A baffling array of science books claim to reveal how the mysteries of the universe have been discovered, but Simon Singh's Big Bang actually delivers on that promise.

General readers will find it to be among the very best books dealing with cosmology, because Singh follows the same plan he used in his brilliant Code Book: he puts people--not equations--first in the story.

By linking the progression of the Big Bang theory with the scientists who built it up bit by bit, Singh also uncovers an important truth about how such ideas grow.

Death is an essential element in the progress of science, since it takes care of conservative scientists of a previous generation reluctant to let go of an old, fallacious theory and embrace a new and accurate one.

As harsh as this statement seems, even Einstein defended an outmoded idea about the universe when an unknown interloper published equations challenging the great man.

Einstein didn't have to die for cosmology to move forward (he reluctantly apologized for being wrong), but stories like this one show how difficult it can sometimes be for new theories to take root.

Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "big bang" as a way to ridicule the idea of a universe expanding from some tiny origin point, strongly believed that the cosmos was in a steady state.

For more information about the title Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.), read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:

Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang — Two world-renowned scientists present an audacious new vision of the cosmos that “steals the thunder from the Big Bang theory.” ...  > read more

Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) — This book is a simple, non-technical introduction to cosmology, explaining what it is and what cosmologists do. Peter Coles discusses the history of ...  > read more

Dark Side of the Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Fate of the Cosmos — Once we thought the universe was filled with shining stars, dust, planets, and galaxies. We now know that more than 98 percent of all matter in the ...  > read more

Modern Cosmology — Modern Cosmology begins with an introduction to the smooth, homogeneous universe described by a Friedman-Robertson-Walker metric, including careful ...  > read more

Author: Simon Singh

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Date: Nov. 1, 2005

List Price:

$15.95

Discount Price:

$7.95

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