The Edges of Science: Crossing the Boundary from Physics to Metaphysics

Examines the most recent theoretical speculation in the fields of particle physics and cosmology, discussing the nature of matter, the big bang, wormholes, black holes, dark matter, and the weakening barriers between physics and metaphysics

Scientist and writer Morris ( Dismantling the Universe , S. & S., 1984) is infinitely patient here in this readable and engaging update on contemporary physics and cosmology. While he does a thorough job of explaining the delightfully strange myriad theories about the origins of the universe, the book's real value is the gentle and well-crafted series of definitions, examples, and analogies that serve as an excellent introduction to an interesting, but often opaque, subject. Morris makes quarks and baryons and bosons and black holes understandable to the lay reader, and in doing so accomplishes what many physicists have failed to: make particle physics and the origins of the universe accessible to nonphysicists. The "metaphysics" take up relatively little space, which is just as well, because the introductory physics lessons are so well wrought. An excellent pony for all those unread copies of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time --Morris does a clearer job of explaining Hawking than Hawking did for those of us who can't tell our quarks from our quasars. BOMC and Macmillan Book Club alternate selections.
- Mark L. Shelton, Columbus, Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.