Eternity is a daunting concept, but modern cosmologists are not
afraid to face it. Cosmology usually concentrates on the beginnings
of the universe, but what might happen at the other end of time is
just as intriguing - and by far the greater portion of the story.
Adams and Laughlin, two leading astrophysicists (at the University
of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley,
respectively) divide the life span of the universe into five acts,
beginning with the Primordial Era, the time of the Big Bang and its
immediate aftermath, when hydrogen and helium were first formed in
an explosive birth. The Stelliferous Era is our present period,
when stars fill the universe With visible light. The authors expect
this to last another 100 trillion years. The universe doesn't end
with the fading of the visible stars, but enters a time dominated
by lesser lights: brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, and other stellar
remnants. This is the Degenerate Era, when the primary source of
cosmic energy is proton decay, slow and feeble: a typical
degenerate star might achieve the brightness of half a dozen
ordinary light bulbs. An occasional stellar collision may light up
the sky with a supernova. After all protons decay, the universe
will enter its fourth act: the Black Hole Era. Black holes'
enormous gravity protects them from losing mass and energy by
ordinary processes, but they slowly dissipate through Hawking
radiation and will become extinct after ten-to-the-hundredth-power
years. This leaves only the most tenuous forms of matter and energy
to fill out the Dark Era: electrons, neutrinos, and low-energy
photons that interact only sporadically. The authors fill in this
broad outline in fascinating detail, considering such questions as
the long-term prospects for life and the possibility of recollapse
to a singularity (a "Big Crunch") rather than a slow dying out of
the fire. A thought-provoking treatment of the grandest of
subjects, highly recommended to anyone interested in the world
beyond tomorrow. (Kirkus Reviews)
As the twentieth century closed, Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin captured the attention of the world by identifying the five ages of time. In The Five Ages of the Universe, Adams and Laughlin demonstrate that we can now understand the complete life story of the cosmos from beginning to end.
Adams and Laughlin have been hailed as the creators of the definitive long-term projection of the evolution of the universe. Their achievement is awesome in its scale and profound in its scientific breadth. But The Five Ages of the Universe is more than a handbook of the physical processes that guided our past and will shape our future; it is a truly epic story.
Without leaving earth, here is a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity. It is the only biography of the universe you will ever need.
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