Cosmology

  (out of 5 stars)

Physicist Leonard Susskind weighed in on his support for string theory in 2005 with The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design. A book with high goals and, from me personally, high expectations, Landscape falls quite flat from the very beginning and only occasionally rises to a point worth mentioning.

I was familiar with the public debate between Susskind and fellow physicist Lee Smolin (author of three books on physics, including his latest: The Trouble With Physics) over the concept known as the anthropic principle. Susskind, very much in favor of anthropic solutions, favors the weak anthropic version, which holds that our universe allows life only because of the existence of a multiverse which offers an overwhelming number of opportunities to get the "details" of physics right. However, I really expected Susskind to dig deeply into the notion of Intelligent Design as it related to religious faith in a specific Creator of the cosmos. However, rather than address this far more common meaning of "Intelligent Design" directly, Susskind spends chapter after chapter meandering through physics fundamentals and pleading with the reader to see how string theory and its multiverse predictions are not just reasonable but "solidly grounded" in research.

Having read a great deal of physics books and knowing many of the arguments for and against string theory, the anthropic principle, and cosmological intelligent design, I found Susskind's treatment and defense of his stance to be disappointing and muddled. The reader is left with a great deal of missing steps in his thinking, and like many string theorists, Susskind assumes the reader will accept that string theory and a multiverse system are facts from which to explore the issues. However, Susskind never establishes just why the reader should make these assumptions, and it leaves a lot of hollow ground hindering his argument.

Combined with the lack of any real attack on the "illusion of intelligent design", this sort of writing is a let down for me. I like Susskind and have watched many of his panel discussions where he is both thoughtful and clear. However, I've also watched a few of his seminars and, unfortunately, this book reads much more like his rambling, at times incoherent lectures than it does his focused and insightful panel debates. Three stars and only recommended for curious physics readers wanting to get Susskind's arguments first hand.

  (out of 5 stars)

Planetary scientist David Grinspoon presents a robust presentation centered on alien life in the universe. An interesting and popular subject, this book was somewhat underwhelming overall, though it had some interesting and enjoyable passages.

While the book presumes to be a "natural philosophy" of the subject, the actual philosophy in the book is largely contained in a few sections of a few chapters. Most of the book describes historical or scientific fundamentals necessary for understanding the alien discussion, including histories of planetary science, alien philosophy, and biology. Except for the history of alien philosophy, which was the best part of the book for me, the history and science sections were good but not great. And while it is necessary to understand these basics, Grinspoon takes several hundred pages to get to his "philosophy". By that time, the decent narrative felt overly-drawn out.

Still, the book is a decent read for anyone with an interest in this sort of subject matter. But don't expect too much if you are an experienced reader, Grinspoon doesn't cover a great deal of original ground here, and except for the history of alien theories, I've read much better treatments of the history and science matters. Additionally, SETI dominates much of the discussion in a way which I found a bit off-putting, though I honestly can't say why. I like Grinspoon and love his enthusiasm, but I came away from Lonely Planets with a sense that it needed to be condensed and reorganized significantly. Three stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

Tim Ferris has a gift for writing history of science books, and many consider Coming of Age in the Milky Way his best. I have to agree. The history of astronomy and physics presented here is fantastic and engaging. Ferris has a great pace and narrative, and offers the reader a well-developed and engrossing look at what other authors have turned into a dry dissertation.

The book takes the reader through a timeline of discovery as humans came to understand various bis about their place in the universe. Early ideas, such as those of Aristole and Ptolemy are explored. The discussion of how scientists such as Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Gallileo, and Newton (among others) came to notice and explore phenomena left unexplained by existing theories. As humans expanded their understanding of the depths and reach of space, the progress from the Ancient Greeks to the notion of an expanding universe takes on a fascinating and is woven by Ferris into an epic tapestry of scientific discovery.

The second part of the book looks at the notions of Time as they progressed from various ancient theories to the modern understanding that the universe as we know it is many billions of years old.

Part Three offers a look at theories of creation, from the quantum nature of things to the concepts which developed into the Big Bang and inflationary theory. The weakest parts of the book are found in Chapters 19 and 20, where the science behind a couple of points in Ferris's narrative has become dated and shown inaccurate (the book was published in 1989). Specifically, the concept of an expanding universe which is slowing down its acceleration has been trumped by modern research (recent discoveries point to an acceleration which is increasing). Also, Ferris describes the nature of the pre-Big Bang singularity first posited by Stephen Hawking and others, a concept which Hawking has vehemently backed away from since Coming of Age was published, and Hawking now no longer supports this theory.

Still, Coming of Age is an enjoyable read for anyone who likes astronomy or history of science books. Ferris is an accomplished author whose work is easily approached by novices and delightful for those with experience. Four stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has taken up the reins from the late Carl Sagan as the leading advocate for science education and instructional entertainment. Seen on outstanding programs such as PBS's NOVA series (which he now hosts), Tyson has Sagan's gift for expressing enthusiam for science which is infective. Origins, which Dr. Tyson wrote with astronomer Donald Goldsmith, offers the reader straightforward glimpses at some of the most fascinating processes and products in our Universe, from galactic clusters to biological evolution.

The writing in Origins is approachable by any level of science reader. There are only a couple of places where complex terms might fly over the head of a novice, but the authors keep the book focused on educating a reader new to the subjects without a dense recital of the math and theory behind each one.

The opening chapters deal with the early Universe, including the problems and possibilities of dark matter and dark energy, and then move on to galaxies and stars.

The authors spend a short time on planets before moving on to biological origins of life on earth and the possibilities of discovering life or the conditions which make life possible somewhere other than Earth.

While most of this information is well-known to any intermediate science reader (and likely to a great number of novice readers), the presentation is engaging and, in Tyson's unique way, enlightening even on subjects with which the reader is already familiar. The way chemistry is weaved into the discussion of star and planet formation, as well as how life depends on specific chemistries (or possibly not, as is also discussed) was very presented and added an excellent layer of insight into the astrophysical subject matter. Highly recommended for novice readers or for anyone who loves to read popular science that isn't dumbed down but also is not densely packed with high-level science jargon and data. Four stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

Having read and loved both of physicist Lee Smolin's more recent books, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity and The Trouble With Physics, I picked up a copy of Life of the Cosmos, his first book. Life centers around Smolin's theory of cosmological natural selection, a proposal which directly counters the weak anthropic cosmological arguments. While Smolin is a brilliant scientist, this first book left a lot to be desired, especially when compared to the two books he has since released. I expected this to be much more a work of philosophy of science, which it was, but the awkward structure and presentation make it a mixed bag for the reader.

Published in the late 1990s, this book was Smolin's first attempt to bring physics to a popular science audience. However, from the first few chapters, it is clear that the book's organization and argument style are cloudy at best. Smolin gives the reader a muddled set of preliminary background, a great deal of which has little to do with explaining his cosmological natural selection theory.

The meat of the book should be Part 2: An Ecology of Space and Time and Part 3: The Organization of the Cosmos. Unfortunately, the book is light on details and often drifts off-subject. I was personally left with only a basic outline of the theory Smolin offered, and would have love to see the implications of cosmological natural selection fleshed out a lot more.

Later parts of the book drift off to mostly philosophical and historical subjects and greatly abandon the arguments for the book's thesis. By the time I finished the book, it had easily been a hundred pages since any lengthy discussion of cosmological natural selection had taken place. Much of this latter history should have been included in the earlier parts of the book or left out entirely.

One area of argument that irked me a bit was Smolin's reliance on the Gaia hypothesis to provide backbone for his discussion of feedback systems. While I respect Lovelock's theory (and the work of other supporters such as Lynn Margulis), Smolin's use of Gaia in support of his own theory does nothing to improve his argument. It is entirely possible to describe the ecological relationships found on this planet without relying on Gaia to explain the processes. Not only is Gaia widely criticised by scientists of myriad disciplines, the modern versions of it are somewhat at odds with some of the aspects Smolin cites (Lovelock himself conceded early on that his initial hypothesis had serious problems, as pointed out by critics, and has backed off many of his original assertions). To be fair, I don't know what Gaia hypothesis actually proposed in the late 1990s at the time Smolin wrote this book. so I suppose this criticism may be a touch harsh.

Overall, Smolin is still a brilliant guy and despite the numerous problems with structure and content, Life is worth reading if you really dig philosophy of science and/or physics/cosmology books. If this one doesn't grab you, don't give up on Smolin as an author. His writing and presentation styles improved tremendously with Three Roads and have become outstanding with Trouble. As for this book, three stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

Astrophysicist Evalyn Gates brings the world of gravitational lensing and the search for the unknown constituents of the Universe to the reader in her book Einstein's Telescope. Gates has spent many years in this search, and this book is an excellent introduction and advanced discussion, laying the foundation for the work she (and others) will do over the next decade to unmask some of the great mysteries in cosmology and astrophysics.

Gates introduces a brief history of how scientists came to understand that dark matter and dark energy had to be part of our Universe in order to explain a few basic observations. Once she has offered the reader a framework for why we need to look more deeply at the way our Universe appears, Gates explains just what causes the "Einstein's Telescope" effect. This fascinating technique involves gravitational lensing of distant objects by massive objects sitting closer to the Earth. Often, the lenses are clusters of galaxies, and through the process of lensing more distant galaxies, we can learn how much mass is acting on the light of the distant sources, giving us insight into where dark matter may reside and exactly how it interacts with ordinary mass.

The book explains various theories of dark matter, primarily MACHOs and WIMPs, offers glimpses at the even more mysterious dark energy, for which there are no shortage of wild theories, and eventually goes deep into the cosmic web that may hold clues to the earliest formation of galaxies.

Later parts of the book, which may well be the strongest in what is a very solid presentation, describe the multiple experiments ongoing and various theories currently being formulated. Gates explains how these new techniques and new opportunities may shed light on our understanding of the Universe, its beginnings, and its evolution. Anyone who wants to understand the amazing findings that have begun to trickle out of this astrophysical work (and which will continue to become available over the next decade or two) will find strong explanations by Gates herein. This section alone makes the entire book worth reading for me.

Gates is an excellent writer who refuses to waste the reader's time. She has a solid grasp of her subject, and better, is highly successful at making the complex scientific concepts approachable by most any reader. Tons of great cutting-edge science is in store for a reader of this book, and those with a strong knowledge of cosmology and astronomy can still find much to learn and enjoy in Telescope. A handful of excellent images and illustrations are included in the hardback edition which offer the reader tantilizing, beautiful references to Gates' material, including real photographs of some fantastic shots of gravitation lensing.

For any science reader, and most especially those who enjoy space sciences, this book is highly recommended as a solid effort to update the reader's understanding of current astrophysical efforts and approaches to this fascinating field. While much of the science is complex, the style makes it easy to digest, without watering down the concepts. Four stars.

  (out of 5 stars)

What an unexpected gem of a book this turned out to be! Lee Smolin mentioned this work in his own popular science effort titled The Trouble With Physics, having worked with the author for some time. So, I picked this one up, hoping to get a peak at an alternative to inflation theory. Faster delivered this and a lot more.

João Magueijo is a cosmologist who values his identity as the somewhat anacharistic outsider, concentrating on alternative theories including his groundbreaking work on one called varying speed of light (VSL) which challenges the basic assumptions of special relativity and inflation. Faster explores João's progress toward the VSL concepts as well as serving as a memoir for his own scientific career (through its publication in 2003).

The first chapters of the book offer some history of various individuals and their theories which are central to any cosmological framework. João's explanation of Alan Guth's work toward establishing inflation as a primary theory in the field is outstanding and one I've not seen delivered better in a work not dedicated to inflation itself. His section and references to Einstein, while not terribly new, were humanizing rather than placing him on a golden pedestal as so many other authors like to do. We get glimpses into the mortal genius who we appreciate even more as a result. The author clearly likes to fancy himself an Einstein-like outsider, the kind who had to work around the system rather than through it. Even though I knew much of the history offered, Magueijo produced an excellent and engaging overview that kept me reading regardless.

Once Magueijo himself enters the picture later on, the reader learns of his work which became VSL, introducing numerous famous (and not-so-famous) cosmologists and physicists who partnered with or mentored him. VSL is more accurately a classification of theories rather than a specific one (just as inflation theory and string theory are not single theories). João keeps the math and technical details very light and moves quickly through his points, interweaving solid physical passages with personal stories and experiences. However, he doesn't skimp on the cosmological explanations, so there is plenty here for the science junkie to explore, much of it never presented in another popular science book (to my knowledge).

The writing is excellent, though presented quite differently from most popular science books. Magueijo is brash, sometimes cursing to get his points across, and I've read other reviewers balk at his treatment of such a noble field as cosmology. The cursing is not that bad, maybe a dozen instances in total.

I'd argue those readers missed one of João's main points of the book (other than to describe VSL and his journey toward it), that being his passionate disgust with the way the physics world has behaved and his belief that giving the system a big FU is both healthy and necessary.

I must say, that while I enjoy the delightful and professional presentations of other writers in the field, including Brian Greene, Carl Sagan, and Lee Smolin, this unique style was a very nice change of pace, and I very much appreciated João's honesty and clarity throughtout. This book is as much about Magueijo's impression of his own field as it is about VSL and cosmology, and in that light, his treatment was outstanding, unique, and very enjoyable to read. I've read few science authors capable of writing so clear and engaging in her/his non-native language.

While I have no idea whether Magueijo's VSL theory will stand up to experiment (he offers that even he has no idea if it can), João is convincing in his argument that allowing cosmology to settle comfortably into accepted but far-from-proven theories is flat out wrong. Inflation itself is simply accepted based on postdictions, the dominant theory has yet to be proven as correct despite the fact that it is presented as gospel by most everyone. Work on VSL and other alternative theories, even to the point of undermining long-standing and solidly placed theories such as special relativity (which some versions of VSL do undermine) is vital, Magueijo argues, to continue to break new ground and challenge the way cosmology views the universe.

Maguiejo provides an incredibly enjoyable and fascinating look at VSL theory and his own life. The science is strong but not technical, the personal stories are relevant and revealing, and few popular science books have attempted, let alone delivered, such a fun-to-read experience, delivered in this author's unique way. Maguiejo is passionate about his subject and every page drips with enthusiasm for his work. Five big stars, and very highly recommended to any popular science reader willing to open her/his mind to alternative ideas.

  (out of 5 stars)

Physicist Carlos Calle offers a modern view of the current landscape of physics in The Universe. While Calle's effort is a solid history of physics and related theories, his book seriously disappointed in delivering arguments for his primary thesis, namely that the reality of nature shows that there is no need for a designer to create the order we see.

The first 150 pages or so are a history of physics, including the various players and theories discussed in almost every other popular physics book. No new territory is covered here, and while the effort is solid, there is really no reason for experienced readers of physics books to even bother reading this part. The final sections of the book look at modern events and ongoing developments in physics which are pushing the edge of what we know and what we can know.

Calle's book would stand nicely on its own if it were presented as an updated look at the world of physics and its history. However, I ordered this book new, which I rarely do, because its subtitle clearly stated the book would argue that reality shows the order and complexity we see has no need for a designer. There are lots of arguments to be made on this behalf, especially those dealing with fine tuning and the Goldilocks Zone. But, instead Calle muddles through most of this with only hints toward the stronger arguments.

His treatment of the mysterious and contentious cosmological constant is outright terrible. Repeatedly, he admits that physicists really don't know why it is there and offers competing theories for just what the constant represents. He argues at one point that it is antigravity, yet offers not one shred of evidence that this is so. He brings up inflation theory and string theory as backbone for his effort, and supplements parts of cyclical model and eternal inflation as needed in his discussion. Even if true, there is no proof of many of these theories and they certainly can't offer any solid reason to believe that order does not require design. If you are going to claim there is no need for a designer, picking and choosing parts of unverified (and in some cases, unverifiable) theories as you see fit is a poor way to show that you are correct.

Physicists and physics readers have long accepted that the science will always be 'in the dark' about a great many things, but to spend the entire book letting us know that we "just don't know" much of anything is an extremely poor way to support your thesis.

Victor Stenger, in his book God: The Failed Hypothesis takes the same stance that Calle adopts, yet offers strong evidence for order without design. There are numerous ways to establish this, but Calle does what amounts to a magic trick by filling the reader with nifty physics tidbits and then saying this means order can come about without design. I believe the premise, but Calle has not convinced me with his arguments. There are so many gaps in his logic (as read from the book, at least) that anyone arguing on behalf of the need for a designer would certainly find numerous ways to use this book as proof that physics can't offer anything better than religion in answering the big questions.

So, what to rate The Universe. If it stood on its own as an overview and history of cutting-edge physics, this would be a solid effort worthy of a read and a four-star rating. The author is well-versed in his subject and writes in an easy to follow style even during some of the more abstract theories. However, I picked this book up expecting a strong argument to be made based on the book's subtitle, and I imagine I am not the only one to make this mistake. Poorly titled books are terribly unfair to the reader and in this case seriously misrepresent the ultimate contents of the work. Calle says repeatedly that no designer is needed, but he really offers no systematic proof of his argument. So, I give this book three stars. Four star content weighed down by a two star delivery of the book's primary purpose.