Universe, the Eleventh Dimension, and Everything: What We Know and How We Know It

From the formation of the universe to the theory of matter to life on earth, Richard Morris delivers a clear and concise picture of what we know, how we know it, and what the limits to future knowledge might be. Morris begins by discussing various ideas about the ultimate destiny of the universe: whether it will continue expanding or eventually collapse. Next he addresses the search for a unified theory of matter that will encompass the four known forces in nature: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Finally, Morris looks at the origin of life. Once conditions were hospitable, life evolved on Earth almost immediately. But how? With wit and insight Morris takes the reader on a tour through some of the more profound aspects of contemporary science.

From the formation of the universe to the theory of matter to life on earth, Richard Morris delivers a clear and concise picture of what we know, how we know it, and what the limits to future knowledge might be. Morris begins by discussing various ideas about the ultimate destiny of the universe: whether it will continue expanding or eventually collapse. Next he addresses the search for a unified theory of matter that will encompass the four known forces in nature: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Finally, Morris looks at the origin of life. Once conditions were hospitable, life evolved on Earth almost immediately. But how? With wit and insight Morris takes the reader on a tour through some of the more profound aspects of contemporary science.

Publishers Weekly

Prolific science writer Morris (Achilles in the Quantum Universe) explains current cosmological theories, offers a history of modern physics and summarizes some questions that vex philosophers of science in this accessible, almost garrulous, three-part work. Part one describes "what we know and how we know it" about the Big Bang, from the first few seconds of our cosmos to its probable ultimate fate. Part two, the most substantial, zips through 20th-century discoveries about the nature of matter, from Planck and Einstein to quantum chromodynamics and then to GUTs (Grand Unified Theories) and their wacky but promising successors, the superstring theories. Part three backtracks to Einstein and Newton to consider the role of imagination in scientific discovery, describing others' ideas about scientific and artistic creativity. (Are laws of physics created, or discovered? And how do scientists know when their theories are true?) Lay readers are sure to pick up intriguing ideas from all three sections, but the book coheres only tenuously (in that all three parts have to do with what's "real" and what we can observe). It is most enjoyable as a set of three essays rather than as a continuous argument. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Richard Morris earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1968. He is the author of more than 20 books, 10 of which are about science, including Evolution and Human Nature. He lives in San Francisco.