1. Edition - October 2007
20.90 Euro
2007. 346 Pages, Softcover
- General Reading -
ISBN-10: 0-470-51606-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-51606-5 - John Wiley & Sons






Sample Chapter

Detailed description
Everything you need for a quick tour of everything

You are here. How come?

Want to discover the physical origin of the universe, but don't have the rest of eternity to read up on it? Want to know what scientists have found out about where you and your planet came from, but without the science blinding you? Most people do: It's a deep part of human nature. Who better than For Dummies to tackle the biggest, strangest, and most wonderful question of them all?

Discover:
*

Early ideas about our universe
*

The Big Bang and the Big Crunch
*

Dark matter, string theory, and time travel
*

Explanations of the unexplainable
*

If life exists elsewhere

From the contents
Introduction.

Part I: In the Beginning: Early Ideas About Our Universe.

Chapter 1: Exploring the Early Universe.

Chapter 2: Looking Up at the Stars: Early Beliefs.

Chapter 3: The Apple Drops: Newton, Gravity, and the Rotation of the Planets.

Part II: Modern Cosmology: Going Off with a Bang.

Chapter 4: Bending the Universe: Magnets and Gravity.

Chapter 5: Measuring the Universe.

Chapter 6: Cooking Up a Big Bang.

Chapter 7: Letting It Rise: Expanding and Inflating the Universe.

Chapter 8: Thinking Differently About the Universe.

Part III: Building Your Own Universe.

Chapter 9: Building Things from Scratch.

Chapter 10: Forcing the Pace: The Roles of Natural Forces in the Universe.

Chapter 11: Shedding Light on Dark Matter and Pinging Strings.

Chapter 12: Playing with the Universe's Chemistry Set.

Chapter 13: Making Stars, Solar Systems, Galaxies, and More.

Chapter 14: Giving Birth to Life.

Chapter 15: Travelling Through Time.

Part IV: Asking the Tough Questions.

Chapter 16: Explaining the Unexplainable.

Chapter 17: Finding Life Elsewhere.

Chapter 18: Coming to an End.

Part V: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 19: Ten Different Beliefs about the Origins of the Universe.

Chapter 20: Ten Greatest Cosmological Advances.

Appendix: Understanding Scientific Units and Equations.

Index.