Brave New Universe

BRAVE NEW UNIVERSE:

ILLUMINATING THE DARKEST

SECRETS OF THE COSMOS

By Paul Halpern and Paul Wesson

In this glorious age for cosmology, astronomical measurement has never been more precise. Using modern instruments such as the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), astronomers have found answers to long-elusive questions about the age and composition of the universe. With unprecedented confidence, they have revealed how long the cosmos has been expanding since its beginning. They have examined how this growth has changed over time, and have predicted its future course. Moreover, they have sorted the types of matter and energy in the universe into various categories, pinpointing how much of space contains ordinary materials—the stuff of stars and planets—and how much harbors other kinds of substances. By producing such exact results, high-resolution satellite data and novel telescopic techniques have thereby transformed one of the most speculative fields into a triumph for meticulous scientific methods.

Yet, like the excavation of ancient Troy, each layer revealed of cosmic information has unearthed hints of even deeper secrets. As clear data has emerged about the age and composition of the universe, cosmologists have encountered formidable issues underlying these results. For example, if, as the WMAP has revealed, only 4% of the universe constitutes ordinary matter, what is the nature of the remaining material? If, as telescopic measurements have shown, all of space is accelerating, what is producing this fantastic dynamo of energy? And if, as infrared searches have indicated, planetary systems are fairly common throughout the cosmos, why have we yet to encounter extraterrestrial beings?

As we learn more about the universe, we question how much of our experience is a function of our sensory limitations. Might time, space and matter simply be illusions? How do human intelligence and consciousness reflect the nature of physical reality? Does the existence of life on Earth derive from a blend of unique cosmological factors? BRAVE NEW UNIVERSE addresses these philosophical questions and more—and its conclusions prove most extraordinary!

ADVANCED PRAISE FOR BRAVE NEW UNIVERSE:

"Writing in the tradition of Eddington, Halpern and Wesson combine insights from observational astronomy, theoretical physics, and philosophy of science to provide a picture, on the largest scales, of what we know about our universe and what we might hope to know some day in the future.

-Virginia Trimble

Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Irvine and

Chair, Forum on History of Physics of American Physical Society

"Anyone who has followed recent news stories about big developments in cosmology, from inflation to dark energy, the search for the missing mass and the puzzle of what happened before the Big Bang, will be intrigued by this book. Paul Halpern and Paul Wesson have done a service for astronomy buffs by pulling together in one place an overview of these exciting new ideas..."

-John Gribbin

Author of The Origins of the Future and In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Paul Halpern is a professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and is the author of many trade science books, including The Great Beyond, The Pursuit of Destiny, Countdown to Apocalypse and Cosmic Wormholes. The recipient of a Fulbright award, an Athenaeum Literary Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.

Paul Wesson is a professor of physics at the University of Waterloo in Canada and Stanford University in California. He is the founder of the 5D Space-Time- Matter Consortium, an international group of scientific researchers. His books include Five-Dimensional Physics, Dark Sky, Dark Matter (with J. Overduin), Cosmic Dreams, and Space-Time-Matter. Known for his popular expositions of scientific ideas, his entertaining articles have appeared in Analog, Astronomy, and New Scientist.

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