⇒ Download Free Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe Dennis Overbye 9780316648967 Books

Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe Dennis Overbye 9780316648967 Books

Download As PDF : Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe Dennis Overbye 9780316648967 Books

Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe Dennis Overbye 9780316648967 Books

By page 114, I could already comfortably explain Hawking radiation: the seeming paradox that absolutely nothing can get out of a black hole, yet it radiates vast amounts of energy. (Hint: think of particle/antiparticle quantum foam popping into normally-temporary existence right ON the event horizon.) Where does that energy come from? Literally nowhere.

Still here? Good: now I know who I'm talking to. This is a brilliantly clear history of 20th Century physics, astronomy, and cosmology. The characters come to life: before his killjoy editors got to him, one of Stephen Hawking's papers included "Suppose you have a little race of gnomes..." At one point, astronomers could rank themselves depending on whether Allan Sandage had at some point stopped talking to them. Described at length are several cases of mentors guiding students in the best Platonic fashion. Also, interestingly described at length is the fall and rise of the mighty Allan Sandage, who was thought of as being out of date until more modern yardsticks stunningly verified his thirty years of meticulous, lonely work.

I only have a good brain, a year of college math (which I'm dreadful at) and physics, and a lifelong fascination with astronomy/cosmology going for me, but I submit that any intelligent, interested person would like this book and may be inspired by it. It is an adult dose, and I'm savouring it. By page 300, I already understood symmetry, broken symmetry, the whole enormous fuss about the Higgs boson (yes, it IS that big a deal: until we created one in the CERN accelerator, they had been entirely missing from the universe since the first trillionth of a second), the concept of a supercooled Higgs field, and finally what inflation is and why it had to happen. Though very interested, I thought I could never understand any of those concepts and even dismissed them as mumbo-jumbo: Overbye makes them plain as ... well, he makes them understandable.

Overbye doesn't get into string theory very deeply, probably because it was very new in 1991, so I'll end with a question: Can anyone recommend a book that covers the last 20+ years?


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Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos The Story of the Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe Dennis Overbye 9780316648967 Books Reviews

In Overbye's "Lonely Hearts" the reader will find a contemporary history of one of the most exciting fields of science in the 20th century. Told with a personal style that helps the reader understand that the both the scientists and the science exist in a very real sociological frame work, the narrative focuses on the developments in answering, "What is the Earth's place in the cosmos?" and "What is the fate of the universe?"

Overbye centers his story around the life of Allan Sandage, the sometimes hesitant successor to Hubble. In examining his life as well as the lives of numerous other astronomers and physicists he helps the reader see both the high and the lows of a life of pursuing knowledge in a scientific context. He also helps us understand the sometimes rough and tumble world of publication, scientific ego and underlying uncertainty found in such pursuits.

The only drawback is that the book's original edition was written so long ago. While the newer edition seeks to add more information about recent progress in the field, there is a lack of the exploration of the personalities that are doing the science. Additionally, even with the update, the book is once again somewhat behind the latest work in the field.

That having been said, I still strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in astronomy or physics as well as for anyone who is a student in the history of science. I would also recommend this book for students seeking to pursue a career in the sciences. The book does a wonderful job of showing what a person must do to be successful and what obstacles a person faces when following that path.
This book is a classic.
Okay, I KNOW I'm a little biased, being an astronogrl and all, but this book is an AMAZING read! It reads like a novel, and yet contains so many interesting astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology concepts, that it will blow you away. Covers everything from the big bang to inflation to black holes to string theory to dark matter... Dennis Overbye (the author) has hob-nobbed with so many big names and been able to glean personal interviews that you begin to feel like you know these people and their astronomy struggles. And don't worry; This book contains no equations. This book makes me excited to do astronomy and it is the best book I have read this year and will always remain one of my favorites.
This is a crash course on the "history" of cosmology. Informal style, easy to read, funny on many occasions. Nice introduction to the subject aimed at general audiences, but I think the physicist in another field will enjoy it more.
I loved this book! It's just what nonfiction should be--an exciting journey into new territory with fascinating people
By page 114, I could already comfortably explain Hawking radiation the seeming paradox that absolutely nothing can get out of a black hole, yet it radiates vast amounts of energy. (Hint think of particle/antiparticle quantum foam popping into normally-temporary existence right ON the event horizon.) Where does that energy come from? Literally nowhere.

Still here? Good now I know who I'm talking to. This is a brilliantly clear history of 20th Century physics, astronomy, and cosmology. The characters come to life before his killjoy editors got to him, one of Stephen Hawking's papers included "Suppose you have a little race of gnomes..." At one point, astronomers could rank themselves depending on whether Allan Sandage had at some point stopped talking to them. Described at length are several cases of mentors guiding students in the best Platonic fashion. Also, interestingly described at length is the fall and rise of the mighty Allan Sandage, who was thought of as being out of date until more modern yardsticks stunningly verified his thirty years of meticulous, lonely work.

I only have a good brain, a year of college math (which I'm dreadful at) and physics, and a lifelong fascination with astronomy/cosmology going for me, but I submit that any intelligent, interested person would like this book and may be inspired by it. It is an adult dose, and I'm savouring it. By page 300, I already understood symmetry, broken symmetry, the whole enormous fuss about the Higgs boson (yes, it IS that big a deal until we created one in the CERN accelerator, they had been entirely missing from the universe since the first trillionth of a second), the concept of a supercooled Higgs field, and finally what inflation is and why it had to happen. Though very interested, I thought I could never understand any of those concepts and even dismissed them as mumbo-jumbo Overbye makes them plain as ... well, he makes them understandable.

Overbye doesn't get into string theory very deeply, probably because it was very new in 1991, so I'll end with a question Can anyone recommend a book that covers the last 20+ years?