The Origins of the Future: Ten Questions for the Next Ten Years
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How did the universe begin? Where do galaxies come from? How do stars and planets form? Where do the material particles we are made of come from? How did life begin? Today we have only provisional answers to such questions. But scientific progress will improve these answers dramatically over the next ten years, predicts John Gribbin in this riveting book. He focuses on what we know—or think we know—about ten controversial, unanswered issues in the physical sciences and explains how current cutting-edge research may yield solutions in the very near future.With his trademark facility for engaging readers with or without a scientific background, the author explores ideas concerning the creation of the universe, the possibility of other forms of life, and the fate of the expanding cosmos. He examines “theories of everything,” including grand unified theories and string theory, and he discusses the Big Bang theory, the origin of structure and patterns of matter in the galaxies, and dark mass and dark energy. In the final chapter of the book, Gribbin ponders the future of Earth and the Sun and the possibility that the universe might expand forever. Library Journal For anyone who's ever wondered about the physics behind the universe at large, Gribbin (visiting fellow, astronomy, Univ. of Sussex; In Search of Schr dinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality) has provided a fairly in-depth look at physicists' current understanding of its beginning (the Big Bang), its evolution to its current state, and its eventual fate. Gribbin makes the distinction between "what we think we know" and "what we think we know" to help the reader understand how physicists have reached the conclusions he's presenting. Aimed at a somewhat educated audience, the text is nonetheless written for the lay reader, i.e., one who has an interest in both particle physics and astrophysics but has not necessarily studied either. His style makes the subject matter more approachable as he explains the links between the two subdisciplines, namely, how astrophysics can provide insight into and confirmation of the theories in particle physics. An accessible read, Origins of the Future will make a fine addition to any general science collection. Recommended. Marcia R. Franklin, MS, MLIS, St. Paul Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Preface: Origins ixAcknowledgments xiiiHow Do We Know the Things We Think We Know? 1Is There a Theory of Everything? 28How Did the Universe Begin? 51How Did the Early Universe Develop? 72Why Is the Universe the Way It Is? 98What Is It That Holds the Universe Together? 126Where Did the Chemical Elements Come From? 157Where Did the Solar System Come From? 184Where Did Life Originate? 213How Will It All End? 246Glossary 271Bibliography 277Index 281
