Origins: The Lives and Worlds of Modern Cosmologists

by Alan Lightman

Book Overview

Origins reveals the human being within the scientist in a study of the philosophical, personal, and social factors that enter into the scientific process. Twenty-seven active cosmologists--including Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose, Steven Weinberg, Vera Rubin, Allan Sandage, Margaret Geller, and Alan Guth--talk candidly about their childhoods and early influences, their motivations, prejudices, and worldviews. The book's lucid introduction traces the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674644700
• ISBN13: 9780674644700
• Release Date: September 1990
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 563 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Fascinating viewpoints on current cosmological questions.

I received this book as a gift. I wish I had bought it years ago! I'm an amateur astronomer. This book gives the reader the opportunity to hear the world's most reknowned professional astronomers address the universal questions which we all share: Whence came the universe? Whither goes it? The book opens with a brief overview of current cosmological theories and observations. It then poses the same set of fascinating questions to each of 27 working astronomers; both observational and theoretical. They give the reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the current models. If the "great questions" interest you, I promise you will learn a lot and gain much to ponder for a long time!