The Extravagant Universe : Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos / Robert P. Kirshner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kirshner, Robert P., author.

Contributor:

Kirshner, Robert P.

Series:

Princeton science library.

Princeton Science Library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Supernovae.

Dark energy (Astronomy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 pages) : illustrations (some color).

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The Extravagant Universe tells the story of a remarkable adventure of scientific discovery. One of the world's leading astronomers, Robert Kirshner, takes readers inside a lively research team on the quest that led them to an extraordinary cosmological discovery: the expansion of the universe is accelerating under the influence of a dark energy that makes space itself expand. In addition to sharing the story of this exciting discovery, Kirshner also brings the science up-to-date in a new epilogue. He explains how the idea of an accelerating universe--once a daring interpretation of sketchy data--is now the standard assumption in cosmology today. This measurement of dark energy--a quality of space itself that causes cosmic acceleration--points to a gaping hole in our understanding of fundamental physics. In 1917, Einstein proposed the "cosmological constant" to explain a static universe. When observations proved that the universe was expanding, he cast this early form of dark energy aside. But recent observations described first-hand in this book show that the cosmological constant--or something just like it--dominates the universe's mass and energy budget and determines its fate and shape. Warned by Einstein's blunder, and contradicted by the initial results of a competing research team, Kirshner and his colleagues were reluctant to accept their own result. But, convinced by evidence built on their hard-earned understanding of exploding stars, they announced their conclusion that the universe is accelerating in February 1998. Other lines of inquiry and parallel supernova research now support a new synthesis of a cosmos dominated by dark energy but also containing several forms of dark matter. We live in an extravagant universe with a surprising number of essential ingredients: the real universe we measure is not the simplest one we could imagine.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

CHAPTER 1. The Big Picture

CHAPTER 2. Violent Agents of Cosmic Change

CHAPTER 3. Another Way to Explode

CHAPTER 4. Einstein Adds a Constant

CHAPTER 5. Cosmic Expansion

CHAPTER 6. What Time Is It?

CHAPTER 7. A Hot Day in Holmdel

CHAPTER 8. Learning to Swim

CHAPTER 9. Getting It First

CHAPTER 10. Getting It Right

CHAPTER 11. The Smoking Gun?

Epilogue

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9781400883806

1400883806

OCLC:

958455111