Brave New Universe: Illuminating the Darkest Secrets of the Cosmos

By Paul Halpern and Paul Wesson

Cosmologists yearn to behold the unseen elements of our universe. And as new technologies become more powerful and precise, scientists are getting their wish--though these tools are challenging the limits of our imagination as fast as they are answering many longstanding questions. Space is one of the last great frontiers for modern man. A never-ending source of investigation and inspiration, it beckons to scientists with an irresistible siren's call. And in this glorious age of cosmology, astronomical measurement has never been more precise. The power provided to us by extraordinary new observational mechanisms has shattered former suppositions and stimulated exciting new visions of the universe. Using modern instruments such as the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), astronomers now have access to information about the age and composition of the universe. By providing greatly improved answers, high-resolution satellite data and novel telescopic techniques have transformed one of science's most speculative fields into a triumph of meticulous and rigorous detection. Yet as the technological tools grow increasingly robust and we are able to see farther and know more, we find that we have even more questions. Could there be realms beyond ordinary space? Might time, space, and matter simply be illusions? What unique blend of cosmological factors influences life on Earth? Featuring interviews with leaders in the field as well as thought-provoking descriptions of their work, Brave New Universe is a guided tour of current advances and controversies in cosmology.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0309101379
• ISBN13: 9780309101370
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Work on Cosmology

Brave New Universe: Illuminating the Darkest Secrets of the Cosmos I found Paul Halpern and Paul Wesson's work, Brave New Universe, to be an excellent work on cosmology. It is clearly written, engrossing and witty. It tells the story of such pioneers in the field as Hubble, Newton, Einstein, Gamow, Eddington, Kaluza and Klein among others. I especially enjoyed the description of the theories about more than a four dimensional universe, such as M-theory. While the authors cannot answer if there really are more than four dimensions, that is a limitation of the state of physics today, and not of their work. I found the work highly intriguing, and a real page turner. I highly recommend it.