Customer Reviews

Our Cosmic Habitat

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Martin Rees, who is the Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, returns here to the speculative cosmological mode that he so successfully employed in Before the Beginning: Our Universe and Others (1997) and brings us up to date on his latest thinking. He sets the tone by featuring a quotation from acclaimed science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon's novel Star Maker (1937) to the effect that all that we are and have been is "but a flicker in one day of the lives of the stars." The title Our Cosmic Habitat reinforces the long and distant view that Rees wants to assume, seeing the universe as enormously large and long-lived. The book was composed from the Scribner Lectures that Rees gave at Princeton University.

The ground covered reflects a growing trend in cosmology, that of thinking aloud and in public about matters that have little or no chance of being scientifically tested now or perhaps ever. In particular Rees speculates on the possibility and nature of other universes beyond our own. Indeed, he refers to a "multiverse" with the implication that the universe we experience is just one of a possibly infinite number of other universes, distant from us spatially, temporally and even dimensionally. In other words he seems to be talking about things we can never have any information about!

To the old physicists this must seem a sacrilege, but then Rees himself is no spring chicken! I find it refreshing that a man of his stature and reputation can so freely speculate on matters that are of such complexity and distance, as he notes on page 156, that they "may never be explained or understood." But what I think Rees is getting at, and why he feels justified as a scientist in making these speculative ventures, is that although these other possible universes are completely removed from ours in terms of any possible perception, they may in fact affect our universe in some way that may eventually be measured or otherwise discerned. For example (this is my speculation) suppose we finally did get an indisputable, proven theory of everything, somehow wedding gravity and quantum mechanics, and found that our universe was in some way--again indisputably--different from what that theory predicted. Such a difference would have to come from something outside, perhaps as the signature of an effect from another universe.

As one would expect from a senior scientist, Rees gives us some political guidance in scientific matters. On page 31 he expresses his view that a justification for going into space is to free the human race from the possibility of extinction from a "catastrophe that we bring on ourselves," through "experimental misadventure or a terrorist act that deploys techniques from bioscience." Incidentally Rees estimates that the chance in a lifetime of anyone alive today of encountering an Earth-crossing asteroid at less than 1 in 10,000, which he describes as "no lower than the risk...of being killed in an air crash." Consequently, he finds it "fully worthwhile to devote modest efforts to survey the sky for potentially dangerous...asteroids." (pp. 30-31)

Rees's treatment of string theory, now called M-theory, with its ten or eleven dimensions, is cautious. In chapter ten after remarking on the non-surprising cancellation of the Superconducting Super-Collider project, he obliquely advises young physicists to think twice before devoting their lives to string theory. "He writes, "...an undue focus of talent in one highly theoretical area is likely to be frustrating for all but a few exceptionally talented (or lucky) individuals." He reminds us of Peter Medawar's "wise remark that <no scientist is admired for failing to solve a problem beyond his competence>." (pp. 155-156)

As in his book mentioned above, Rees confronts what he calls the "puzzlingly biophilic" (p. 45) nature of our universe and again addresses the anthropic principle. See especially Chapter 11 where he uses a metaphor from philosopher John Leslie to account for our justified surprise or lack thereof at living in our "interesting" universe rather than one with laws that "had boring consequences." Leslie has us before a firing squad with fifty marksmen who all miss. Rees writes, "If they had not all missed, you would not have survived to ponder the matter." As it is, "you would seek some further reason for your luck." The analogy here is with our luck in having a universe with "interesting consequences" that "allowed us to exist." (pp. 162-163) But I think the comparison breaks down because we had in the case of the firing squad a fine expectation of being hit, whereas no such expectation of a "boring" universe is necessarily justified. The anthropic principle is in full force here, it seems to me: we only exist in "interesting" universes.

Bottom line: this is a compelling book, written by a man who can speculate but speculate reasonably so that we are intrigued and interested rather than set awash in a sea of fanciful maybes. Rees writes with charm and a most reserved sense of humor. (Example: on page 151 he speculates on whether a universe could have more than one time dimension, wryly observing that to describe such a universe we would need "a language with more tenses.") He always qualifies his statements to the nth degree and, reflecting the wisdom of his years and experience, is never out on a limb by saying that anything possible is "impossible," as senior scientists have carelessly done in the past.

By the way, this is a beautifully designed book, with a splendid jacket designed by Tracy Baldwin. The black and white artwork illustrating the text by Richard Sword is something close to exquisite.

This is the first book by Martin Rees I have read, and I like it.
He created very brief (about 200 pages only) but surprisingly complete picture of modern cosmology and scientific fields related to it.
After reading Alan Guth, Donald Goldsmith, Stephen Hawking and Igor Novikov, this book greatly summarizes and helps to put everything together: properties of our Universe, current conclusions from observations, microphysics dilemmas, speculations about time and multiverses and possible barriers further research may encounter.
Introducing Q number, Martin Rees explains cosmic texture.
Presenting simple equation for gravitational attraction he makes easy to understand negative energy of vacuum (this unfortunately in Notes, at the end of the book; should be introduced within the main text in my opinion).
I was shocked learning that our empty space could be vulnerable to a catastrophic transfiguration induced artificially by high- energy particle collisions in accelerator experiments (more about it on page 120).
Content of this book is for educated and oriented readers; author does not waste time to explain basic terms of physics. One should know for example what is "bar code" in the spectra from the galaxies.
Small correction: figure 4.1 (page 52) describes numbers:0.1 , 0.2 and 0.3 as a redshift. This is not exactly.
These numbers are related to the redshift but they represent fraction of a time since a big bang.
Concluding: if you like to read about cosmology, it is not the only subject of your interest and you want fast update - get "Our Cosmic Habitat". It will save you lots of time.

Our Cosmic Habitat written by Martin J. Rees is a book that looks at the fundamentals and conjectures of our galaxy and for that matter, of what we know, the universe.

To link the cosmos and the microworld requires a breakthrough. Twentieth-century physics rests on two great foundations: the quantum principle(that which governs the "inner space" of atoms) and Einstein's relativity theory, which describes time, outer space, and gravity but doesn't incorporate quantum effects.

Yet looking at the two great foundations you'd think that physics could link the two, well, surprise... they haven't. The structures erected on the foundations are still as far apart as the day they were proposed. Until there is a unified theory of the forces governing both cosmos and microworld, we won't be able to understand the fundamental features of our universe... the superstring theory shows the most promiss.

Superstring or M-theory in which each point in our ordinary space is actually a tightly folded in six dimensions, wrapped up on scales perhaps a billion billion times smaller than an atomic nucleus, and particles are represented as vibrating loops of "string."

As you can see this can get pretty deep, but the author has written this book so it can be easily understood and comprehended by the layreader. The author has a very effective prose and the narrative moves quickly and the reader gets a tour-de-force in the study of cosmology.

The book has three parts and each part has chapters. The chapters break the information down into easily understood groupings. A view of a multiverse or may universesis not just found in science-fiction anymore. It seems that the multiverse is getting play from those who are willing to venture out.

All in all, this was a very readable and engrossing read. It moved quickly and there are illustrating within the book that help in explaining different aspects of what the author is relaying to the reader. The book requires that the reader has some science background to get the most out of the book.

This book is what I would call a big-picture overview of the cosmos. It is discussed from all sized scales and from the viewpoint of a possible multiverse. The forces and constants of Nature are the philosophical subjects from these horizons. They certainly are fine-tuned for life, biophilic, since it (life) could not exist with any slight alterations in them. And if there is a multiverse, then just as placements of galaxy clusters are results of our own cosmic history, our own universe's physical laws may only be bylaws that are not mulitversal, they may likewise be historic accidents-ones that sustain an intelligent cosmos. I recommend this to those who want a condensed but comprehensive overview of cosmology, because it is nothing outstanding or profound but a practical guide to begin thought about the cosmos' and our own beginnings.

Martin Rees masterpiece remains for sure "Just Six Numbers". In a few pages, he has been able to track the most intriguing mysteries of physics, by explaining how small changes in "just six numbers" could have prevented us from being...
The idea behing this book is to cover quite broadly all the aspects of modern cosmology. The question which permeates the entire book is "is our existence just an accident, or do we exist because we had to (i.e. the laws of physics imply our existence)"? This is currently THE question in cosmology. After having tracked and measured the most significant quantities that set the laws of our universe, we have started to question "why" those numbers have the values that allows for our existence.
Of course there is no answer in the book, but what is disappointing is that the book just looks like a collection of short stories and information already seen in other books.
Whoever has already read books on cosmology, quantum mechanics and relativity will find just a repetition of short summaries, with a little characterisation by the author.
The good point is that this book can surely be a good starter for neophytes.

As a non-scientist, the universe has always mystified me. This book doesn't have all the answers, but it does convey a lot of useful information in a clear and readable form. I hope the author is correct in his prediction that within the decade the space telescopes and ground accelerators may unlock even more fascinating secrets. If you have read many of the current crop of Cosmology books, nothing in here is new or surprising, but the coverage is thorough and since it is so readable I feel like I got a lot out of it. I never get tired reading of the birth and life of the universe and one day I hope to understand relativity. This book was one more baby step for me.

The reviewer also recommends Our Cosmic Habitat.

Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, wonderfully tells everything about cosmology in this concise book. The reader is lead to a quick tour from Big Bang to biospheres, from the beginning to the end of the universe, and from the micro-world to the cosmos. Yet the description is not superficial but very deep.

Among many of mysteries we learn from this book, let me mention only a few big ones. (1) Dark matter: This prevails over visible matter in constituting the total energy of the universe. It is the No. 1 problem in astronomy today, and ranks high as a physics problem, too. (2) Vacuum energy: This is the origin of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Its nature is a challenge to theorists; it holds important clues to the early universe and the nature of space. (3) Other universes: Our universe may be just one of them. While seeming to be in the province of metaphysics rather than physics, these already lie within the proper purview of science.

The author says that the phrases often used in popular books, "final theory" and "theory of everything," are very misleading and that some of nature's complexity may never be explained and understood. These words just made the scales fall from my eyes. I strongly recommend this book to laypersons interested in astronomy, cosmology, problems at the boundary between science and philosophy, and the deep mysteries of nature.

People have always wondered about the place of the Earth in the cosmic scheme of things. Cosmology, the science of the biggest of all big pictures, has over the past century been one of the areas of science that people have the most curiosity about. Cosmologists were not always well respected by other scientists; their work was speculative and on the fringe, it was thought. But then the strange idea of the Big Bang Theory took hold. In 1965, cosmic background radiation was found all over the universe that had been predicted by the Big Bang Theory. In 1990, measurements from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite provided a spectacular confirmation that the radiation came from a huge explosion of matter and space 13 billion years ago. Sir Martin Rees was one of the celebrated circle of astrophysicists at Cambridge that also produced Stephen Hawking, and he is now the Astronomer Royal. Cosmology is no longer fringe; in _Our Cosmic Habitat_ (Princeton University Press), Rees insists, "The big bang theory deserves to be taken at least as seriously as anything geologists or paleontologists tell us about the early history of our Earth."

Rees's entertaining summary of his stance on cosmological issues serves as a guide to where we live in the universe. Cosmologists who take up the chore of explaining their work to the public have enormous obstacles against them. Their science uses more of mathematics than observation, and the extent of times involved and the counterintuitive strangeness of different forms of matter and energy may be data that experts get a feel for, but will always be foreign to most of us. Hawking's _A Brief History of Time_ is a best seller (and let us be thankful that this is so!), but I have never run into a reader, myself included, who wasn't mystified by big blocks of it. Rees's book, written as an inaugural to the Scribner Lectures at Princeton, is concise, wise, and witty, and I think most people would find it more accessible than Hawking's. Rees has written to answer Einstein's famous question, "What interests me most is whether God could have made the world differently," and this is as good an answer as we are going to get until further facts turn up.

Rees has thought deeply about the "anthropic" contingencies that resulted in a planet with human life. If gravity or various other forces were tweaked only slightly, completely different universes, adverse to the formation of life, would result. He is not satisfied with the answer that if the contingencies were not just so, we wouldn't be here, and so the world looks fine-tuned just for us because we are here. The answer of a creator who deliberately dialed in the numbers smacks of a "god of the gaps," the unsatisfactory explanation of last resort for mysteries, an explanation that is not scientific and actually makes for more mysteries than it answers. The final part of Rees's stimulating book is devoted to the idea of a multiverse of which our own universe is only one of an almost infinite number. If there are plenty of other universes, it is not surprising that we would have wound up on one that seems designed or fine-tuned. He is quick to admit that this is speculation, but also proposes that there may be ways in the future to test if a multiverse might actually exist. It is an attractive idea. Is it testable? It is exciting to think that good minds are working on the problem, and we can wait and see.

Reading this book, my first in cosmology, I felt a bit like Jodie Foster in "Contact". It is doubtful you will find a better introduction to cosmology, particularly because through much of it, with a little imagination, Rees makes you feel you are riding a spacecraft. I have read two other books on theoretic physics since reading this one: Hawking's "Brief History of Time" and Kaku's "Hyperspace"; all three books focus on some of the main points since the modern concepts of physics are commonly held views. All three, which incidentally are all reader-friendly on this difficult subject, cover the chemistry of stars, quantum mechanics, the formation of galaxies, the history and future of the universe. In my opinion, 3 is better than 1. Rees' unique focus is on cosmic numbers; Kaku's focus is on higher dimensions and superstring theory; Hawking's is on black holes and the Big Bang.

This is my favorite science book - the best I've ever read at describing the physical universe, its origins and its nature. It is the only science book that I have read more than twice. I've read it four times - all the way through, and I'm ready to read it again. I am an amateur scientist with a BS in Math and Physics, the precise knowledge of which I have long since left behind. But, while I pursue my business career, I maintain a passionate interest in understanding this amazing Universe in which we live. So, I've read dozens, maybe even a hundred, books on cosmology, the origins of the universe, sub-nuclear physics, string theory and the like. And, this is the best. Unless your knowledge is very, very advanced, you will love it, learn from it and be inspired by it.