Reviews

Ferris is a journalist who has written several successful popular works about modern astronomy (e.g., The Mind's Eye, Bantam, 1993). Here he reviews the current state of scientific cosmology, including the now-considerable overlap between astronomical findings and the theories of elementary particle physicists. (The parenthetical plural in the title is an allusion to theories that suggest the cosmos contains a multiplicity of universes.) Ferris adheres to the orthodox Big Bang theory, giving little attention to its critics, but he is candid about the many uncertainties in modern cosmology. He writes clearly, often with considerable eloquence. But given the intrinsic difficulties and unavoidable jargon of the field, a lay reader will have to give this book close attention to get its full value. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/97.]‘Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor

Scientists are fond of saying that nature is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine. In this whimsically titled tour de force, Ferris (Coming of Age in the Milky Way) illustrates that maxim in a vivid and inviting way. He guides his readers through the field of cosmology, where scientists are forced to confront nature at its strangest, yet most profound and fundamental, level. There, physicists envision the universe as a 10-dimensional, ever-expanding entity out of which time and space, energy and matter emerge. It is a field that encompasses theories of the infinitesimally small, the incomprehensibly large and everything in between. Ferris takes us on journeys to black holes, which, though capturing any matter that strays within their "event horizons," are constantly evaporating in a quantum-mechanical haze of "virtual" particles that become tangible. He leads us through our universe, at least 90% of which is made of dark matter, detected only by its gravitational influence. He explores its structure-clusters of galaxies that form bubbles and huge voids hundreds of millions of light years in extent. Is this universe one of many that crystallized in a brief "inflationary" epoch? Is "quantum weirdness" an inescapable description of space-time and matter-energy; or is it a mystery to be unraveled? What are the implications of these discoveries and speculations for philosophy and theology? Ferris touches on all of these, leaving the reader gasping not for more answers but for more questions. BOMC split main selection; QPB and History Book Club alternate selections; Newbridge's Astronomy Book Club and Library of Science main selections. (May)