Heart of darkness : unraveling the mysteries of the invisible universe / Jeremiah P. Ostriker and Simon Mitton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ostriker, J. P.

Contributor:

Mitton, Simon, 1946-

Series:

Handwerker, Mark J. Science essentials.

Science essentials

Science essentials (National Academy of Sciences (U.S.))

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomy--Popular works.

Astronomy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (325 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Heart of Darkness describes the incredible saga of humankind's quest to unravel the deepest secrets of the universe. Over the past thirty years, scientists have learned that two little-understood components--dark matter and dark energy--comprise most of the known cosmos, explain the growth of all cosmic structure, and hold the key to the universe's fate. The story of how evidence for the so-called "Lambda-Cold Dark Matter" model of cosmology has been gathered by generations of scientists throughout the world is told here by one of the pioneers of the field, Jeremiah Ostriker, and his coauthor Simon Mitton. From humankind's early attempts to comprehend Earth's place in the solar system, to astronomers' exploration of the Milky Way galaxy and the realm of the nebulae beyond, to the detection of the primordial fluctuations of energy from which all subsequent structure developed, this book explains the physics and the history of how the current model of our universe arose and has passed every test hurled at it by the skeptics. Throughout this rich story, an essential theme is emphasized: how three aspects of rational inquiry--the application of direct measurement and observation, the introduction of mathematical modeling, and the requirement that hypotheses should be testable and verifiable--guide scientific progress and underpin our modern cosmological paradigm. This monumental puzzle is far from complete, however, as scientists confront the mysteries of the ultimate causes of cosmic structure formation and the real nature and origin of dark matter and dark energy.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Prologue: From Myth to Reality

Chapter One. Einstein's Toolkit, and How to Use It

Chapter Two. The Realm of the Nebulae

Chapter Three. Let's Do Cosmology!

Chapter Four. Discovering the Big Bang

Chapter Five. The Origin of Structure in the Universe

Chapter Six. Dark Matter-or Fritz Zwicky's Greatest Invention

Chapter Seven. Dark Energy-or Einstein's Greatest Blunder

Chapter Eight. The Modern Paradigm and the Limits of Our Knowledge

Chapter Nine. The Frontier: Major Mysteries That Remain

Appendix One. Cosmology without Relativity

Appendix Two. How Do We Measure Mass in Astronomy

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781299051430

129905143X

9781400844647

1400844649

OCLC:

845248748