The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking, A Helix Anthology [Hardcover]

Dennis Danielson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Helix Books | Publication Date: July 2000

In this monumental book, Professor Dennis Danielson has assembled a remarkable anthology that surveys the richness and excitement of the human quest to understand the universe-its origin, its structure, and its significance. From the ancient world to the latest theories of cosmic physics, The Book of the Cosmos presents the art as well as the science of human attempts to describe the universe, not only in colorful scientific prose but also in engaging excerpts from poetry and philosophy, diaries and dialogues, essays and epistles, from writers as diverse as Aristotle, Copernicus, Cicero, Albert Einstein, and Edgar Allan Poe.Here, as never before in a single volume, we taste firsthand the exhilaration, flair, and occasional bewilderment of a hundred authors from across written history who shaped, and continue to shape, our view of the cosmos.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

So many books published these days seem to deliberately ignore the forest for the trees, or the leaves, or the chloroplasts, or the chemistry of biopigments. Readers interested in big questions usually have to make do with the obligatory summing-up at the end, in which the author tries to justify his or her narrow interest through heroic feats of recontextualization. The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking, on the other hand, is 600 pages of well-expressed deep thought on the biggest picture of them all. In roughly chronological order, editor Dennis Danielson presents 85 sets of excerpts from big thinkers from biblical times to the present, introducing each to the modern reader with insightful running commentary that is consistently helpful without being obtrusive.

The ancient Greeks hit the ground running, leaving us a rich conceptual legacy, which we are still exploring and exploiting even as our own work becomes more and more machine-mediated. Danielson gives us a wide base of ancient thought to give a sense of our heritage. He includes both obvious choices, such as Plato, and lesser-known writers, such as Parmenides. The often neglected Middle Ages brought us Ptolemy, Moses Maimonides, and others who set the stage for the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and the writings from these times betray an unexpected continuity of thought between the ancient and modern eras. Of course, the late-20th-century selections of such writers as Freeman Dyson and Steven Weinberg, which close the book, shouldn't imply an end to cosmological thinking. If anything, the last chapters of The Book of the Cosmos provoke a hunger for more. --Rob Lightner

Review

"Dennis Danielson's Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking is a remarkably rich and varied collection of cosmological writings. Not only has Danielson chosen these selections with care and originality, he has further enhanced their interest and accessibility by insightful commentary. It seems safe to predict that this treasury will bring delight and even amazement to many readers." -- Michael J. Crowe , Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Notre Dame and author of The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750-1900, Theories of the World from Antiquity of the Copernican Revolution, and Modern Theories of the Universe from Herschel to Hubble

"The romance of cosmic discovery has never been so thoroughly documented as in The Book of the Cosmos. Dennis Richard Danielson, the volume's editor, has hand-picked the most insightful thoughts ever penned on the Universe. From scientists to philosophers to poets, the contrast of views is stimulating, but the similarity of views is striking - we are all kindred souls in the timeless human quest to make sense of the universe in which we live." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, Director of Hayden Planetarium, New York City & Visiting Research Scientist, Princeton University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738202479
• ISBN-13: 978-0738202471
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm STILL having fun with this book, September 2, 2000

By 

H. D. Saunders (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking, A Helix Anthology (Hardcover)

I really liked this book. It is fun reading and gets you thinking about very big questions.

As a science buff, I'm used to reading the latest books on physics, cosmology, etc. by modern-day leading scientists. But in this book, you get to see how the best thinkers of each age took what was known and put it together to explain the universe. And you get to see it in their own words, supplemented by Danielson's concise but insightful commentary.

This seems to me a book for both non-scientist and scientist. For the non-scientist, Danielson makes even the latest physics very understandable. For example, his description of Einsteinian gravity in the Wheeler chapter is as accessible an explanation of general relativity as I have seen in any popular book, and far better than those of my old introductory physics books. Any high schooler should understand it. Danielson seems to be able to draw out the essential ideas from both modern and ancient scientists and present them in a non-technical but accurate way. He also includes some very fun contributions, such as George Bernard Shaw's hilarious toast to Albert Einstein.

And I like the way each thinker's thoughts are presented in a short chapter-sort of bite-size stories. This means a person can pick it up and put it down without losing the thread. The chapters are presented almost exclusively in historical order, but I chose to hop around from era to era. In fact, the historical order lets you hop around without losing the sense of the historical context. I found it fun picking up the book and deciding which big name I was going to read next.

I think scientists should like the book too and find it valuable. Even though I have extensive science training and a degree in physics, I still did not have a good sense of the real contributions or views of most of the earlier scientists such as Copernicus, Descartes, etc., or of what was known about the universe and when, or how it all has come together in the modern view. To take just one example, I did not imagine that Ptolemy knew so much about the cosmos, including the facts that the earth is spherical and that it is a small, point-like object relative to the size of the "heavens." And he knew this based on a combination of careful observation and deep thinking that to me makes him the intellectual equal of virtually any modern cosmologist. I never viewed him this way before.

Mostly, though, it is fun having Feynman side by side with Copernicus, and Weinberg with Plato and even Milton, all struggling to come to terms with the nature of the universe. By his artful yet precisely constructed commentary, Danielson somehow brings them into a kind of conversation together. It makes for a surprisingly gripping read, and I continue to go back to certain chapters as I have discussions with friends (and think more) about what different thinkers thought way back when.

I personally would highly recommend it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible scope, September 12, 2005

By 

Bookworm "jcc" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Book of the Cosmos (Paperback)

The depth and breadth of selections makes this book a treasure. It features a wide diversity of pieces, ancient and modern, secular and religious, from many disciplines. What comes through in all the selection is the human drive to pursue ultimate questions and attempt to find ultimate explanations. It pulls together many writers I studied in fragmentary fashion in my philosophy, theology, and science classes. I highly recommend it as a masterful collection of writings.

10 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, November 14, 2000

By 

Ryan (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking, A Helix Anthology (Hardcover)

Dr. Danielson was actually my professor for first year Honors English here at UBC. He was an absolutly incredible prof, and his love for the cosmos really comes through in this book.