clearly (for lay audiences) about scientific knowledge and speculation concerning time travel. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Cosmic Time Travel: A Scientific Odyssey

Format Hardcover Subject Theory of Relativity Cosmology The Universe Astonomical Studies Observations Astrophysics Space Science Publisher Kluwer Academic Plenum Publishers

The Vindication of the Big Bang: Breakthroughs and Barriers (Artech House Materials Science)

'he year was 1889. The French physicist-mathematician Henry T Poincare could not believe his eyes. He had worked for months on one of the most famous problems in science-the problem of three bodies moving around one another under mutual gravita tional attraction-and what he was seeing dismayed and trou bled him. Since Newton's time it had been assumed that the problem was solvable. All that was needed was a little ingenuity and considerable perseverance, but Poincare saw that this was not the case. Strange, unexplainable things happened when he delved into the problem; it was not solvable after all. Poincare was shocked and dismayed by the result-so disheartened he left the problem and went on to other things. What Poincare was seeing was the first glimpse of a phe nomenon we now call chaos. With his discovery the area lay dormant for almost 90 years. Not a single book was written about the phenomenon, and only a trickle of papers appeared. Then, about 1980 a resurgence of interest began, and thousands of papers appeared along with dozens of books. The new science of chaos was born and has attracted as much attention in recent years as breakthroughs in superconductivity and superstring theory.

Chaos in the Cosmos: The Stunning Complexity of the Universe

Plenum Press

This ambitious and accomplished series explores the history of four integral fields in the discipline of science. Each volume takes the reader back in time to witness the formation of modern scientific theories -- from the earliest myths through all the years of experimentation, re-search and discovery that have led scientists to where they are today.

The Mystery of Gravity (Story of Science)

Teen & Young Adult

Education & Reference

Cavendish Square

A book that tells writers how to write books that will sell well. It contains a chapter on the ten basic rules for good writing, and on how to write smart, and there is a large section on how to select a writing niche that is appropriate for you. Finally, there is a short section on how to sell your book.

Write a Book That Will Sell

Reference

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

Stardust Press

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Books by PARKER, Barry R.