Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot (PDF)

Description

Behold the Handwriting of GodAstrophysicist and adventurer George Smoot spent twenty years pursuing the “holy grail of science” — a relentless hunt that led him from the rain forests of Brazil to the frozen wastes of Antarctica. For decades he persevered — struggling against time, the elements, the forces of ignorance and bureaucratic insanity. And finally, on April 23, 1992, he made a startling announcement that would usher in a new scientific age. For George Smoot and his dedicated team of Berkeley researchers had proven the unprovable — uncovering, inarguably and for all time, the secrets of the creation of the Universe.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly This remarkably captivating work of cosmology recounts Berkeley astrophysicist Smoot’s efforts to uncover the origins of the universe. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics, George Smoot has been an astrophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1974 and has been a physics professor at University of California–Berkeley since 1994. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Very good read!

⭐This is an interesting and well written book by the person that lived the adventure of scientific discovery. If you are interested in the story of our existence from almost the very beginning of time, then this is the book for you.

⭐Excellent!!!

⭐Stephen Hawking, one of the most prominent geniuses of our time, called George Smoot and his colleagues’ discovery of wrinkles in time, “the scientific discovery of the century, if not of all time.” The cosmological discovery of ripples in the universe’s background radiation has indeed changed our concept of the origins of an expanding and evolving universe. In the words of George Smoot: “Our discovery of the wrinkles in the fabric of time is part of that eternal quest and marks an important step forward in this golden age of technology. Suddenly, pieces of a larger puzzle begin to fall together: Inflation looks stronger, and dark matter more real. Our faith in the big bang is revitalized… The creativity of the universe is its most potent force, forming through time the matter and structures of stars and galaxies, and, ultimately, us. The wrinkles are the core of that creativity, assembling structure from homogeneity.” Perhaps one does not understand such complex terms as “background radiation,” as was my case when I began reading Wrinkles in Time. The authors, George Smoot and Keay Davidson, successfully explain these complicated concepts in lay terms. The book first guides the reader through the history modern cosmological theory, beginning with Ptolemy’s picture of the Universe through to the origin of the Big Bang theory formulated by Georges-Henri Lemaître. Once the reader understands the evolution of cosmology and astrophysics, George Smoot begins his detailed account of the search for “dipoles,” “quadrupoles,” and, ultimately, “wrinkles in time.” His discovery, of tremendous significance to both science and philosophy, required decades of research, billions of dollars, and a highly specialized team of cosmologists, physicists, chemists, and engineers. After many frustrating attempts to discover the secret of the universe by launching their equipment on giant helium balloons and World War II U2 aircraft, Smoot and his team turned to NASA. After many months of hard work, they finally saw their instruments launched into space on a Delta rocket. Once in orbit, the device detected what the team sought to find. However, one can never be too confident in science. To make sure that the readings obtained in space were not simply a result of radio interference, the team set off for Antarctica. There, only a few miles away from the South Pole, and at temperatures of -73oF, George Smoot and Giovanni D Amici, among others, confirmed what they had detected in the Northern Hemisphere: fluctuations in the universe’ background radiation. These wrinkles in time are the seeds of galaxies; some found through the study to be hundreds times larger than ever imagined. The implications of this discovery are colossal. Wrinkles in Time, however, does not elaborate on the philosophical significance of an infinite universe as do some other works. For example, Gary Zukav’s The Dancing Wu Li Masters and Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics advance the notion that the universe bloomed out of zero volume, creating time and space as it grew. For readers who have never picked up a science book in their lives, do not start with Wrinkles in Time. There are long, detailed chapters that explain the technicalities of the equipment and of the study. On the other hand, for anyone interested in learning about mystifying concepts of the universe, Wrinkles in Time is an enlightening book that is well worth the time investment of a prolonged reading. As John L. Casti, author of Paradigms Lost: Images of Man in the Mirror of Science, affirms, the book is “a must read for anyone interested in the way science is really done.”

⭐”Einstein, who was devoted to a rational explanation of the world, once said: `I want to know how god created the world. I want to know his thoughts.’ He meant it metaphorically, as a measure profundity of his quest.” – George Smoot Wrinkles in time, written by George Smoot and Keay Davidson, is an excellent book if you are interested in cosmology like me, or if you are looking for something to read about how the `big bang hypothesis’ was proved into theory, especially if you are in favor of it. The first part of the book had beneficial knowledge about particle physics. It included different types of dark matter such as baryonic, non-baryonic, cold, hot, etc. It explains the physical, chemical, and nuclear phase transitions of matter, which goes from solid to liquid to gas to plasma and then protons. In this part the author also explains theories such as the big bang theory, predictions, discoveries, and mysteries of the cosmos. To me the first part was also more exciting than the second part where George Smoot is on a `journey of exploring the Cosmic Background History’. This is the part where the author pursues the `holy grail of science’ and at last is allowed to send up his satellite whose data is unbelievable so he goes on an expedition to Antarctica to collect data from the South Pole by his own hands. At last George finds his reason for himself rejecting the data. The book ends with him going to the press to reveal his data and final conclusions.

⭐This is a wonderful book about one person’s pursuit of an answer to one of the most important questions in cosmology. This is not to say that the person telling the tale is solely responsible for the discovery. On the contrary, George Smoot goes to great lengths to describe and compliment the work of his many colleagues on COBE and related projects. But his enthusiasm for the topic infuses the story with the excitement borne of intense personal commitment. I also feel the book is well-written overall. I learned a lot about cosmology from reading this book, in particular the power of inflationary theory and why it is considered so important. I laughed out loud at the description of their trials with ballooning and adventures in rough locales such as the Brazilian jungle and Antarctica. It’s true that some things are repeated more than seems necessary, but I suspect this was the result of an editor inserting frequent guideposts to help a lay reader to keep track of the arc of a somewhat complex story. I would especially recommend this book to young researchers. It is an inspirational story of achieving a great scientific feat after many years of hard work, but there is also a pragmatic thread throughout with regard to selecting good research topics, obtaining funding, working on research teams, etc.

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