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Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > Cosmology & the universe
Take a look through the lens and discover the beauty and science of the magnificent night sky - and beyond!
This stunningly-illustrated space book is split into eight sections that cover every aspect of astronomy. Learn about the history of discoveries in the field and astronomical phenomena, from the earliest human civilizations to the present day, and then take a lavish visual tour of the Solar System, complete with the most spectacular photographs of the planets.
A magnificent month-by-month guide to the night sky, with profiles of all 88 constellations, over 100 star charts covering both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and an almanac of astronomical events over the next decade, Astronomy: A Visual Guide will help you to navigate your way around the night sky, and locate stars, galaxies, and other objects.
Soar into the pages of this spectacular space book to reveal:
- All 88 constellations with over 100 star charts and a guide to the latest space-observing equipment.
- Groundbreaking discoveries and the most awe-inspiring images of the universe.
- Written by Ian Ridpath, the editor of Norton's Star Atlas.
- Includes a 10-year calendar of celestial events such as eclipses and comet appearances.
Also featuring no-nonsense advice on how to observe the skies using the naked eye, binoculars, and telescopes, Astronomy: A Visual Guide is the perfect guide for keen amateur astronomers, as well as a great reference book for the whole family.
General Relativity has passed all experimental and observational
tests to model the motion of isolated bodies with strong
gravitational fields, though the mathematical and numerical study
of these motions is still in its infancy. It is believed that
General Relativity models our cosmos, with a manifold of dimensions
possibly greater than four and debatable topology opening a vast
field of investigation for mathematicians and physicists alike.
Remarkable conjectures have been proposed, many results have been
obtained but many fundamental questions remain open. In this
monograph, aimed at researchers in mathematics and physics, the
author overviews the basic ideas in General Relativity, introduces
the necessary mathematics and discusses some of the key open
questions in the field.
Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the
universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some
of the questions considered in the internationally acclaimed
masterpiece by the world renowned physicist - generally considered
to have been one of the world's greatest thinkers. It begins by
reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein,
before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of
space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral
galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time
remains a staple of the scientific canon, and its succinct and
clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and
its wonders. This new edition includes recent updates from Stephen
Hawking with his latest thoughts about the No Boundary Proposal and
offers new information about dark energy, the information paradox,
eternal inflation, the microwave background radiation observations,
and the discovery of gravitational waves. It was published in
tandem with the app, Stephen Hawking's Pocket Universe.
From a star astrophysicist, a journey into the world of particle physics and the cosmos -- and a call for more just, inclusive practice of science.
Science, like most fields, is set up for men to succeed, and is rife with racism, sexism, and shortsightedness as a result. But as Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein makes brilliantly clear, we all have a right to know the night sky. One of the leading physicists of her generation, she is also one of the fewer than one hundred Black women to earn a PhD in physics. You will enjoy -- and share -- her love for physics, from the Standard Model of Particle Physics and what lies beyond it, to the physics of melanin in skin, to the latest theories of dark matter -- all with a new spin and rhythm informed by pop culture, hip hop, politics, and Star Trek.
This vision of the cosmos is vibrant, inclusive and buoyantly non-traditional. By welcoming the insights of those who have been left out for too long, we expand our understanding of the universe and our place in it.
The Disordered Cosmos is a vision for a world without prejudice that allows everyone to view the wonders of the universe through the same starry eyes.
Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil
deGrasse Tyson, bestselling author of Astrophysics for People
in a Hurry, shines new light on the crucial fault lines of
our time–war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, race,
and tribalism–in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity
for us all. In a time when our political and cultural perspectives
feel more divisive than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote
to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for
the twin engines of enlightenment–a cosmic perspective and the
rationality of science. After thinking deeply about how a scientist
views the world and about what Earth looks like from space, Tyson
has found that terrestrial thoughts change as our brain resets and
recalibrates life's priorities, along with the actions we might
take in response. As a result, no outlook on culture, society, or
civilisation remains untouched. In Starry Messenger, Tyson
reveals just how human the enterprise of science is. Far from a
cold, unfeeling undertaking, scientific methods, tools, and
discoveries have shaped modern civilisation and created the
landscape we've built for ourselves on which to live, work, and
play. Tyson shows how an infusion of science and rational thinking
renders worldviews deeper and more informed than ever before–and
exposes unfounded perspectives and unjustified emotions. With
crystalline prose and an abundance of evidence, Starry
Messenger walks us through the scientific palette that sees
and paints the world differently. From lessons on resolving global
conflict to reminders of how precious it is to be alive, Tyson
reveals, with warmth and eloquence, ten surprising, brilliant, and
beautiful truths of human society, informed and enlightened by
knowledge of our place in the universe.
Right now, you are orbiting a black hole. The Earth orbits the Sun,
and the Sun orbits the centre of the Milky Way: a supermassive
black hole, the strangest and most misunderstood phenomenon in the
galaxy. In A Brief History of Black Holes, the award-winning
University of Oxford researcher Dr Becky Smethurst charts five
hundred years of scientific breakthroughs in astronomy and
astrophysics. She takes us from the earliest observations of the
universe and the collapse of massive stars, to the iconic first
photographs of a black hole and her own published findings. A
cosmic tale of discovery, Becky explains why black holes aren't
really 'black', that you never ever want to be 'spaghettified', how
black holes are more like sofa cushions than hoovers and why,
beyond the event horizon, the future is a direction in space rather
than in time. Told with humour and wisdom, this captivating book
describes the secrets behind the most profound questions about our
universe, all hidden inside black holes. 'A jaunt through space
history . . . with charming wit and many pop-culture references' -
BBC Sky At Night Magazine
Does science deny God? Did the Universe and life appear by chance
or is there evidence of a bigger scheme of thing behind them? In
this context, I am concerned with answering these questions. This
problem is addressed using knowledge in cosmology, physics and
biology. The initial part describes the stages of the 'Genesis'
according to physical cosmology from the Big Bang to the appearance
of life on Earth. It will touch on problems of why the universe is
dominated by matter, the theory of inflation, the limits of our
knowledge on the early Universe, the lack of a theory that can
allow us to study the phases immediately after the Big Bang, the
relation between the concepts of quantum mechanics and the
existence of God. It shows how the Universe is finely regulated,
that is, the physical constants have been chosen so that life
appears in the Universe. The regulation is so strong that we are
forced to think the existence of a great designer who has created a
particular Universe like the one we are observing. This conclusion
can be avoided only if there is an infinity of universes, a
multiverse. We ask ourselves if science can create the Universe
from nothing and using the same arguments of cosmologists such as
Krauss (author of The Universe from Nothing). It is now known that
the current science does not allow the creation of a Universe from
absolutely nothing. Physics and cosmology do not deny God. Indeed,
the argument of the fine adjustment of constants is strongly
indicative of the existence of a great designer. Other evidence
confirming this comes from biology. Thousands of experiments in
recent decades highlight the impossibility of generating life in
the laboratory. There is an intrinsic order in life encoded in DNA
that is not present in experiments. Simple calculations show that
the 'blind and aimless' evolution described by neo-Darwinists such
as Dawkins does not allow the generation of life.
Does science deny God? Did the Universe and life appear by chance
or is there evidence of a bigger scheme of thing behind them? In
this context, I am concerned with answering these questions. This
problem is addressed using knowledge in cosmology, physics and
biology. The initial part describes the stages of the 'Genesis'
according to physical cosmology from the Big Bang to the appearance
of life on Earth. It will touch on problems of why the universe is
dominated by matter, the theory of inflation, the limits of our
knowledge on the early Universe, the lack of a theory that can
allow us to study the phases immediately after the Big Bang, the
relation between the concepts of quantum mechanics and the
existence of God. It shows how the Universe is finely regulated,
that is, the physical constants have been chosen so that life
appears in the Universe. The regulation is so strong that we are
forced to think the existence of a great designer who has created a
particular Universe like the one we are observing. This conclusion
can be avoided only if there is an infinity of universes, a
multiverse. We ask ourselves if science can create the Universe
from nothing and using the same arguments of cosmologists such as
Krauss (author of The Universe from Nothing). It is now known that
the current science does not allow the creation of a Universe from
absolutely nothing. Physics and cosmology do not deny God. Indeed,
the argument of the fine adjustment of constants is strongly
indicative of the existence of a great designer. Other evidence
confirming this comes from biology. Thousands of experiments in
recent decades highlight the impossibility of generating life in
the laboratory. There is an intrinsic order in life encoded in DNA
that is not present in experiments. Simple calculations show that
the 'blind and aimless' evolution described by neo-Darwinists such
as Dawkins does not allow the generation of life.
In April 1992, a discovery was made that changed the way we view
the world. Dr. George Smoot, distinguished cosmologist and
adventurer, whose quest for cosmic knowledge had taken him from the
Brazilian rain forest to the South Pole unveiled his momentous
discovery, bringing to light the very nature of the universe. For
anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered, for
anyone who has ever longed to pull aside the fabric of the universe
for a glimpse of what lies behind it. Wrinkles in Time is the story
of Smoot's search to uncover the cosmic seeds of the universe.
Wrinkles in Time is the Double Helix of cosmology, an intimate look
at the inner world of men and women who ask. "Why are we here?" It
tells the story of George Smoot's dogged pursuit of the cosmic
wrinkles in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, on mountaintops, in
experiments borne aloft aboard high-altitude balloons, U-2 spy
planes, and finally a space satellite. Wrinkles in Time presents
the hard science behind the structured violence of the big bang
theory through breathtakingly clear, lucid images and meaningful
comparisons. Scientists and nonscientists alike can follow with
rapt attention the story of how, in a fiery creation, wrinkles
formed in space ultimately to become stars, galaxies, and even
greater delicate structures. Anyone can appreciate the implications
of a universe whose end is written in its beginnings - whose course
developed according to a kind of cosmic DNA, which guided the
universe from simplicity and symmetry to ever-greater complexity
and structure. As controversial as it may seem today, Wrinkles in
Time reveals truths that, in an earlier century, would have doomed
its proclaimers to thefiery stake. For four thousand years some
people have accepted the Genesis account of cosmic origin; for most
of this century, scientists debated two rival scientific
explanations known as the steady state and big bang theories. And
now, Wrinkles in Time tells what really happened
Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil
deGrasse Tyson, bestselling author of Astrophysics for People in a
Hurry, shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time-war,
politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, race, and tribalism-in a
way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all. In a time
when our political and cultural perspectives feel more divisive
than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what
divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin engines of
enlightenment-a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science.
After thinking deeply about how a scientist views the world and
about what Earth looks like from space, Tyson has found that
terrestrial thoughts change as our brain resets and recalibrates
life's priorities, along with the actions we might take in
response. As a result, no outlook on culture, society, or
civilisation remains untouched. In Starry Messenger, Tyson reveals
just how human the enterprise of science is. Far from a cold,
unfeeling undertaking, scientific methods, tools, and discoveries
have shaped modern civilisation and created the landscape we've
built for ourselves on which to live, work, and play. Tyson shows
how an infusion of science and rational thinking renders worldviews
deeper and more informed than ever before-and exposes unfounded
perspectives and unjustified emotions. With crystalline prose and
an abundance of evidence, Starry Messenger walks us through the
scientific palette that sees and paints the world differently. From
lessons on resolving global conflict to reminders of how precious
it is to be alive, Tyson reveals, with warmth and eloquence, ten
surprising, brilliant, and beautiful truths of human society,
informed and enlightened by knowledge of our place in the universe.
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