The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us About the Universe - Hardcover

Chown, Marcus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865479224 ISBN 13: 9780865479227

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2010

Synopsis

Look around you. The reflection of your face in a window tells you about the most shocking discovery in the history of science: that at its deepest level the world is orchestrated by chance; that ultimately, things happen for no reason at all. The iron in a spot of blood on your finger shows you that somewhere out in space there is a furnace at a temperature of 4.5 billion degrees. Static on your TV screen proclaims that the universe had a beginning. The bulb above your head emits light, and the light waves emerging from it are about five thousand times bigger than the atoms that spit them out—as paradoxical a thought as the idea of a matchbox swallowing a forty-ton truck.

Marcus Chown takes familiar features of the everyday world and shows us, with breathtaking clarity, wit, and suspense, how they can be used to explain profound truths about the ultimate nature of reality. This is an essential cosmology primer for anyone curious about their surroundings and their place in the universe.

About this title

About the Author:

Formerly a radio astronomer at the California Institute of Technology, MARCUS CHOWN is now the cosmology consultant for New Scientist and the author of many books on science.

From Publishers Weekly:

Why can't a broken teacup reassemble itself? How do stars turn hydrogen into iron? This lively, nontechnical look at the physics behind the world around us is rich with entertaining anecdotes and examples of some pretty complex ideas. Caltech astronomer Chown (The Quantum Zoo) uses simple examples from everyday life—a reflection on a windowpane, the solidity of the ground underfoot, the heat of our sun, the immense variety of objects in the world—to reveal evidence of everything from the Big Bang to the life cycle of stars and the inner structure of the atom. Skillful explanations are leavened with humor. Invocations of pop culture and literary references, from Homer Simpson and Walt Whitman to Edgar Allan Poe and Douglas Adams, help introduce each complex idea and enhance the discussion. Chapter notes and a comprehensive glossary offer additional information. Both deliberate readers and those who like to jump into things at random will be entertained and informed by this charming book. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0865479224
• ISBN 13: 9780865479227
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288