Masters Of Time: Cosmology At The End Of Innocence [Paperback]

John Boslough (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201622378 | ISBN-13: 978-0201622379 | Publication Date: August 20, 1993

Masters of Time chronicles the sudden unraveling of modern cosmology from its heyday in the early 1980s, when the ultimate secret of the origin of the universe seemed all but in hand, to the confused scientific picture of the 1990s. By following each major theory from its origins to the point at which it is overtaken by contradictory or nonexistent evidence, Boslough offers the clearest explanation ever offered of what we know and still do not know about the origin and structure of the universe.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Science reporter Boslough ( Stephen Hawking's Universe ) takes the reader on the cosmology roller coaster--with Hawking, Richard Feynman, Alan Guth and other physicists--in search of the Theory of Everything. Boslough's journalistic overview serves his subject better than any single-theory approach would; indeed, his thesis is that no single existing theory stands up by itself. The subtitle telegraphs his eventual conclusion that the rapidly accumulating data about our universe reveals foremost how little about its origins we know. Boslough charges his book with the spirit of the continuing search for a Grand Theory. While Eric Lerner's 1991 book The Big Bang Never Happened offered more hard theory, this is a comprehensive review of the twists and recursions of cosmology in the last part of the century.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Boslough, a National Geographic writer, presents here a popular account of the current confusion in cosmological theory. Just a few years ago, scientists appeared to have achieved a stunning synthesis of "big bang" cosmology and elementary particle theory, which spelled out the history of the universe from an infinitesimal fraction of a second after the big bang until the present. However, new observational evidence had until recently put the big bang model under severe pressure. Boslough has interviewed most of the leading theorists and observational astronomers and has interwoven their comments into his colorful account of the frantic efforts of theoretical physicists to come up with new models that will fit all the evidence. Despite a few blunders in historical and biographical details, his book is generally a very good review of the situation that should be comprehensible to lay readers.
- Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (August 20, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201622378
• ISBN-13: 978-0201622379
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,350,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is the Big Bang a dud?, July 10, 2005

By 

Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of Time: Cosmology at the End of Innocence (Hardcover)

Boslough actually summarized the "plot" superbly in his own preface:

"This book is the story of what happened along the road to the big bang theory and how it may be a mere will-o'-the-wisp rather than a final destination. The book also seeks to raise a number of questions about the biggest sacred cow of all, the big bang."

"Masters of Time" is a thoroughly enjoyable read, appealing to both scientists and non-scientists alike, that succeeds on three separate levels. First, it is a well written history of the development of modern cosmological theory in the 20th century, replete with amusing anecdotes, heroes, villains and goats, false leads and both successful and dead end research. Second, it is a quality primer for the non-scientist on virtually any topic one could name in the field of cosmology - microwave radiation, quasars, pulsars, black holes, cosmic strings, inflation, the great attractor, baryonic matter, lumpy galactic super clusters - the list just goes on and on. Finally, it is a cautionary tale that, in the spirit of Kuhn's discussion of paradigm shifts, suggests the big bang as a theory just may be in a world of trouble - too many unexplained glitches and too many theories that are simply unobservable, untestable or unreproducible. As a specific example, Boslough criticizes Guth's model of inflation in the early universe:

"The reason for this apparent accuracy in explanatory power was of course simple: The inflationary theories had been created to do exactly this, explain the origin and evolution of the universe in terms that could stand up to observed detail. In the most simple terms, the theories had been constructed in such a way that they could not be disproved."

The problem with many of these models is that, while they explain observations with impeccable precision, they make no independent predictions that can be tested by further observation. We may or may not be in for the major paradigm shift that Kuhn predicts is on the way but I certainly agree with Boslough - skepticism and ongoing scrutiny of existing science is healthy. "Masters of Time" is a great read. Thanks, John Boslough!