The Infinite Cosmos: Questions from the Frontiers of Cosmology

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages
• Published by: Oxford University Press, USA April 7, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 019953361X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0199533619
• Book Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 5.6 ounces

Product Review
`Review from previous edition This book packs so much into a decidedly finite space. Silk covers everything you might hope to find in a book by one of the world's leading cosmologists, and much more besides Accessible and informative.' Peter Coles, Nature

`This is an outstanding work, suited to readers of all ages and all backgrounds, and is recommended without the slightest hesitation.' Patrick Moore, THES

Product Description
In The Infinite Cosmos Joseph Silk takes the reader on a tour of the universe, past, present, and future, showing how the very latest observations and theories are unlocking clues about its origin and structure: X-ray, radio, and high-energy views of the most distant reaches of the universe. Theories from the frontiers of current research seek to explain its structure from the first moments to the present day, and we are beginning to understand its extraordinary nature and possible fate.
This is a story involving the visible and the invisible; subatomic particles and unusual forces; long ages of darkness and spectacular and violent events. It tells of supernovae, dark matter, dark energy, curved spacetime, colliding galaxies, and supermassive black holes. Weaving the ideas of poets and writers as well as scientists into the story, from Kant and Keats to Einstein and Lemaitre, Silk explains our present state of knowledge, and how much more there is to understand about our infinite cosmos.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Infinite Cosmos: Questions from the Frontiers of Cosmology (Hardcover) As a general rule, I enjoy reading books about what is currently happening in physics. I enjoy them because I studied physics in school and taught it for many years. Not only am I trying to keep current myself, but I am also looking for things that will help my students understand physics a little better. Unfortunately, though Dr. Silk is clearly up on what is happening, he doesn't communicate it very well. This is not a book I would pass on to my students. When it comes right down to it, this is a very hard book to read. I'm reasonably well-versed in the subjects Dr. Silk is discussing and yet I found his prose unnecessarily dense and filled with numerical data that only superficially helps him make his points. Brilliant and knowledgeable he might be, but Dr. Silk has a real problem communicating his ideas in an appealing way. Certainly, unless you have a physics background and facility with a mathematical argument, I would stay away from this book. That is too bad because the subjects Dr. Silk puts before us are inherently fascinating--black holes, the fate of the universe, et.al.--and he knows his stuff. Additionally, the proliferation of books on the subject show there is an interest out there. Dr. Silk's effort, however, will not likely help many people along the path to understanding unless they are already most of the way there.