The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science: Amazon.ca: Books

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Out in space a star unexplodes. Read the first page

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13 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars STIMULATING READ, May 30 2003

By

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME)

This review is from: The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science (Hardcover)

This fascinating book on cosmology straddles the worlds of science and science fiction, addressing questions like the nature of time, e.g. Can it run backwards?, multiple realities and the possibility of the multiverse or infinite universes. Part One, The Nature Of Reality, considers regions of the universe where time may run backwards, infinite realities, wave functions and matterwaves plus a stuff or entity called ortho-positronium. Part Two, The Nature Of The Universe, considers invisible galaxies, stars and planets, mirror matter, the interaction between ordinary and mirror matter, black holes and their significance in the model of the universe, the possibility of intelligent life creating a universe and even how to build a universe. Relativity, quantum physics, the ideas of Hoyle and Chandrasekhar and many others are involved in the speculations. Part Three discusses the likelihood of life on earth having been seeded from space, the comet connection, life as a cosmic phenomenon and the strong possibility of finding alien artefacts on the earth and the moon. The book concludes with a glossary of terms, a reading list with separate headings for Fiction and Non-Fiction and a thorough index. It is a stimulating and thought provoking read written in a manner that everyone can understand. I highly recommend it.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastically fun book, Feb 15 2003

By

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science (Hardcover)

Wow, a fantastically fun book. I'm not sure that I agree with all of the theories it contains-I'm not sure the author even does-but they're certainly astounding and the thought processes that went into creating them is truly awe-inspiring. Some of them are not new to me. What is new, however, is the approachable style of the composition. Although formerly a radio astronomer at Cal Tech, at present Marcus Chown is primarily a professional science journalist. His approach to the topic of modern physics and its newer concepts is one of a writer and broadcaster. As he discusses each topic, he quotes the primary researchers in the field like a writer for Discover magazine would, asking pertinent questions and where necessary, explaining the answers. Through these dialogues with renowned scientists, he allows the reader to become more familiar with the personalities of the individuals at the leading edge of theoretical physics as well as with their ideas. He functions as a very knowledgeable and lucid interface between the professional scientist and the curious lay person.

Each chapter is primarily dedicated to a specific concept having to do with "reality" and with the nature of the universe. Each chapter reads like a well written novel in that the last paragraph serves as a hook to draw the reader on to the next amazing concept in the succeeding chapter. I found that I couldn't just set aside the book. I read it cover to cover in one sitting and loved every minute of it. For those with an interest in but less of a background in physics, there is a fairly detailed glossary in the back of the book which should help with terms, although most are adequately explained in the body of the text. I think that most individuals can understand the concepts as they are explained. It might be a nice place for the junior high student with a strong interest in a science career to become familiar with physics and physicists.

For those who find their appetites wetted for "more,"the bibliography at the back of the book is probably not a very helpful source. Most of the listings are either journal articles that might not be approachable for the average student of the topic or science fiction. Certainly the latter are very good, should one wish to take ones science in a more narrative form. This cast of writers is stellar-no pun intended-and includes Asimov, Clarke, Gunn, Heinlein, and Hoyle, among others. For those who prefer expository style, I'd suggest they check "Just Six Numbers" by Sir Martin Rees, Michio Kaku's "Hyperspace," "Matter Myth" by Gribbin and Davies, and "About Time" by P. C. W. Davies. Each of the latter texts deals more thoroughly with topics addressed in Chown's book by individual chapters.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Don't have to believe it to read it, Oct 27 2002

By

Venugapal Vasudevan (Palatine, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science (Hardcover)

Books of this ilk (the scientific minority report, as another reviewer described it), have to walk the fine line between balderdash and boring. Stuff has to be "edgy" enough to be interesting, but not babble. This book does a great job of presenting some scientific evidence about why and where the scientific deck of cards may fall down. That said, clearly some chapters are better than others, esp. places where the evidence comes from more mainstream scientists. Overall, it is a great read.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird and Wonderful
It's hard to decide which idea is stranger--parts of the universe where time runs backward, several different varieties of multiple universes, wandering planets teeming with life,... Read more

Published on Oct 23 2002 by Robert Adler

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and over the top
This is an interesting book of cosmological speculation aimed at the general reader. What science writer Marcus Chown does especially well is to excite our imagination about what... Read more

Published on Sep 17 2002 by Dennis Littrell