Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Riverhead Books (2007), 400 pages
Description
Draws on recent advances in astronomy, physics, and cosmology to present a theory of how to understand the universe and the role of our own world, in an account that offers insight into the origins and evolutionary coherence of the universe.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Stbalbach
This is a visionary book that sets out to change the world by changing how we see our place in the universe, by changing peoples attitudes about the metaphors and stories we use to describe the universe and mans place in it. Instead of seeing ourselves in entrenched Newtonian existential terms (a
The idea of mans centrality to the universe has been the norm for most of history - the medieval model, Egyptian cosmology, etc.. all saw man and earth at the center of the universe - the first third of the book discusses this. It was with Newtonian physics that our place in the center was over-turned. But incredibly in the past 10-15 years its become apparent we really are at the center - depending on your perspective, as discussed in the middle portion of the book - 1)We are made of the rarest material in the universe (visible matter) 2) We live in the center of a "Cosmic Sphere of Time" (every point in the universe is physically in the middle because there is no middle of the universe) 3) We live in a mid-point of time - most nearby galaxy's are middle age 4) We live in the middle of all possible sizes - there are 14 orders of magnitude difference between the smallest and largest, we are in the middle 5) We live at the mid-point in the age of our planet. 6) We live at a turning point for our species when population and environmental questions are raising serious questions about sustainability.
The last third of the book becomes more subjective about going forward into the future how we can change our attitude about the universe to be more optimistic and meaningful: "The choice of attitude is not a casual one.. cosmology is not a game it has the power to overturn fundamental institutions of society.. Once we made this mental shift and opened our eyes to the view from the center of the universe.. it evoked the opposite emotions from the existential stance-not despair but hope, not resignation but excitement. These may be arbitrary emotions, but they lead to non-arbitrary actions."
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small rock circling a small star in an average galaxy in a nearly infinite scale universe where nothing that humans do matters in the big picture like a lone plankton floating in the ocean), the authors re-position earth and humans to a central importance, supported by the latest science findings. Incredibly, they make a convincing case, and along the way educate the reader about the latest scientific findings in cosmology.The idea of mans centrality to the universe has been the norm for most of history - the medieval model, Egyptian cosmology, etc.. all saw man and earth at the center of the universe - the first third of the book discusses this. It was with Newtonian physics that our place in the center was over-turned. But incredibly in the past 10-15 years its become apparent we really are at the center - depending on your perspective, as discussed in the middle portion of the book - 1)We are made of the rarest material in the universe (visible matter) 2) We live in the center of a "Cosmic Sphere of Time" (every point in the universe is physically in the middle because there is no middle of the universe) 3) We live in a mid-point of time - most nearby galaxy's are middle age 4) We live in the middle of all possible sizes - there are 14 orders of magnitude difference between the smallest and largest, we are in the middle 5) We live at the mid-point in the age of our planet. 6) We live at a turning point for our species when population and environmental questions are raising serious questions about sustainability.
The last third of the book becomes more subjective about going forward into the future how we can change our attitude about the universe to be more optimistic and meaningful: "The choice of attitude is not a casual one.. cosmology is not a game it has the power to overturn fundamental institutions of society.. Once we made this mental shift and opened our eyes to the view from the center of the universe.. it evoked the opposite emotions from the existential stance-not despair but hope, not resignation but excitement. These may be arbitrary emotions, but they lead to non-arbitrary actions."
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LibraryThing member br77rino
Joel Primack and his wife Nancy do a great job of showing Cosmology in its present form, and how it ties in with ancient 'pre-scientific' cosmologies.
LibraryThing member KennethWDavis
One of my favorite books on cosmology.
LibraryThing member philiphk
The authors believe that their 21st century readers have lost their way because we don't have a valid cosmology to tell us where we've come from (and presumably where we're going). They give a good summary of Egyptian, Hebrew and Greek cosmologies as an introduction to producing a scientific
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cosmology based on recent astrophysics research. I found their explanations of dark matter, dark energy, expansion of the universe, etc helpful. I haven't finished yet but my biggest disappointment is their assumption that none of their readers hold a (valid) cosmology. Show Less
LibraryThing member ojchase
I was really disappointed with this book, as it promised to deliver far more than it was able. The book couldn't decide whether it was a science book or a philosophy book, and ultimately failed to do either very well. The authors were attempting to use modern science to give mankind a sense of
We live about halfway through the lifespan of our planet. There's no center to the universe, so you might as well pretend you're the center. Our size is in the middle (in terms of orders of magnitude) of the size scales of the universe (between the quantum world and galaxy clusters). Therefore, you should feel meaningful! I don't think that follows at all.
The science was decently interesting, but you can find far better if you're interested in the developments of modern physics or cosmology. The philosophy was unconvincing, and also included long sections on past cosmologies that gave people significance in the world (i.e. myths) and proposed new ways of viewing the world. For example, a great (I'm being sarcastic) New Year's tradition would be to have The Cosmic Dessert: a pyramid-shaped dessert of 70% chocolate cake (representing dark energy), 25% chocolate ice cream (dark matter), 4% chopped nuts (invisible mixed atoms), 0.5% whipped cream (hydrogen/helium), a bit of cinnamon (stardust/heavy elements), and a cherry on top (intelligent life, not to scale). Clever I guess, but are we really this desperate for holiday events? And if we are... do you really want your value to come from being made of stardust instead of dark energy?
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meaning that's was taken away with the Copernican Revolution, but I felt it failed to actually provide any meaning.We live about halfway through the lifespan of our planet. There's no center to the universe, so you might as well pretend you're the center. Our size is in the middle (in terms of orders of magnitude) of the size scales of the universe (between the quantum world and galaxy clusters). Therefore, you should feel meaningful! I don't think that follows at all.
The science was decently interesting, but you can find far better if you're interested in the developments of modern physics or cosmology. The philosophy was unconvincing, and also included long sections on past cosmologies that gave people significance in the world (i.e. myths) and proposed new ways of viewing the world. For example, a great (I'm being sarcastic) New Year's tradition would be to have The Cosmic Dessert: a pyramid-shaped dessert of 70% chocolate cake (representing dark energy), 25% chocolate ice cream (dark matter), 4% chopped nuts (invisible mixed atoms), 0.5% whipped cream (hydrogen/helium), a bit of cinnamon (stardust/heavy elements), and a cherry on top (intelligent life, not to scale). Clever I guess, but are we really this desperate for holiday events? And if we are... do you really want your value to come from being made of stardust instead of dark energy?
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LibraryThing member yamiyoghurt
Interesting ideas, but the writing could have been better.
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2006