The Intelligible universe : an overview of the last thirteen billion years

Ambitious in scope, to put it mildly, but gentle in approach, this explanation of the efforts to find the age of the universe includes a range of materials, including transcripts of lectures from 2006 Nobel Prize winners in physics John C. Mather and George F. Smoot. Gonzalo (U. Autonoma de Madrid) updates his text to include the most current research as he explains how man has perceived the universe, the importance of precision, the relations of masses/distances/time, relativistic cosmology, the fundamental physical forces in the universe, cosmology and transcendence. The lecture by Mather describes the COBE project in cosmic background radiation, and that of Smoot describes how the project is helping to determine conditions in the early stages of the universe. Other topics include the microwave anisotropy probe, cosmic numbers and the medieval roots of contemporary science. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)