The Whole Shebang: A State of the Universe Report

Every year I read about 5 books about cosmology and physics. So I know what I'm saying: this book really is great. Sure, it's about 8 years old, too old in cosmology. In particular, the discovery that the universe is accelerating has changed a lot of the questions that cosmologists contemplate. But even if you read a book that was published yesterday, it'll be out of date next month. So you have to either hang out in the physics lounge at Princeton, or accept that you're gonna be behind a bit. As it goes, I think that this book is so good that it's certainly worth reading even though it's a bit old. I especially recommend this book if it will be your first book on cosmology. I bought it because of the discussion of the structure in the universe: superclusters of galaxies, and beyond them to the sheets and bubbles that seem to be the largest structures in the universe. I'd been curious about these things, and never read a good account of them until this book. He covered it all, including reviewing our local intergalactic neighborhood, the Virgo cluster and supercluster, and the mysterious Great Attractor. He discussed the formations of galaxies and stars and planetary systems, including our own solar system. Not since Sagan's "Cosmos" had I read such an enjoyable discussion of this topic--the one that fascinated me so much as a child. That's high praise. But I was also surprised by how well other things in cosmology were explained. Of course the question of the geometry of the universe was well explained; even better, the discussions of inflation and Linde's chaotic inlation and multiverse were great. The issue of dark matter was very well covered. Relativity was explained well enough, and the world of quantum physics was explored enough to make the points Ferris wanted to make. (He didn't explain Smolin's black hole based multiverse, probably because it's a lot more speculative than Linde's inflationary multiverse.) Every pop science writer has to simplify things, and at some point offer explanations that someone will consider inadequate. I thought his discussion of the principles of life on earth and the possibilities of extraterrestrial life were great, but they were probably a bit too brief for someone completely unfamiliar with the topic. I think a first-time reader would not understand several points in his description of quantum theory. But hey, when you're sure you don't understand quantum theory, that's evidently about as close as you'll ever get. The same goes for his discussion of the anthropic principle and God. Now, actually I basically agree with Ferris' worldview (strong agnosticism), and I think his discussion of it was spot-on. But if I had to write it, I would have gone a bit more slowly, explaining things in a bit more detail. You can find among these reviewers some who criticize Ferris for saying that cosmology doesn't prove God's existence. Well, it doesn't. Ferris also explained that it doesn't disprove God's existenc

This is an absolutely stunning summary of the leading edge theories of advanced physics in an easy to read and entertaining format. Although nobody can understand a physics book without at least a modicum of knowledge about the basics, Ferris' work manages to remain easy reading until the end. It addresses everything you always wanted to know about quantum physics, cosmology, space-time, unified theories, superstring theory, etc. More importantly, instead of shoving a long, historical introductory chapter into your face (like most other books in this genre tend to do) it sneaks in the relevant historical facts in the form of small, captivating and humorous personal stories that pepper every chapter. It is getting outdated, of course, as the years go by, but I still haven't seen anything that would be better while remaining just as comprehensive and readable. It is in roughly the same genre as "The Cosmic Code" or "The Dancing Wu Li Masters", but without any pretentious mumbo-jumbo. Finally, it shows much more respect to religion than other works, which is refreshing.

I cannot rate this book highly enough for its lucid presentation of difficult topics and success in orienting the general reader towards current cosmological theories. For someone, like me, who has difficulty with the gritty math behind astronomy and physics but still yearns to know, this book is a godsend. In my opinion no other introductory work is necessary before reading this one.