Alpha and Omega: The Search for the Beginning and End of the Universe - Couverture rigide

Humankind has grappled for millennia with the fundamental questions of the origin and end of the universe--it was a focus of ancient religions and myths and of the inquiries of Aristotle, Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Today we are at the brink of discoveries that should soon reveal the deepest secrets of the universe.

Alpha and Omega is a dispatch from the front lines of the cosmological revolution that is being waged at observatories and laboratories around the world-in Europe, in America, and even in Antarctica--where scientists are actually peering into both the cradle of the universe and its grave. Scientists--including galaxy hunters and microwave eavesdroppers, gravity theorists and atom smashers, all of whom are on the trail of dark matter, dark energy, and the growing inhabitants of the particle zoo-now know how the universe will end and are on the brink of understanding its beginning. Their findings will be among the greatest triumphs of science, even towering above the deciphering of the human genome.

This is the book you need to help understand the frequent front-page headlines heralding dramatic cosmological discoveries. It makes cutting-edge science both crystal clear and wonderfully exciting.

The science of cosmology is on the brink of a final revolution. Astronomers and physicists are beginning to answer the ultimate questions that have plagued mankind for millennia: how was the universe born? And how will it end?

Already scientists have glimpsed the cradle of the universe, now they're peering into its grave. When results from experiments currently being conducted all over the world finally come together, the findings will constitute one of the greatest moments in science - as monumental as the deciphering of the human genome.

Alpha and Omega is the story of this cosmological revolution, and of the scientists who are bringing it about. From the universe's mythological origins to the theories of Aristotle, Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler and Newton, Charles Seife, acclaimed author of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, takes us on a gallop across time - and introduces us to the newcomers on this cosmic trail: galaxy-hunters and microwave-eavesdroppers, gravity theorists and atom-smashers, and reveals bitter rivalries between brilliant minds.

Making cutting-edge science crystal clear, Alpha and Omega provides fascinating and thrilling explanations of some of the most stunning scientific ideas of our time.