The origins of the universe for dummies / by Stephen Pincock and Mark Frary.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Frary, Mark.

Series:

--For dummies.

--For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cosmology.

Astronomy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (353 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chichester, West Sussex : John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Do you want to learn about the physical origin of the Universe, but don't have the rest of eternity to read up on it? Do you want to know what scientists know about where you and your planet came from, but without the science blinding you? 'Course you do - and who better than For Dummies to tackle the biggest, strangest and most wonderful question there is! The Origins of the Universe For Dummies covers: Early ideas about our universeModern cosmologyBig Bang theoryDark matter and gravityGalaxies and solar systemsLife on earthFi

Contents:

The Origins of the Universe For Dummies®; About the Authors; Dedication; Authors' Acknowledgements; Contents at a Glance; Table of Contents; Introduction; About This Book; Conventions Used in This Book; What You're Not to Read; Foolish Assumptions; How This Book Is Organised; Icons Used in This Book; Where to Go from Here; Part I: In the Beginning: Early Ideas About Our Universe; Chapter 1: Exploring the Early Universe; Shifting Views - Scientifically Speaking; Contrasting Science and Religion; Defining Cosmology; Realising Why Now Is So Exciting

Chapter 2: Looking Up at the Stars: Early BeliefsMaking a Home for the Gods: Early Notions; Taking a Scientific Approach: Early Views; Moving the Sun to the Centre: The Copernican Revolution; Chapter 3: The Apple Drops: Newton, Gravity, and the Rotation of the Planets; Tycho Brahe, a Rising Star; Assisting - and Surpassing - Brahe: Johannes Kepler; The Universe Reveals Itself: Galileo; Watching Apples Fall: Isaac Newton; Part II: Modern Cosmology: Going Off with a Bang; Chapter 4: Bending the Universe: Magnets and Gravity; Confirming Newton's Laws

Tripping the Light Electromagnetic: James Clerk MaxwellGetting Rid of the Ether: Michelson and Morley; Getting Relative with Albert Einstein; Chapter 5: Measuring the Universe; Examining All Those Twinkling Little Stars; Classifying the Stars; Measuring Stellar Distances; Contemplating an Ever-Expanding Universe; Chapter 6: Cooking Up a Big Bang; Gathering the Ingredients for an Expanding Universe; Turning Up the Heat on Expansion; Checking the Oven: Looking for Fossil Radiation; Chapter 7: Letting It Rise: Expanding and Inflating the Universe; Going Back to the Beginning

Pondering the HorizonShaping the Universe; Imagining Inflation; Chapter 8: Thinking Differently About the Universe; Existing Forever: An Alternative to the Big Bang; Explaining the Universe in Other Ways; Part III: Building Your Own Universe; Chapter 9: Building Things from Scratch; What's the Matter? Searching for the Most Basic Building Block; Venturing Beyond Electrons, Protons, and Neutrons: Quantum Mechanics; Probing the Concept of Probability; Antimatter; Getting to Know the Standard Model; Chapter 10: Forcing the Pace: The Roles of Natural Forces in the Universe; Forcing the Issue

Uniting the Forces of NatureGiving Things Mass: The Higgs Field and Boson; Searching for GUTs and TOEs: Grand Unified Theories and Theories of Everything; Chapter 11: Shedding Light on Dark Matter and Pinging Strings; Addressing the Dark Elephant in the Room: Dark Matter; Getting Even Darker: Dark Energy; Stringing the Universe Along; Chapter 12: Playing with the Universe's Chemistry Set; Strolling Through the Periodic Table; Making Helium and Hydrogen in the Big Bang; A Star Is Born; Classifying Stars by Their Chemistry; Creating Heavy Metals with Supernovae

Chapter 13: Making Stars, Solar Systems, Galaxies, and More

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1-119-99819-0

0-470-51801-4

OCLC:

767498071