The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe [Paperback]

Anil Ananthaswamy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0547394527 | ISBN-13: 978-0547394527

In this deeply original book, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy sets out in search of the telescopes and detectors that promise to answer the biggest questions in modern cosmology. Why is the universe expanding at an ever faster rate? What is the nature of the "dark matter" that makes up almost a quarter of the universe? Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life? Are there others besides our own?

Ananthaswamy soon finds himself at the ends of the earth—in remote and sometimes dangerous places. Take the Atacama Desert in the Chilean Andes, one of the coldest, driest places on the planet, where not even a blade of grass can survive. Its spectacularly clear skies and dry atmosphere allow astronomers to gather brilliant images of galaxies billions of light-years away. Ananthaswamy takes us inside the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope on Mount Paranal, where four massive domes open to the sky each night "like dragons waking up."

He also takes us deep inside an abandoned iron mine in Minnesota, where half-mile-thick rock shields physicists as they hunt for elusive dark matter particles. And to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, where engineers are drilling 1.5 miles into the clearest ice on the planet. They’re building the world’s largest neutrino detector, which could finally help reconcile quantum physics with Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

The stories of the people who work at these and other dramatic research sites—from Lake Baikal in Siberia to the Indian Astronomical Observatory in the Himalayas to the subterranean lair of the Large Hadron Collider—make for a compelling new portrait of the universe and our quest to understand it. An atmospheric, engaging, and illuminating read, The Edge of Physics depicts science as a human process, bringing cosmology back down to earth in the most vivid terms.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite 20th-century physics' revelations, from relativity and quantum mechanics to the physics of the atom's nucleus and the life cycles of stars, ninety-odd percent of the universe is a complete mystery, says a scientist quoted by Ananthaswamy, a consulting editor for New Scientist. Dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity: these are the topics that keep physicists awake at night, requiring bigger, more massive, more extreme experiments to test theories and uncover clues. The author takes readers behind the scenes of these experiments in some of the most inhospitable places in the world, leading the tour with wit and an eye for compelling detail. First is a pilgrimage to Mount Wilson Observatory, where astronomers first measured the expansion of the universe. Next we go 2,341 feet underground in a defunct Minnesota iron mine to search for particles that could reveal dark matter. Sensitive telescopes embedded in the thick ice of Siberia's Lake Baikal and Antarctica search for neutrinos. These experiments and others are heroic in every sense, and Ananthaswamy captures their excitement—and the personalities of the scientists behind them—with enthusiasm and insight. Illus. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Part history lesson, part travel log, part adventure story, The Edge of Physics is a wonder-steeped page-turner." — SEED Magazine, 3/2/10

 

"These experiments and others are heroic in every sense, and Ananthaswamy captures their excitement--and the personalities of the scientists behind them--with enthusiasm and insight." Publishers Weekly, 1/4/10.

 

"Sure to appeal to general readers interested in science books without the philosophy and mathematics found in drier, more academic physics titles."  — Library Journal.

"Physicists are trying to understand the furthest reaches of space and the furthest extremes of matter and energy. To do it, they have to trek to some of the furthest places on Earth—from deep underground, to forbidding mountains, to the cold of Antarctica. Anil Ananthaswamy takes us on a thrilling ride around the globe and around the cosmos, to reveal the real work that goes into understanding our universe."—Sean Carroll, California Institute of Technology, and author of From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time

"An excellent book. The author has a great knack for making difficult subjects comprehensible. I thoroughly enjoyed it."—Sir Patrick Moore, former president of the British Astronomical Society and presenter of the BBC’s The Sky at Night

"Ananthaswamy’s juxtaposition of extreme travel and extreme science offers a genuinely novel route into the story of modern cosmology. His tale turns on the price of success: we already know so much about our universe that it becomes hugely difficult—even risky—to pry loose from nature that next burst of insight. The result is a well written and genuinely accessible account of what it takes to push past the edge of human knowledge."—Thomas Levenson, author of Newton and the Counterfeiter and Einstein in Berlin

"Clean, elegant prose, humming with interest."—Robert MacFarlane, author of Mountains of the Mind and The Wild Places 

"The Edge of Physics...is, quite simply, the ultimate physics-adventure travelogue...as an adventure story and a fly-on-the-wall account of remote places that most of us will never visit, The Edge of Physics is brilliant." —PhysicsWorld
  

"Ananthaswamy displays a writer's touch for the fascinating detail...whether he is in an abandonded iron mine in Minnesota's Mesabi Range or the frigid Siberian expanse of Lake Baikal, he finds intrepid physicists and explains to us why these weird places are the only locations on the planet where these experiments could be done." —Washington Post

 "A grand tour of modern day cosmology’s sacred places...evocative...engaging…refreshing...a taste of science in the heroic mode." —Sky At Night

 "Ananthaswamy, a science writer and editor, smoothly weaves together the stories of people who help push science forward, from principal investigators to research institute gardeners, with exquisitely clear explanations of the questions they hope to solve -- and why some research can be done only at the edge of the world." —ScienceNews

"A remarkable narrative that combines fundamental physics with high adventure... Ananthaswamy is a worthy guide for both journeys." —New Scientist

“The Edge of Physics is an accomplished and timely overview of modern cosmology and particle astrophysics. Ananthaswamy’s characterizations of the many physicists he meets are on the mark... Ananthaswamy conveys that cutting-edge science is a human endeavour.” —Nature

"Ananthaswamy’s investigation of current experiments in physics bypasses the mathematics of the field, making it easier for the average reader to dig in and enjoy the amazing discoveries and research methods that he encounters. The author has a knack for intertwining an overview of the purpose of these experiments with a finely balanced dose of related history and trivia. He also exhibits poetic touches here and there as he shares colorful vignettes from each of his destinations." —Curled Up With A Good Book.com

"While Ananthaswamy—a consulting editor at New Scientist inLondon—focuses heavily on the science, The Edge of Physics reads like a travel-adventure story or a work offiction." —Failure Magazine

"From the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider and more, Ananthaswamy paints a vivid picture of scientific investigations in harsh working conditions...even for readers who don’t know a neutrino from Adam, these interesting tales of human endeavor make The Edge of Physics a trip worth taking." The BookPage

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (January 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547394527
• ISBN-13: 978-0547394527
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anil Ananthaswamy is a consulting editor for New Scientist in London, where he has also worked as deputy news editor. He is also a contributor to National Geographic News. He has a Master of Science degree from the University of Washington, Seattle and worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley before training as a journalist at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "...physicists listen for the whispers from other universes"...but mainly to those from our own, January 24, 2010

By 

K. M. "literary devotee" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This outstanding book reports on how cutting edge experimental physics is testing theories about dark energy, dark matter, inflation after the Big Bang, evidence of the Bang itself, multiverses, and the Higgs boson, to name a few. The author has trekked the globe to observe the various telescopes and particle colliders putting to the test the cosmological and quantum theories presently in vogue. Will string theory be verified? Will the graviton be found? Will better evidence confirm whether our universe's geometry is flat, saddle-shaped, or spherical?

To potentially answer such queries, The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe takes us first to Mount Wilson in California where "[t]he observatory [George] Hale built is called the birthplace of modern observational cosmology." Next, the author, journalist Anil Ananthaswamy, descends into the bowels of the Soudan Mine in Minnesota which now "hosts one of cosmology's most sensitive experiments: the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS)." Among the other sites he visits are the Siberian neutrino telescope at Lake Baikal, another neutrino array telescope at the South Pole, an antimatter balloon experiment in Antarctica, and the European CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Still another project isn't lashed to earth somewhere but has been sent out 900,000 miles into space. It's "the Planck satellite, the latest in a small but select group of pathbreaking space probes designed to map the cosmic microwave background." It was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in May, 2009. Of course, its scientists remain earthbound to monitor and analyze its anticipated wealth of relayed information.

Ananthaswamy skillfully integrates technical engineering details, clear background about the theories that might be verified and the human element. He interviews many of the people who brave often harsh, unforgiving climates and geography to build, operate, and interpret the minutely sensitive and calibrated instruments and their collected data.

In the epilogue Ananthaswamy journeys to Mount Saraswati in Tibet where the new Hanle Observatory is part of "an international collaboration called COSMOGRAIL (for COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses)." He notes there "I became aware of the deep silence enveloping me....It is abundantly clear, standing in Hanle, as it had been in places like the South Pole, Lake Baikal, Paranal, and the Karoo, that the natural calm of these places is what makes them ideal to cosmology. We need to protect them.... If we pollute them, we will destroy our best chance of deciphering our own beginnings, of understanding ourselves." Finding suitably remote, unspoiled locations on earth constantly becomes more difficult, but as THE EDGE OF PHYSICS so compellingly relates, we can still learn a great deal from telescopes and other instruments deployed here if we don't despoil the remaining wilds where they can be maximally effective.

This is a superb resource for anyone who eager learn about the current state of experimental physics, the technology required to carry out the research, the geography that best sustains various projects, the theories being tested, and the men and women who are on the front lines constantly evaluating, innovating, and stretching the boundaries of our knowledge about the cosmos.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will make you stand up cheer, March 15, 2010

By 

A. Bhadra - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (Hardcover)

The legendary advertisement that was supposed to have been placed in a London newspaper by Sir Ernest Shackleton reads: MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS. Whether true or not, it is this spirit that animates the physicists who strive to discover the secrets of our universe at some of the most inhospitable places on Earth, under harrowing conditions that would give pause to the most intrepid explorer. Anil Ananthaswamy follows them and provides us with a window into their world. The result is a fascinating book which frames the tenets of Physics in a manner that is accessible to practically anyone. More importantly, it frames those eternal questions that have piqued the interest of mankind since the development of cognizance: Why are we here? Where did we come from? What lies outside the Universe, are there any other "heres"? The questions themselves awaken a sense of awe, but it is even more interesting to look into the lives of those who did not stop there, but decided to do something about it. From the Fraunhofer lines in stellar spectra to Digital Optical Modules embedded in a cubic kilometer of ice beneath the Earth's South Pole, to the coldest place in the known universe (which, oddly enough, is in a tunnel underneath Geneva), it is heartening to hear the stories of seemingly ordinary people who are striving to do extraordinary things. The result is a stirring, awe-inspiring good read, which has a definite tendency to make you want to stand up and cheer. Luckily for me, this could be accomplished with the minimum of fuss from my favorite armchair.

April 15, 2010: Some reviewers have made a note of the fact that the book does not have any high-quality pictures. To access additional content, pictures, videos and other details can be found at the web site for this book, [..] plus the author's blog on his travels to remote parts of the planet. Check it out!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Potent Combination, January 17, 2010

By 

James Pine (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

For years, physicists have been trying to unify the four (known) fundamental forces of nature: gravity, strong nuclear, weak nuclear and electromagnetic. In this book, the author attempts to tie together work being done in ten different locations across six continents, each of which may provide a piece to the puzzle. Dark matter/energy, the multiverse, string theory and other topics make an appearance; if your goal is to get a deep understanding of any of them, this is not the book for you. However, if the story behind the science, coupled with a history and sense of place plus a gentle introduction to physics involved is your goal, then this is the book you're looking for.

In each chapter, the author details:

- why a particular location was chosen e.g. very little radiation/cosmic rays reach the depth of the Soudan Mine.

- how the instruments at each location are constructed e.g. "drilling" holes at the South Pole with hot water

- what the instruments are doing e.g. detecting neutrinos coming from the center of our galaxy

- why the experiments are important e.g. trying to determine whether our universe is flat or has a negative/positive curvature

In addition, he provides a window into the extraordinary lives of the people building the instruments/running the experiments/analysing the results, people who have devoted years of their lives and/or endure extreme conditions in the pursuit of science. He also sprinkles a number of non-scientific stories and facts about the locations themselves (Lake Baikal has a surprise at the bottom of it courtesy of the Russo-Japanese War) into the mix.

While the chapters can feel a bit long winded and repetitive at times, the book as a whole provides an engaging, enlightening read, a great springboard, should you desire, from which to explore the science, the places and/or the history in more depth.