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A big bang in a little room : the quest to create new universes / Zeeya Merali.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Basic Books, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Description: vii, 236 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780465065912
  • 0465065910
Subject(s):
Contents:
God's billboard : the cosmic microwave background -- Beyond space and time : the quantum realm -- Inflating the universe -- Bursting inflation's bubble -- Universe to multiverse -- The accidental universe makers -- A baby universe, a string multiverse, or God? : explaining our tailor-made universe -- The little bang theory : or, How to grow a universe from a monopole -- Postcards from the edge : detecting and communicating with our baby universe -- Living in the matrix : a self-regulation guide for universe-makers.
Summary: "What if you could become God, with the ability to build a whole new universe in the lab? As startling as it sounds, modern physics suggests that within the next two decades, scientists may be able to perform this seemingly divine feat-- to concoct an entirely new baby universe, complete with its own physical laws, star systems, galaxies, and even intelligent life. To create your own cosmos, you would need a particle accelerator, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva or one of the proposed next-generation colliders, a lot of physics know-how, and a bit of luck. A Big Bang in a Little Room will take the reader on a journey through the history of cosmology and unravel-- particle-by-particle, theory-by-theory, and experiment-by-experiment-- the ideas behind this provocative claim made by some of the most-respected physicists alive today. Beyond simply explaining the science, A Big Bang in a Little Room will also tell the story of the people who have been plugging away for more than thirty years to make this seemingly impossible dream a reality, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it as humans. A Big Bang in a Little Room will examine their extravagant plans, which include current and future space missions, accelerator runs, and table-top lab experiments to search for evidence supporting their ideas In the process, the book will ask deep philosophical questions about what it means for us, as humans, to begin to contemplate creating a new universe. Remarkable in its originality and ambition, A Big Bang in a Little Room is the ideal read for anyone seeking to understand the making of our universe-- as well as the others just waiting to be created"-- Provided by publisher.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 523.1 M552 Available 33111008586196
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 523.1 M552 Available 33111008876803
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An award-winning science writer takes us into the lab to answer some of life's biggest questions: How was the universe created? And could we create our own?

What if you could become God, with the ability to build a whole new universe? As startling as it sounds, modern physics suggests that within the next two decades, scientists may be able to perform this seemingly divine feat-to concoct an entirely new baby universe, complete with its own physical laws, star systems, galaxies, and even intelligent life. A Big Bang in a Little Room takes the reader on a journey through the history of cosmology and unravels-particle by particle, theory by theory, and experiment by experiment-the ideas behind this provocative claim made by some of the most respected physicists alive today. Beyond simply explaining the science, A Big Bang in a Little Room also tells the story of the people who have been laboring for more than thirty years to make this seemingly impossible dream a reality. What has driven them to continue on what would seem, at first glance, to be a quixotic quest?

This mind-boggling book reveals that we can nurse other worlds in the tiny confines of a lab, raising a daunting prospect: Was our universe, too, brought into existence by a daring creator?

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-224) and index.

God's billboard : the cosmic microwave background -- Beyond space and time : the quantum realm -- Inflating the universe -- Bursting inflation's bubble -- Universe to multiverse -- The accidental universe makers -- A baby universe, a string multiverse, or God? : explaining our tailor-made universe -- The little bang theory : or, How to grow a universe from a monopole -- Postcards from the edge : detecting and communicating with our baby universe -- Living in the matrix : a self-regulation guide for universe-makers.

"What if you could become God, with the ability to build a whole new universe in the lab? As startling as it sounds, modern physics suggests that within the next two decades, scientists may be able to perform this seemingly divine feat-- to concoct an entirely new baby universe, complete with its own physical laws, star systems, galaxies, and even intelligent life. To create your own cosmos, you would need a particle accelerator, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva or one of the proposed next-generation colliders, a lot of physics know-how, and a bit of luck. A Big Bang in a Little Room will take the reader on a journey through the history of cosmology and unravel-- particle-by-particle, theory-by-theory, and experiment-by-experiment-- the ideas behind this provocative claim made by some of the most-respected physicists alive today. Beyond simply explaining the science, A Big Bang in a Little Room will also tell the story of the people who have been plugging away for more than thirty years to make this seemingly impossible dream a reality, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it as humans. A Big Bang in a Little Room will examine their extravagant plans, which include current and future space missions, accelerator runs, and table-top lab experiments to search for evidence supporting their ideas In the process, the book will ask deep philosophical questions about what it means for us, as humans, to begin to contemplate creating a new universe. Remarkable in its originality and ambition, A Big Bang in a Little Room is the ideal read for anyone seeking to understand the making of our universe-- as well as the others just waiting to be created"-- Provided by publisher.

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