Synopses & Reviews
The twentieth century gave us two great theories of physics. The general theory of relativity describes the behavior of very large things, and quantum theory the behavior of very small things. In this landmark book, John Gribbinandmdash;one of the best-known science writers of the past thirty yearsandmdash;presents his own version of the Holy Grail of physics, the search that has been going on for decades to find a unified andldquo;Theory of Everythingandrdquo; that combines these ideas into one mathematical package, a single equation that could be printed on a T-shirt, containing the answer to life, the Universe, and everything. With his inimitable mixture of science, history, and biography, Gribbin shows howandmdash;despite skepticism among many physicistsandmdash;these two great theories are very compatible, and point to a deep truth about the nature of our existence. The answer lies, intriguingly, with the age of the universe: 13.8 billion years.
Synopsis
Recent breakthroughs in measuring the age of the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope are the subject of this book, written by a science writer who was a research astronomer involved in the discoveries. Illustrations.
Synopsis
A celebrated astronomer makes a powerful case for the harmony between two of physicsandrsquo; most important and seemingly contradictory theories
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-226) and index.
About the Author
John Gribbin is a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and the author of many best-selling science books.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The age controversy: How wrong is wrong? -- All things must pass: The discovery of cosmic time -- Age limits: The oldest things in the universe -- Across the universe: The first cosmic distance scale -- Into the blue: Beyond the Milky Way -- Hubble's Law: A universe with a beginning -- Revisionist cosmology: Extending the age of the universe -- New rulers: From controversy to consensus -- When time began: How we measures the age of the universe -- Afterword: The big picture.