Just Six Numbers - Martin J. Rees
The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe
KORTE INHOUD
Astronomy is the oldest numerical science, crucial in ancient times for calendars and navigation. It is now experiencing a surge of discovery. The enhanced focus on time as we enter the new millennium is boosting interest in our cosmic environment. Astronomy is still the science of numbers, and this book is the story of six that are crucial for our universe, and our place in it.
On the blurred boundaries of ancient maps, cartographers wrote ?There be dragons?. After the pioneer navigators had encircled the globe and delineated the main continents and oceans, later explorers filled in the details. But there was no longer any hope of finding a new continent, or any expectation that the Earth?s size and shape would ever be drastically reappraised.
At the end of the twentieth century we have, remarkably, reached the same stage in mapping our universe: the grand outlines are now coming into focus. This is the collective achievement of thousands of astronomers, physicists and engineers, using many different technique...
On the blurred boundaries of ancient maps, cartographers wrote ?There be dragons?. After the pioneer navigators had encircled the globe and delineated the main continents and oceans, later explorers filled in the details. But there was no longer any hope of finding a new continent, or any expectation that the Earth?s size and shape would ever be drastically reappraised.
At the end of the twentieth century we have, remarkably, reached the same stage in mapping our universe: the grand outlines are now coming into focus. This is the collective achievement of thousands of astronomers, physicists and engineers, using many different technique...
