Overview
- Introduces the most up-to-date and startling research findings in cosmology
- Maintains an approachable, informal and non-technical tone accessible to non-specialists
- Continues the author's well-received "Weird" series, including "Weird Weather," "Weird Astronomy" and "Weird Worlds"
- Like the earlier titles, this one suggests some projects and activities the reader can do to better understand the concepts presented
Part of the book series: Astronomers' Universe (ASTRONOM)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
As new discoveries complicate the scientific picture of the universe, the evolving theories about the nature of space and time and the origins and fate of the universe threaten to become overwhelming. Enter David Seargent. Continuing the author's series of books popularizing strange astronomy facts and knowledge, Weird Universe explains the bizarre, complicated terrain of modern cosmology for lay readers.
From exploring some of the strange consequences of the theories of special and general relativity, to probing time dilation and the twin and mother-and-baby “paradoxes” and the theory that the universe can be mathematically considered as a hologram, all of the latest findings and conjectures are clearly described in non-technical language. The development of quantum physics and the more recent developments of string and M-theory are looked at, in addition to several hypotheses that have not won wide acceptance from the scientific community, such as modified gravity. Enter the wonderfully weird world of these theories and gain a new appreciation for the latest findings in cosmological research.
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“Seargent (amateur astronomer) describes the complicated nature of current astrophysical and cosmological theories by focusing on those ideas and consequences that either run contrary to the layperson’s ‘common sense’ or that could be regarded as outliers in current scientific thinking. … without a doubt, undergraduates and general audiences who are interested in paradoxes of modern physics will find this book enjoyable reading. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic and general library collections.” (A. Spero, Choice, Vol. 52 (9), May, 2015)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Weird Universe
Book Subtitle: Exploring the Most Bizarre Ideas in Cosmology
Authors: David A. J. Seargent
Series Title: Astronomers' Universe
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10738-7
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-10737-0Published: 30 October 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-10738-7Published: 10 October 2014
Series ISSN: 1614-659X
Series E-ISSN: 2197-6651
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 272
Number of Illustrations: 44 b/w illustrations, 6 illustrations in colour
Topics: Popular Science in Astronomy, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology