The 4-Percent Universe

Author: Richard Panek
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1780741243
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Meet the players in the most fundamental scientific revolution since Copernicus The Facts of Matter It is one of the most disturbing aspects of our universe: only four per cent of it consists of the matter that makes up every star, planet, and every book. The rest is completely unknown. Acclaimed science writer Richard Panek tells the story of the handful of scientists who have spent the past few decades on a quest to unlock the secrets of “dark matter” and the even stranger substance called “dark energy”. These are perhaps the greatest mysteries in science,and solving them will reshape our understanding of the universe and our place in it. The stakes could not be higher. Panek’s fast-paced narrative, filled with original, in-depth reporting and intimate, behind-the-scenes details, brings this epic story to life for the very first time.

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Author: Brian Clegg
Publisher: Icon Books
ISBN: 1785785699
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 121

Book Description
'Clear and compact ... It's hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe' Giles Sparrow, BBC Four's The Sky at Night , Best astronomy and space books of 2019: 5/5 All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial 5 per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. That 'something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets. By the 1990s we also knew that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. Something, named dark energy, is pushing it to expand faster and faster. Across the universe, this requires enough energy that the equivalent mass would be nearly fourteen times greater than all the visible material in existence. Brian Clegg explains this major conundrum in modern science and looks at how scientists are beginning to find solutions to it.

The Elephant in the Universe

Author: Govert Schilling
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674248996
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 377

Book Description
An award-winning science journalist details the quest to isolate and understand dark matter--and shows how that search has helped us to understand the universe we inhabit. When you train a telescope on outer space, you can see luminous galaxies, nebulae, stars, and planets. But if you add all that together, it constitutes only 15 percent of the matter in the universe. Despite decades of research, the nature of the remaining 85 percent is unknown. We call it dark matter. In The Elephant in the Universe, Govert Schilling explores the fascinating history of the search for dark matter. Evidence for its existence comes from a wealth of astronomical observations. Theories and computer simulations of the evolution of the universe are also suggestive: they can be reconciled with astronomical measurements only if dark matter is a dominant component of nature. Physicists have devised huge, sensitive instruments to search for dark matter, which may be unlike anything else in the cosmos--some unknown elementary particle. Yet so far dark matter has escaped every experiment. Indeed, dark matter is so elusive that some scientists are beginning to suspect there might be something wrong with our theories about gravity or with the current paradigms of cosmology. Schilling interviews both believers and heretics and paints a colorful picture of the history and current status of dark matter research, with astronomers and physicists alike trying to make sense of theory and observation. Taking a holistic view of dark matter as a problem, an opportunity, and an example of science in action, The Elephant in the Universe is a vivid tale of scientists puzzling their way toward the true nature of the universe.

Edge of the Universe

Author: Paul Halpern
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 111823460X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
An accessible look at the mysteries that lurk at the edge of the known universe and beyond The observable universe, the part we can see with telescopes, is incredibly vast. Yet recent theories suggest that there is far more to the universe than what our instruments record—in fact, it could be infinite. Colossal flows of galaxies, large empty regions called voids, and other unexplained phenomena offer clues that our own "bubble universe" could be part of a greater realm called the multiverse. How big is the observable universe? What it is made of? What lies beyond it? Was there a time before the Big Bang? Could space have unseen dimensions? In this book, physicist and science writer Paul Halpern explains what we know?and what we hope to soon find out?about our extraordinary cosmos. Explains what we know about the Big Bang, the accelerating universe, dark energy, dark flow, and dark matter to examine some of the theories about the content of the universe and why its edge is getting farther away from us faster Explores the idea that the observable universe could be a hologram and that everything that happens within it might be written on its edge Written by physicist and popular science writer Paul Halpern, whose other books include Collider: The Search for the World's Smallest Particles, and What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe

The Trouble with Gravity

Author: Richard Panek
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 0544526740
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
An award-winning science writer traces our millennia-long effort to understand the phenomenon of gravity--the greatest mystery in physics, and a force that has shaped our universe and our minds in ways we have never fully understood until now.

Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030917113X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Book Description
Advances made by physicists in understanding matter, space, and time and by astronomers in understanding the universe as a whole have closely intertwined the question being asked about the universe at its two extremesâ€"the very large and the very small. This report identifies 11 key questions that have a good chance to be answered in the next decade. It urges that a new research strategy be created that brings to bear the techniques of both astronomy and sub-atomic physics in a cross-disciplinary way to address these questions. The report presents seven recommendations to facilitate the necessary research and development coordination. These recommendations identify key priorities for future scientific projects critical for realizing these scientific opportunities.

The Fifth Essence

Author: Lawrence M. Krauss
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dark matter (Astronomy)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

Universe on a T-Shirt

Author: Dan Falk
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 1611454603
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
No scientific quest is as compelling as the search for the key to understand the universe—the elusive unified “Theory of Everything”—a theory so concise it could fit on a T-shirt. Lively and thought-provoking, Universe on a T-Shirt tells the fascinating story of the search for the Holy Grail of physics. Dan Falk places this intriguing story in its historical context, tracing the quest from ancient Greece to the breakthroughs of Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein, to the excitement over string theory and today’s efforts to merge quantum theory with general relativity. With as much emphasis on history as on science, Falk’s accessible approach is ideal for anyone intrigued by the advances in modern physics but still wondering what theoretical physicists are searching for, and why. Today’s physicists use sophisticated methods, but their goal—the search for simplicity—has not changed since the time of the ancient Greeks. Universe on a T-Shirt is filled with quirky personalities, brilliant minds, and bold ideas—high science and high drama. "An admirably concise and comprehensive overview of cosmology . . . [that] offers intriguing insights into the philosophic and personal outlooks motivating the scientists involved, from the ancient Greeks through Newton and Einstein . . . [and] Stephen Hawking and Ed Witten.”—Booklist

Eyewitness Universe

Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0744097827
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 74

Book Description
Whether your child has a special interest in space exploration or the origins of the universe, or you want to supplement classroom curriculum about the universe by making more resources available to your child outside of school, Eyewitness: Universe is the ideal choice for learning more about the universe. DK's Eyewitness series is perfect for children. It engages both readers and visual learners by presenting information with a combination of photography, small nuggets of information, and fact-packed annotation so children can really dig into topics without becoming overwhelmed. One picture at a time, Eyewitness books teach big subjects in easy ways. We've revamped our Eyewitness series to be even better with solid facts, shorter texts, more emphasis on images, and fresh new learning sections, making Eyewitness books the perfect way to encourage curiosity in your child or to supplement classroom learning.

The Accidental Universe

Author: Alan Lightman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307908593
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 108

Book Description
The bestselling author of Einsteins Dreams explores the emotional and philosophical questions raised by recent discoveries in science with passion and curiosity. He looks at the dialogue between science and religion; the conflict between our human desire for permanence and the impermanence of nature; the possibility that our universe is simply an accident; the manner in which modern technology has separated us from direct experience of the world; and our resistance to the view that our bodies and minds can be explained by scientific logic and laws. Behind all of these considerations is the suggestion--at once haunting and exhilarating--that what we see and understand of the world is only a tiny piece of the extraordinary, perhaps unfathomable whole.