The Little Book of the Big Bang: A Cosmic Primer (Little Book Series)

What do we know about the origins of the Universe, and more important, how do we know it? In a small, easy-to-read package, this book introduces you to all of the important ideas about the Big Bang and its consequences. Craig Hogan explains what happened in the early days of the universe, why we think it's expanding (and how the expansion can look the same from everyplace at once), different ways the universe could end, and the meaning of such terms as cosmic inflation, cosmic background radiation, and dark matter. For everyone who has always wondered just what the cosmologists are talking about but could never find the basics explained clearly and simply, this is the book to read. "Hogan compresses the fifteen-billion-year history of the Universe into a pleasurable evening. In a very direct way, he answers the questions everyone asks." -MARGARET GELLER, HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS "This delightful little primer brings you right up to the cutting edge of modern cosmology." -GEORGE SMOOT, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, COBE AND AUTHOR OF WRINKLES IN TIME "An excellent bridge by which the layperson can enter the domain of the Cosmos with understanding." -ROBERT WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE Front Matter....Pages i-xiv The Big Picture....Pages 1-4 A Survey of Space and Time....Pages 5-24 A Summary of Physics....Pages 25-46 The Cosmic Expansion....Pages 47-76 Cosmic Background Radiation....Pages 77-93 Primordial Matter....Pages 95-115 The Formation of Structure....Pages 117-139 The Beginning....Pages 141-156 The Future....Pages 157-167 Back Matter....Pages 169-181 The Little Book of the Big Bang explains what modern cosmology is all about - simply, clearly, and with no technical expertise required. The entire universe is in this small book: What happened at the beginning, how matter formed, how structure formed, what may happen to the universe in the future - and most important, how we know all this. Astrophysicist Craig Hogan has contained the entire story of the universe in this small book, leading back to the Big Bang, the beginning of all things. "The Little Book of the Big Bang" explains what modern cosmology is all about--simply, clearly, and using no technical jargon. 27 illus. We now have a model of physical events spanning the whole of observable space and time, encompassing in a complete and sweeping vision the entirety of creation since the beginning.