Our Living Multiverse: A Book of Genesis in 0+7 Chapters [Paperback]

Fred Adams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131451332 | ISBN-13: 978-0131451339 | Publication Date: October 1, 2003 | Edition: 1st

Imagine life as we know it exists on a tiny speck of dust floating through nearly empty space in a universe that is but a tiny island in a vast multiverse. Welcome home. "Simply the best cosmology book to come along in a long, long time. Adams addresses the fundamental question of why we are here. It is the first popular cosmology book I will have been willing to recommend in more than five years. Wonderful." -Adrian L. Melott,Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas "In this beautifully written book, Fred Adams does a terrific job of describing our current understanding of what's been going on in the last 14 billion years, as elaborate galaxies, stars, planets, and people have emerged from a smooth and simple Big Bang. This book is original, delightful, and full of ideas." -Robert P. Kirschner,Harvard University, author of The Extravagant Universe "This finely illustrated book describes, clearly and accessibly, our new insights into the grand scheme of cosmic evolution." -Martin Rees,Cambridge University, author of Just Six Numbers and Our Cosmic Habitat "With so much talk about the frontier of biology these days, I welcome the occasional reminder that the laws of physics control the formation and evolution of life. In Our Living Multiverse, Fred Adams deftly traces how these laws have shaped the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the present, and how they continue to guide our search for life in the universe." -Neil deGrasse Tyson,Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, New York

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Imagine life as we know it exists on a tiny speck of dust floating through nearly empty space in a universe that is but a tiny island in a vast multiverse.

Welcome home.

"Simply the best cosmology book to come along in a long, long time. Adams addresses the fundamental question of why we are here. It is the first popular cosmology book I will have been willing to recommend in more than five years. Wonderful."

—Adrian L. Melott,Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas

"In this beautifully written book, Fred Adams does a terrific job of describing our current understanding of what's been going on in the last 14 billion years, as elaborate galaxies, stars, planets, and people have emerged from a smooth and simple Big Bang. This book is original, delightful, and full of ideas."

—Robert P. Kirschner,Harvard University, author of The Extravagant Universe

"This finely illustrated book describes, clearly and accessibly, our new insights into the grand scheme of cosmic evolution."

—Martin Rees,Cambridge University, author of Just Six Numbers and Our Cosmic Habitat

"With so much talk about the frontier of biology these days, I welcome the occasional reminder that the laws of physics control the formation and evolution of life. In Our Living Multiverse, Fred Adams deftly traces how these laws have shaped the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the present, and how they continue to guide our search for life in the universe."

—Neil deGrasse Tyson,Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, New York

About the Author

Fred Adams is a professor of physics at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and continued his research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He is the recipient of the Robert J. Trumpler Award from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the Helen B. Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society, and the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pi Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131451332
• ISBN-13: 978-0131451339
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,974,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An old book renamed, January 1, 2004

By 

"pdonaldson8" (Kingwood, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Living Multiverse: A Book of Genesis in 0+7 Chapters (Paperback)

It appears "Our Living Multiverse" is a reissue of "Origins of Existence". So far, I've been unable to locate where this is mentioned by the publisher. It's a shame such a great book was reissued under a new name without clearly so stating in its description.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unfair To Book Consumers, June 16, 2004

By 

Yonatan Fishman (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Living Multiverse: A Book of Genesis in 0+7 Chapters (Paperback)

While this is a good book, it is little more than a re-issue of the author's previous book "The Origins of Existence" (which I enjoyed). I find it disturbing and frankly insulting that the author and publisher do not make this fact more transparent to consumers. Why should readers have to pay twice for the same material? Also, I get a bit turned off by science books that attempt to make parallels (even superficially) with religious scripture, as they (sometimes unintentionally) perpetuate the false notion that science and religion are compatible. At any rate, I would recommend this book or the author's previous book for up-to-date views of contemporary cosmology and "the big picture". But readers beware: they are one and the same!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well chosen topics, not so well written..., January 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Our Living Multiverse: A Book of Genesis in 0+7 Chapters (Paperback)

I like this book. It is enlightening and contains a multitude of information put together in a well defined format.
However...
I found the book quite difficult to read, both because of its use of the language and by the convoluted way the author went about explaining concepts. To give an example, I have studied thermodynamics and have come across dozens of descriptions of entropy but this one seemed the hardest to get through.
Some places you get fed the simplest information. And I understand why, since the author cannot assume every reader have the proper background.
But: You read two paragraphs describing analog vs. digital information, and then you get a sentence like this: "In one theory, the high-energy space-time of the background is subject to quantum fluctuations that cause small portions of the space-time to attain high potential energies for the inflation field."
I don't know if it's just me, but I'll bet you'd be hard pressed to find many people who lack the knowledge of the former concepts but can understand the latter (sentence).
So again, it is a good book, not well written. I'd say read it, but it's not ecstasy.