The Hole in the Universe: How Scientists Peered over the Edge of Emptiness and Found Everything (Seth Book)

“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

The more we know about Nothing, the more enticing and bizarre the universe becomes, especially in the hands of bestselling author K. C. Cole.

Welcome to the world of cutting-edge math, physics, and neuroscience, where the search for the ultimate vacuum, the point of nothingness, ground zero of theory, has rendered the universe deep, rich, and juicy. "Modern physics has animated the void," says K. C. Cole in her entrancing journey into the heart of Nothing.

Every time scientists and mathematicians think they have reached the ultimate void, new stuff 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 animated and exciting as the void itself.

Take Cole's hand on this adventure into the unknown, and you'll come back informed, amused, and excited.

About the Author:

K. C. Cole is a science writer for the Los Angeles Times and a professor of writing at UCLA. Author of The Universe and the Teacup and First You Build a Cloud, she writes a regular, popular column in the Los Angeles Times, "Mind over Matter." She lives in Santa Monica, California.

San Francisco Chronicle - David Perlman

...a quirky, contemplative and immensely stimulating rumination on Nothing.

An adventure into the heart of Nothing by best-selling author K. C. Cole. Once again, acclaimed science writer K. C. Cole brings the arcane and academic down to the level of armchair scientists in The Hole in the Universe , an entertaining and edifying search for nothing at all. Open the newspaper on any given day and you will read of a newly discovered planet, star, and so on. Yet scientists and mathematicians have spent generations searching the far reaches of the universe for that one elusive statenothingness. Although this may sound like a simple task, every time the absolute void appears within reach, something new is discovered in its a black hole, an undulating string, an additional dimension of space or timeeven another universe. A fascinating and literary tour de force, The Hole in the Universe is a virtual romp into the unknown that you never knew wasn't there. "Behind the front-page reports of fascinating discoveries in physics, cosmology, and math, lurks a deep underlying mystery - an all-pervasive presence that eludes understanding, yet controls everything else that happens. That mysterious presence is Nothing. In a literary tour de force, K. C. Cole plunges into the void with today's top scientists and theorists, showing how the continuing search for ultimate nothingness is leading to a profoundly new understanding of the origins and nature of the universe". "The universe that emerges in this important book is juicy, rich, and deep. Every time scientists think they have reached the ultimate void, new stuff appears: a black hole, an undulating string, an additional dimension of space or time, repulsive antigravity, and universes that breed like bunnies."--BOOK JACKET. "Cole discusses the history of nothing, 'combining the history of zero (a mathematical nothing) with that of the vacuum (a physical nothing) ... Until Einstein showed that light needed no tangible medium through which to travel, theorists filled the vacuum with 'ether' -- the 'enfant terrible' of substances, as Einstein put it. It was subsequently banished." Atl Mon