Author

Publication

2002-03-11 - Princeton University Press

Language

English

Word Count

56,000 words, Guess

Page Count

224 pages

Physical Format

Hardcover

Identifiers

and 4 more
  • Goodreads2574766
  • Library of Congress Control Number2001099369
  • OCLC Control Number49509137
  • Better World Books9780691096575

Classifications

  • LCCQB981 .L392 2002
  • LCCQB981.L392 2002

Description

"In prose, Janna Levin's diary of unsent letters to her mother describes what we know about the shape and extent of the universe, about its beginning and its end. She grants the uninitiated access to the astounding findings of contemporary theoretical physics and makes tangible the contours of space and time - those very real curves along which apples fall and planets orbit." "Levin guides the reader through the observations and thought-experiments that have enabled physicists to begin charting the universe. She introduces the cosmic archaeology that makes sense of the pattern of hot spots left over from the big bang, a pursuit on the verge of discovering the shape of space itself. And she explains the topology and the geometry of the universe now coming into focus - a strange map of space full of black holes, chaotic flows, time warps, and invisible strings. Levin advances the controversial idea that this map is edge-less but finite - that the universe is huge but not unending - a radical revelation that would provide the ultimate twist to the Copernican revolution by locating our precise position in the cosmos."--BOOK JACKET.

First Sentence

Some of the great mathematicians killed themselves.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite SpaceHardcoverPrinceton University Press2002-03-11
Show 1 more editions

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