I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Title: This Way to the Universe: A Theoretical Physicist's Journey to the Edge of Reality
Author: Michael Dine
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: 2.8.22
Publisher’s Summary
This Way to the Universe is a celebration of the astounding, ongoing scientific investigations that have revealed the nature of reality at its smallest, at its largest, and at the scale of our daily lives. The enigmas that Professor Michael Dine discusses are like landmarks on a fantastic journey to the edge of the universe.
Asked where to find out about the Big Bang, Dark Matter, the Higgs boson particle--the long cutting edge of physics right now--Dine had no single book he could recommend. This is his accessible, authoritative, and up-to-date answer. Comprehensible to anyone with a high-school level education, with almost no equations, there is no better author to take you on this amazing odyssey.
Dine is widely recognized as having made profound contributions to our understanding of matter, time, the Big Bang, and even what might have come before it. This Way to the Universe touches on many emotional, critical points in his extraordinary carreer while presenting mind-bending physics like his answer to the Dark Matter and Dark Energy mysteries as well as the ideas that explain why our universe consists of something rather than nothing. People assume String Theory can never be tested, but Dine intrepidly explores exactly how the theory might be tested experimentally, as well as the pitfalls of falling in love with math. This book reflects a lifetime pursuing the deepest mysteries of reality, by one of the most humble and warmly engaging voices you will ever read.
My Review
This Way to the Universe is an absolutely fascinating look at all aspects of our universe. From the smallest of particles to the largest of concepts, Michael Dine's excitement about each subtopic really shines in what a fellow reviewer labeled "a physics textbook for the rest of us." Readers will need at least a basic knowledge of science and physics but don't necessarily need to be an expert to enjoy this book.
I learned some mind-blowing facts about the relation of space and time, like gravitational redshift, which is when "in a gravitational field, near a massive star, for example, time runs more slowly." Full of statistics and equations, I really loved how much this book made me just sit and ponder. For example, astronomers have discovered almost 4000 planets in our observable universe, which is about 13 billion light-years across. The nearest of these planets to our sun is Proxima Centauri, *just* 4.2 light-years away (1 light year = about 6 trillion miles.)
Dine exemplifies the infiniteness of space with scientific statements that sound metaphorical, like "We are not merely an unimaginably small speck in a gigantic universe, but what we think of as the universe is itself just a tiny speck in a universe of universes." To further give readers an idea of what to expect from This Way to the Universe, I've included the table of contents below.
Table of Contents
STEP ONE
1. Surveying the Universe
2. Can We Take Space and Time for Granted?
3. What Do We Mean by Universe?
STEP TWO
4. Can Quantum Mechanics Predict the Future?
5. Fruits of the Nuclear Age
6. The Weight of the Smallest Things
7. Stardom
THE NEXT STEPS
8. Why Is There Something Rather than Nothing?
9. “The Large Number Problem”
10. What Is the Universe Made Of?
11. The Dark Energy
AND STEPPING INTO THE UNSTABLE
12. At the Beginning of Everything
13. Can We Get to a Final Theory without Getting Up from Our Chairs?
14. The Landscape of Reality
15. Rolling the Dice of Theoretical Physics
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