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Our Cosmic Habitat

by Martin Rees (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 17 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0691114774
ISBN-10: 0691114773
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  • Our Cosmic Habitat
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  • Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape The Universe
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  • The First Three Minutes: A Modern View Of The Origin Of The Universe
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 23, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0691114773
  • ISBN-13: 978-0691114774
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsBeautiful book on cosmology from a wise astronomer
By Dennis Littrell HALL OF FAME on January 13, 2002
Format: Hardcover
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.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsCompact book, fast reading
By Regnal the Caretaker on February 1, 2002
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
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.
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4.0 out of 5 starsCosmic Life
By Joel Brown on March 23, 2002
Format: Hardcover
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.
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3.0 out of 5 starsA fine starter but nothing more
By Amazon Customer on February 3, 2004
Format: Hardcover
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read

Very thought provoking read. I saw Rees give a talk at the Cheltenham Science Festival and he's an engaging cosmologist. I definitely recommend this book

Published 16 months ago by Mr. Stephen J. Rodgers
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Good seller; no problems.

Published 16 months ago by Jeff Merritt
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

C'est si bon!

Published 24 months ago by Doug Frazier
5.0 out of 5 starsyou your stars

Martin Rees knows how to write for the general public, which is not an easy feat for a hard-core scientist. I just enjoyed the reading, and am looking for more Martin Rees' books.

Published on September 25, 2014 by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Best Book on the Cosmos I've Ever Read

This is my favorite science book - the best I've ever read at describing the physical universe, its origins and its nature. Read more

Published on November 22, 2006 by Dave
5.0 out of 5 starsExellent Place to Begin

I've only just started this book and am only thirty or so pages in, but I've already decided that it's one of the best books of its kind that I've ever read. Read more

Published on May 18, 2004
5.0 out of 5 starsDeep Mysteries of the Cosmos Simply Told

The reviewer also recommends Our Cosmic Habitat.

Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, wonderfully tells everything about cosmology in this concise book. Read more

Published on December 23, 2003 by Tatsuo Tabata
4.0 out of 5 starsLocal bylaws and the multiverse

The first nine chapters of this rather small book give us an excellent summary of our actual scientific and speculative cosmological knowledge. Read more

Published on September 3, 2003 by Luc REYNAERT
4.0 out of 5 starscosmology for the layman

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... Read more

Published on May 29, 2003
4.0 out of 5 starsFar Out, Man

Our Cosmic Habitat
By Martin Rees
Astronomer Royal
of Great Britain
Princeton University Press, ... Read more

Published on April 4, 2002 by Wayman Dunlap

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