A Universe from Nothing
Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing
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3.9 • 295 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place.
“Where did the universe come from? What was there before it? What will the future bring? And finally, why is there something rather than nothing?”
One of the few prominent scientists today to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, Krauss describes the staggeringly beautiful experimental observations and mind-bending new theories that demonstrate not only can something arise from nothing, something will always arise from nothing. With a new preface about the significance of the discovery of the Higgs particle, A Universe from Nothing uses Krauss’s characteristic wry humor and wonderfully clear explanations to take us back to the beginning of the beginning, presenting the most recent evidence for how our universe evolved—and the implications for how it’s going to end.
Provocative, challenging, and delightfully readable, this is a game-changing look at the most basic underpinning of existence and a powerful antidote to outmoded philosophical, religious, and scientific thinking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Readers interested in the evolution of the universe will find Krauss's account lively and humorous as well as informative. In 1925, Edwin Hubble ("who continues to give me great faith in humanity, because he started out as a lawyer, and then became an astronomer") showed that the universe was expanding. But what was it expanding from? Virtually nothing, an "infinitesimal point," said George LeMa tre, who in 1929 proposed the idea of the Big Bang. His theory was later supported by the discovery of remnants of energy called cosmic microwave background radiation "the afterglow of the Big Bang," as Krauss calls it. Researchers also discovered that the universe is expanding not at a steady rate but accelerating, driving matter farther apart faster and faster. Krauss, a professor and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, explores the consequences of a universe dominated by the "seemingly empty space" left by expansion, urging focused study before expansion pushes everything beyond our reach. Readers will find the result of Krauss's " absolutely surprising and fascinating universe" as compelling as it is intriguing.
Customer Reviews
See AllInteresting, funny
The book is very interesting and funny. The comment Krauss made about not asking American high school students a previous reviewer mentioned was funny if you knew that American high school students don't rank well internationally. It was a joke! Lighten up people.
Some of the book was a little dense and hard to understand, but reading the book was well worth it because a lot of the information is really amazing. Please physicists, find out more because I am dying to know these unanswered questions of the universe.
Everything indeed out of nothing
Great read for anyone with an open mind; closed minds already believe that everything came out from nothing, only they call nothing God.
The book's formatting is uneven and awful at some places, and there are some typos, but the content outweighs the presentation.
Must Read
Let the philosophers and theologians complain all they want. Krauss does not make the mistake of getting bogged down too much in the philosophical side of "nothing". Instead he concerns himself with the reality of nature and explores how a universes can emerge from empty space. In the process, he gives the reader lots of information on the state of the art of astrophysics.
This book contains scientific information. No, it doesn't point to a Creator, but so what? I want to know the true nature of the universe. Thank you Mr. Krauss for making this information accessible to the general public.