The Last Three Minutes: Conjecture About The Ultimate Fate Of The Universe (Science Masters Series)

by Paul C.W. Davies

Book Overview

Ragnarok. Armageddon. Doomsday. Since the dawn of time, man has wondered how the world would end. In The Last Three Minutes, Paul Davies reveals the latest theories. It might end in a whimper, slowly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465048927
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Escape from Yourself and Join the Stars

An elegant book on the ultimate fate of the universe - cosmological speculations based upon well known hard physics - and all very exciting stuff extremely well written, and easily grasped if one remembers any high school science at all. All the subject matter concerns a physical scale (large and small), a time scale (long and short), and a temperature scale (hot and cold) of such stupendously extreme parameters that reading becomes a terrific brain stretching exercise that delightfully removes one from the tiny doings of one's own overly personalized and petty mind circus.

Fire or ice?

It is safe to say that I grew up reading Paul Davies; my first real introduction to physical sciences such as astronomy and physic was the television series 'Cosmos'; that inspired me to purchase the companion text, which further inspired me to join the Astronomy Book Club two dozen years ago. One of the first books offered, and the first book I received from them, was Paul Davies' 'Other Worlds' -- from then on, I was hooked. I have nearly a dozen books by Paul Davies, all on topics of theoretical physics, astrophysics and cosmology -- he is consistently readable, entertaining and educating with the same style that compels the reader to want more (which he then provides).It was not surprising to me to see his name on the Science Masters Series. The series has basic introductions to many of the key issues in science today -- evolution, origins of life, cognitive science, time, computer science, and more. Each volume is relatively short -- 'The Last Three Minutes' has a mere 150 pages of text that is not too dense, sparing technically and mathematically without losing much conceptually.The issue of the end of the universe is one of the 'hot spots' of astrophysics and cosmology, and so there are elements of this book that are already a bit out of date, despite being less than a decade old. However, given the speculative nature of many 'discoveries' in this field, it is impossible to say if anything is truly out of date or false at the present time. Davies explores the end of the universe by setting the stage -- drawing from current thinking about the origins of the universe, in fact one of the options for conjecture, in a closed universe system, would be that the last three minutes would resemble quite closely the first three minutes. Davies looks at the various processes -- stellar evolution and decay, gravitational issues, overall radiation depletion, energy-fuel consumption -- and draws these together for the various theories about the end of the universe.Davies shows the ideas of the closed/collapsing universe (a view not widely held today) and of the infinitely expanding universe (the current reigning theory), giving ideas about the variables required to tip the scales in one direction or the other. Even with an infinitely expanding universe, however, all is not necessarily well with the world -- the universe runs the risk (in the future so distant there is no realistic way of expressing it in terms of time we know) of becoming a dark, deep freeze with no activity left, and all matter becoming inert and inactive in every respect. Davies speculates on what this means for the survival of humanity and human history -- how can information be preserved? How can our species go on in the face of this? Such speculation is pure conjecture; the time distances are so far removed that nothing we devise will likely come close to resembling an actual answer to this. However, it is interesting as a mental exercise, and leads the reader hopefully

Goody goody

Actually 4 1/2 stars.While some parts of the book are speculative, drawing parallels with Chown's Universe Next Door, the book has too much meat in it to ignore. The issues related to Cosmology and Quantum Physics can get foggy for a lay reader, unless (s)he keeps reading more and more. This is just one book which is an indispensable part of the pop-science collection so necessary if you are into Cosmology and Quantum Physics. Paul Davies is a fine writer and I value his books just next to the Gribbin, Rees, Barrow, Hawking books that I have (can add Brian Green to that too). And this is one of his best. I have taken off half a star only because the book has a 'little' vagueness in the way it progresses form one topic to the other. One has to re-read it to get a wholistic picture of what has just been told - er, having written that, I'm not sure if it is criticism.

Another great book for the Theoretical Physicist wannabes

Sorry, but I don't agree with you 'hwhitney@sprintmail.com from St. Louis'. This is a great subject for Mr. Davies to expound upon. He does what he does best here, makes you think, gives ideas and the tools to come up with your own philosophies on life and the Universe. Many people say this is a doom and gloom book but I found it quite refreshing to know the Universe may actually continue to exist forever and Humankind may find a way to exist along with it. This is not just a cut and dry here's what'll happen book. It begins like a great Novel that ties you up in suspense and not just another physics textbook. Great EASY reading for anybody curious about our possible future. Some understanding from his previous books is helpful, but NOT a prerequisite. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK MR. DAVIES.