Introduction. Our connection to the universe -- Motion. Everything moves: Expanding universe -- Motion through the millennia -- Universe goes round -- Gravity's hold on the cosmos -- Gravity and light -- Eternal free fall of orbits -- Gravity rules -- Matter. The stuff of the universe: Matter's many guises -- Scarcity of matter -- We are stardust -- Physics of dense matter -- Too much matter -- Energy. The power of cosmic phenomena: Energy powers the universe -- By the light of a star -- Probing space with spectra -- Electromagnetism at work -- Sighting the superenergetic -- Evidence for supermassive black holes -- Frontiers. The limits of motion, matter, and energy: Does matter + energy = life? -- Where did the universe come from? -- How small does matter get? -- Source of big explosions -- Where does the universe go from here? -- What lies ahead -- Progress in understanding the cosmos: Selected chronology -- Glossary -- About the authors -- Index -- Credits.
Summary:
Published in conjunction with the opening of the new Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, this book explains the physics of the cosmos in terms of familiar principles at work here on earth (e.g., the force of gravity that lands a baseball in the bleachers also keeps the moon in orbit). Sections cover motion, matter, and energy and are beautifully illustrated with photos and diagrams. Concepts of cosmology are saved for the final chapter, which covers string theory, black holes, dark matter, gamma-ray bursts, cosmological inflation, the Big Bang, and the search for extraterrestrial life.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.