Conventional wisdom says the universe is infinite. But could it be finite, merely giving the illusion of infinity? Modern science is beginning to drag this abstract issue into the realm of the real, the tangible and the observable. HOW THE UNIVERSE GOT ITS SPOTS looks at how science is coming up sharp against the mind-boggling idea that the universe may be finite. Through a decade of observation and thought-experiment, we have started to chart out the universe in which we live, just as we have mapped the oceans and continents of our planet. Through a kind of cosmic archaeology and without leaving Earth, we can look at the pattern of hot spots left over from the big bang and begin to trace the 'shape of space'. Beautifully written in a colloquial style by a world authority, Janna Levin explores our aspirations to observe our universe and contemplate our deep connection with it.
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Editorial Reviews
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Janna was listed as one of three up and coming media stars in the THES this month and her new paperback is receiving good reviews, as the INDEPENDENT says, it's "almost the Fever Pitch of astrophysics" "connects the dots for the la
About the Author
Janna Levin is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. She lives in New York and is the winner of the 2007 PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for writers and with A MADMAN DREAMS OF TURING MACHINES was a winner of the Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work and a runner-up for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Find out more at www.jannalevin.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
travelogue on science and cosmology more than hard descripitions,
This review is from: How the Universe Got Its Spots (Paperback)
The author states that her concept for the book is a series of essays written to her mom, mostly about her work and the science. It is an interesting collection of essays that sums up the essence of cosmological topology (what shape is the universe, what shape did it have in earlier stages) for a layman audience. It lacks the complex mathematics behind the ideas and the proofs and spends a fair bit of time with her own tribulations in a shakey marriage and the processes of academic science, so if you want just the meat this isn't your book. I found it entertaining, interesting and an easy read.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is author the leopard with her spots?,
By R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: How the Universe Got Its Spots (Paperback)
How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity
The book seems to have a very personal diary entry quality. I'm not buying that. The author has changed her spots. Levin talks about four major models: 1) her first model the E8 soccer ball model ( 12 o) 2) Week's model: minimal manifold model ( near A4 by vertice number at 22 or 23 : can also fit my elliptical E8) 3) Thurston's model ( SO(6) or SU(4) or A3) broken Weeks's Model ? 4) Levin's second model as hexagonal prism D6 model ( again 12 vertices): a broken E8 model? She uses a standing wave like elliptical projection method for her "spots spheres". She's probably our generation's Sophie Germaine. It seems like she tends to "use" men and thinks more like a man than a woman at times. They say only once a century does a woman come along who has the abilities of a kind that are comparable to the top men. But it appears she is still pretty young and self centered. She has sowed it up in a book when she should have been studying to get as much knowledge as she needed first? It is at least good to know that people like her are around who have some fractal background although she seem to have ignored that in her book. She seems somewhat mathematically naive in terms of : 1) group theory/ Lie algebras 2) theory of surfaces/ standing waves 3) discrete mathematics I really can't fault her much as it has taken me many years to develop a knowledge in these areas. From the picture "Map" result I got was D=Sqrt[3] on the elliptical projection: that would be D=Sqrt[3]+1 =~2.73 which is a number associated with SU(3) or A2 in the curvature Lie Algebra approach. I would need to do a box counting dimension analysis of the different models in the Levin projections to get an idea which is the best in fractal terms. There is no indication that she or the people she is working with have taken that step. My indication is that the Week's model is more likely using my own E8 elliptical invariant Klein-Gordon, but neither of them had that when they did their work. I think that the author should read Joao Magueijo's book as well. Faster Than the Speed of Light: The Story of a Scientific Speculation
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