The Nine Numbers of the Cosmos

Michael Rowan-Robinson

ISBN 10: 0192862162 / ISBN 13: 9780192862167

Published by OUP Oxford, 2001

About this Item

This title encapsulates our current knowledge of the origin and the nature of the universe into nine numbers. Only one of the nine numbers is known with real precision, and four of them only poorly known. The book ends with predictions of when all nine numbers will be accurately known. Num Pages: 188 pages, numerous halftones and line figures. BIC Classification: 4KL; PDZ; PGK; WNX. Category: (UA) A / AS level. Dimension: 197 x 131 x 11. Weight in Grams: 211. . 2001. New Ed. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780192862167

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Nine Numbers of the Cosmos
• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192862162
• ISBN 13: 9780192862167
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

How old is the universe? What do the atoms in our bodies, our very existence, tell us about the history of the universe? How do galaxies form? Michael Rowan-Robinson answers these questions and encapsulates all that modern astronomy has discovered about the universe around nine numbers, only one of which is known with real precision, and four not at all. The reader emerges with a genuine feel for what we do really know about the universe--and also what we do not.

The complicated ideas that constitute modern cosmology--the origin of the elements, the General Theory of Relativity, quantum theory, and the standard model of particle physics--are made accessible. Rowan-Robinson predicts that with the advent of the MAP and PLANCK-Surveyor space missions, the Large Hadron Collider, and other planned experiments, all nine numbers will be accurately known by 2015. However, he stresses that many questions and mysteries will remain, and that the origin of the Big Bang could remain a mystery until the year 3000.

About the Author

Michael Rowan-Robinson is Professor of Astrophysics and Head of the Astrophysics Group at Imperial College, London. He is an internationally recognized expert on observational cosmology and his book, The Cosmological Distance Scale, is regarded as a classic.