Customer Reviews

Dark Cosmos: In Search of Our Universe's Missing Mass and Energy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Popular science books have been getting chattier and chattier in recent years. Perhaps this is a result of the success of Brian Greene's successful Sagan-like melding of science and personality. The problem is, not everyone is Brian Greene or Carl Sagan. "Dark Cosmos" is at times too much about Dan Hooper and not enough about dark energy. When the book does get serious and focuses on the physics, it does a good job of explaining the distinction between dark energy, dark matter, and regular "baryonic" matter at a level the typical educated layman can appreciate.

From his authorial asides the reader can glean that Hooper is only about 28 or so. His youth gives him an advantage in describing the most recent developments and theories in cosmology, which of course is the main thrust of Dark Cosmos. Where the young Hooper sometimes goes wrong is in relating the history of cosmology. His account of cosmologist Georges Lemaître's original formulation of what would become the Big Bang Theory falls into the usual trap of not being able to get past Lemaître's incidental second career as a Catholic priest.

One other problem is that Hooper does not always clearly distinguish between ideas which are almost universally accepted in cosmology and more speculative or even controversial ideas which perhaps only a small minority of cosmologists - including Hooper - adhere to. When he remembers to, Hooper sometimes quite fairly warns the reader that a particular idea is still considered to be highly fanciful. The problem is, Hooper doesn't always remember to include these necessary cautions.

There are some useful basic illustrations in the book, which help the readers to visually understand such notions as "infinite inflation."

All in all, the book is a good intro to the ideas of dark energy and the missing mass problem. Those who have already read Lee Smolin's, Roger Penrose's, or other writers' more in-depth takes on the subject perhaps will not get much new out of this relatively short introduction to the subject. But for newcomers, this is a more than acceptable introduction to current cosmology.

In a style that is both authoritative and accessible to most interested readers, the author glides through cosmological theories and observations with the primary focus of gaining insight into the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Throughout the book enough information is provided on the relevant history of cosmology and that of particle physics to make this fascinating story so gripping. Potentially difficult concepts are clearly explained using useful and familiar analogies. The prose is clear, friendly, engaging and quite captivating. In my view, this excellent book should be of interest to everyone, but science buffs will likely relish it the most.

I am not a scientist. I have no training in modern cosmology or physics, and I read this book simply out of an interest in the subject. What struck me most, and what I least expected from a popular science book, was the prose. The subject itself is vastly intriguing, and Dr. Hooper does an excellent job of conveying this information. The only chapter that left me relatively baffled was the chapter on quantum physics, but (let's be honest) that's strange stuff and it is not the intent of this book to explain it. The thrust of this book is dark matter, and Dr. Hooper is an engaging and insightful authority. His book is full of information, but more importantly, it is a pleasure to read.

Dark Cosmos is by far the best book that tells the story about dark matter and dark energy for the general public. It covers most of the scientific discoveries and ideas about this fascinating research field. Dr Hooper put more effort on dark matter than on dark energy in the book. He made a concise description about new theories, such as supersymmetry and extra dimensions, to explain what is dark matter. His description on dark energy also represents the different perspectives in the field - dark energy was discovered only less than ten years ago and there are still skeptics about its existence. By reading the book, we can feel Dr Hooper's enthusiasm about this research field. This kind of enthusiasm is the driven force for any scientific discovery.

Of course, it's not possible to accommodate all the topics in this popular science book from such a dynamic and changing field. For example, Dr Hooper didn't mention about axion, which was proposed to solve the "Strong CP Problem" and is also a good candidate for dark matter. Nevertheless, Dark Cosmos is a great book to read. I would recommend it to anyone who is eager to find out what the Universe is made of.

I have a layman's interest in modern physics and cosmology. I try to keep up with the state-of-the-art. Compared to other books that I have read, this book is by far the best. I was able to finish the book and retain the knowledge. The book is informative and provides an efficient read because the author explains the concepts sufficiently and concisely for the layman. The treatments of dark matter and dark energy are the best I have seen, and appear to actually provide more information. There are essentially no paddings of pages with endless analogies (that are really not rigorous and make the reader lose focus), anecdotes, name dropping and personal claims of accomplishment. I found the author's style to be refreshing compared to most other physics books for the public that I have read recently and in the past. The technical level and detail are that of the Scientific American, but done much better. I suggest other authors use this book as a model for exposition to the publc. You don't need 400 plus pages to explain physics concepts to the public, half the size can still convey the information with almost zero noise.

Dark Cosmos has an excellent narrative style and explains the concepts of dark matter in a very understandable fashion. It begins with the easier theories and then moves into string theory and other pretty advanced concepts. It's a great read even if there comes a point where it no longer makes sense to a non-physicist.

This is the best book I've read on Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Not only does Dr. Hooper explain why these things are needed to explain how we think our Universe works, but as he writes you get some feeling of the awe and excitement that he feels about the subject. You get the feeling that he goes to work every day looking forward with great excitement to see what he might learn. And he is able to bring this excitement down to the printed page so that you too feel that we are on the brink of a big break through in our understanding of how the world works.

As an example. At one point he is making some projections about what might be discovered in the future.

About one paragraph he says: 'This paragraph is wild speculation.'
About the next paragraph he says: 'This paragraph is ridiculously wild speculation.
From there he goes on to the third paragraph, about which he says: 'What is the word that means more ridiculous than ridiculous?'

The only real problem about this book is that next week, or next year, or maybe 25 years from now there will come a breakthrough that will answer all of these questions. As Einstein took Newton's equasions and extended them into the very small and the very large, we are looking for the next 'Einstein' to take his work and extend it to cover what the experimental physicists and cosmologists are discovering.

The author does a great job of making his subject matter easy to read. This book was an unexpected joy. As a History Channel buff this book was solid, if you are studying this material in depth then you probably already know a lot of this. It did not over complicate matters but provided good coverage of the material. Outstanding book.

Five CURIOUS Stars!! Astrophysicist Dan Hooper has opened a door that many curious amateur cosmologists may want to peek into, just for the sheer wonder of it all. A decade ago, I heard the brilliant theoretical physicist Dr Michio Kaku tell the Art Bell "Coast to Coast" radio show audience that "80 percent of the universe is missing" and that it is composed of Dark Matter, mesmerizing millions of listeners. Now the brilliant Dr. Hooper, using humor and great examples, extends that area of interest with the addition of the even MORE mysterious force called Dark Energy (my caps), and 'ups Dr Kaku's Dark Matter ante' to a whopping 95%. An astounding figure! We live in an apparently bright, beautiful universe that is literally a "Dark Cosmos" with most of it not understood and uncaptured. Welcome to the new, wild 21st Century cosmology, earthling. And to the brave new world of 'particle astro-physics'. A literal and fascinating collision of 'macro' science and 'micro' science around one topic as depicted in this book.

As a layman, I won't even attempt a detailed review for fear of misstep. Suffice it to say that in very understandable, uncomplicated language and with easily understandable figures for those of us who can read basic charts and diagrams, Dr Hooper explains his theory of the true composition and inner workings of the universe. (I really appreciate the information and the humor of Figure 8.2's timeline, taking us from the Big Bang to...well, you'll see.) From the cosmological/particle physics thinking of the likes of Schwarzshield, de Sitter, Einstein, and Hawking to Hooper's own theory of the evolution of the universe itself, he either paints with a broad brush or a fine brush in explaining dark matter and dark energy and how it relates to everything else.

No way many of us will be able to argue the merits of "fermions", "gluons", "bosons", "sneutrinos", and "Higgsinos" or the rest of his case, but in this day and age, those of us who are curious about the true nature of the universe should take it in, file it for future reference, and wait for the next discovery that will either prove it, disprove it, or modify it. In other words, we should have a working knowledge of the basic issues of how our universe works, as depicted herein. This book is full of ideas that are fantastic, mindboggling, and breathtaking. I can't speak for the experts, but many of the rest of us uninitiated star gazers may find this greatly anticipated book as mesmerizing as some cosmologists and particle physicists might. If you loved "A Brief History of Time", you may enjoy this book just as much. Highly recommended! Five COSMIC Stars!!

(Hardcover, 240 pages with Figures and Photographs.)

This little book (227 pages) discusses dark matter and dark energy. It covers pretty well, at a fairly low technical level, the potential candidates for dark matter. It has some interesting details on planned experiments, like the IceCube neutrino 'telescope' in the Antarctic. But much is missing. There's no discussion of the spacial distribution of dark matter needed to explain flat galaxy rotation curves. There is no plot of type Ia supernova intensity, which supports the thesis of dark energy and expansion of the universe, and no flat galaxy rotation curves are included either.

Also occasionally the writing is sloppy (or just plain wrong). Here is Hooper on type Ia supernova: "Eventually the larger star (of a pair) will grow so large that the pressure from its nuclear fusion can no longer support its mass. When this limit is exceeded, the star collapses and then explodes as a supernova. The maximum mass such a star can support is called the Chandrasekhar limit..." (Dark Cosmos page 165). But current thinking (see Wikipedia) is that a type Ia supernova never collapses, and the Chandrasekhar limit is never exceeded. When extra mass falling on a white dwarf star causes fusion to start in its core, the fusion reaction grows uncontrollably leading to an explosion, because a white dwarf lack the fusion control mechanism (thermal pressure size expansion) of normal stars.