The Hole in the Universe
How Scientists Peered over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything
-
-
4.7 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
"A compelling, enjoyable, and widely accessible exploration of one of the most fundamental scientific issues of our age" (Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe).
In The Hole in the Universe, an award-winning science writer "provides an illuminating slant on physics and mathematics by exploring the concept of nothing" (Scientific American).
Welcome to the world of cutting-edge math, physics, and neuroscience, where the search for the ultimate vacuum, the point of nothingness, the ground zero of theory, has rendered the universe deep, rich, and juicy. Every time scientists and mathematicians think they have reached the ultimate void, something new appears: a black hole, an undulating string, an additional dimension of space or time, repulsive anti-gravity, universes that breed like bunnies. Cole's exploration at the edge of everything is "as playfully entertaining as it is informative" (San Jose Mercury News).
"A strong and sometimes mind-blowing introduction to the edges of modern physics." —Salon.com
"Comprising an expansive set of topics from the history of numbers to string theory, the big bang, even Zen, the book's chapters are broken into bite-sized portions that allow the author to revel in the puns and awkwardness that comes with trying to describe a concept that no one has fully grasped. It is an amorphous, flowing, mind-bending discussion, written in rich, graceful prose. As clear and accessible as Hawking's A Brief History of Time, this work deserves wide circulation, not just among science buffs." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Here we have the definitive book about nothing, and who would think that nothing could be so interesting . . . not only accessible but compelling reading." —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nothing is as big a mystery as nothing. From the hatred the digit "zero" inspired in the ancient church and the horror vacui suffered by thinkers such as Aristotle to the tantalizing singularity of black holes, nothing packs quite a wallop. People, not nature, abhor a vacuum but are often fascinated by what repels them. Cole (The Universe and the Teacup), a science columnist for the L.A. Times, prods at the infinite properties and manifestations of nothing, trying to get a handle on it without boxing it in. Definitions make something out of nothing, but then, she indicates, everything did come out of nothing. Comprising an expansive set of topics from the history of numbers to string theory, the big bang, even Zen, the book's chapters are broken into bite-sized portions that allow the author to revel in the puns and awkwardness that comes with trying to describe a concept that no one has fully grasped. It is an amorphous, flowing, mind-bending discussion, written in rich, graceful prose.. As clear and accessible as Hawking's A Brief History of Time, this work deserves wide circulation, not just among science buffs.
