Where did the Universe come From? And Other Cosmic Questions from the Quantum to the Cosmos

by Chris Ferrie, Geraint F. Lewis

本书全面阐述宇宙从哪里来,涵盖宇宙起源、发展及未来。第一章介绍宇宙的起源,讲述了描述宇宙最初阶段的大爆炸理论与暴胀理论,以及轻元素的诞生过程。第二章介绍当今的宇宙,讲述了恒星的演化、终结与形成重元素的核反应过程。第三章介绍宇宙的归宿,讲述了描述恒星、黑洞、宇宙的最终状态的理论。第四章介绍了尝试统一量子力学与广义相对论的万物理论,讲述了它的几种可能的形式。 书中巧妙地将量子和宇宙结合,尽管二者有天壤之别,但书中展示了它们之间千丝万缕的关联--最大尺度上的宇宙运转与最小尺度上的量子作用其实是紧密相连的。同时,本书还讲解了微观的现象如何影响宏观的理论。书中没有公式,而是从量子物理学的独到视角讲宇宙学,涉及了量子力学、宇宙学和自然哲学等,并用了很多巧妙、通俗的比喻,使复杂的科学原理易于理解。本书适合宇宙学、物理学爱好者阅读。

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Astronomy

148 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2023

About the author

I am Chris Ferrie, father of four and happy husband. My day job is academic research where I follow my curiosity through the word of quantum physics. My passion for communicating science has led from the most esoteric topics of mathematical physics to more recently writing children’s books.

Reviews

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, just keep in mind that this review was written by someone to whom quantum physics and the 1989 TV show Quantum Leap are pretty much interchangeable, as are Newtonian and Kryptonian physics, really. Don’t get me wrong — I’ve learned all those spins and orbitals and Heisenberg/Schrodinger stuff back in college, but I could never actually *get* it and keep it in my brain after exams were over. So really consider me an essential blank-ish slate ready to learn it all again, but this time in much less dry fashion.

In this book, Drs. Chris Ferrie (a quantum physicist who writes physics books for children) and Geraint Lewis (an astrophysicist who doesn't write physics books for children) decide to combine two scales of learning about the universe — the microscopic quantum world and cosmology - enormous relativity-governed space-time bending one.

“This book is about the quantum and the cosmos, the two extremes of human understanding. The quantum is the world of the very small, of atoms and electrons, with fundamental forces and fundamental particles, the building blocks of everything. The cosmos is the whole shebang, a universe of trillions of stars and galaxies, expanding space from a fiery birth to an unending future.”


(agsandrew/istockphoto)

And so we embark on very enthusiastic and often poetic (as stargazing tends to cause in those of us romantically inclined - “The outer layers of the star free-fall inward, crushing the now-dead star heart.”) journey through relativity and quantum worlds, the Big Bang to the heat death of the universe and everything in between.

“The idea that the universe came from nothing, a true nothing with no space and no time, is rather neat. It leaves no loose ends to tie up! Any question about the origin of the universe will most likely contain the statement “from nothing.” Like a frustrated parent shouting “just because” to the endless questioning of a child.”

This short book goes into the highlights of history of quantum physics and relativity theory. There will be numerous eponyms that all science seems to be so fond of, that may or may not cause a brief flashback to physics courses - Scrodinger’s equation, Pauli’s exclusion principle, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, Hawking radiation, etc. There will be a veritable soup of all kinds of funnily named particles - electrons, protons, neutrons, neutrinos, fermions, bosons, quarks - and even baryon number. There will be mentions of supersymmetry, string theory, M-branes, loop quantum gravity — and a speculation about that elusive Theory of Everything. And, to the amazement of your truly, an addition of “yottaseconds” and “yoctoseconds” to my vocabulary.

“From the atoms that define the material world around you, including your very being, to the sunlight that warms your skin on a summer day, all this is possible because of the quantum.”

It’s written well, engagingly and brimming with enthusiasm and admiration of the world in which tiny particles govern on cosmic scales. The tone is quite conversational, and the book has a few obligatory Dad-jokes (“Don’t blame the turkey dinners over the holidays for the extra inches you gain around your waist—thank quantum physics!”). There’s no mathematics, that depending on your perspective may be a hit or miss (a hit for yours truly, definitely)

If you are well-versed in the subject of this book, you’ll probably be just a bit bored. If you have never picked up a hard science book in your life, you may also be a bit bored and perhaps a bit out of your depth. If you are like me with a passing familiarity, you will probably benefit the most (although I can promise you that in a few days all that knowledge will successfully evaporate out of the sieves in my brain especially permeable you anything physics-related).

“So this is where we find ourselves. Our physical laws are dominated by two incompatible theories, one describing the big, the other the small. Both of these theories work surprisingly well when kept to their domains and, as explored in this book, can be jerry-rigged together where needed. But ultimately, both must be incomplete.”

4 stars, quantumly and cosmologically speaking.

————
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Sourcebooks for the ARC.

[Jaidee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 "Praise Jesus, so bloody relieved, a bit appreciative too" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the authors and Sourcebooks for an e-copy. This was released September 2021. I am providing an honest review.

A warm thank you to my lovely partner who very patiently tutored me as I read. He had a bit of success with Economics and me but with this...well...

Preamble: Abstractly this book appealed. I want to understand the big bang, black holes and everything in between. Even just a little !

All through school I struggled an awful lot with Calculus and Physics and later on Economics and some Philosophy. My brain could not absorb despite tutoring, patience and maximum effort. Unfortunate but true !

This book is patiently and thoughtfully written. The authors are respectful of the struggling reader and occasionally I would get a flash of what might be only to lose it a minute later. They cover a large amount of Astrophysics in a very brief book. For me though, I was mostly frustrated despite my tutoring and the last quarter I merely skimmed giving up alongside a nasty bout of gastroenteritis.

Postamble: My partner asked how much of the book I grasped. I looked hopefully at him and said 35 percent. He shook his adorable head and said...Sweetie I will be generous and say 15 percent.

Ooof !

I am going to hide in a black hole and learn two or three more Scarlatti piano sonatas !

[Julian Worker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose I should have expected the answers this book provides. I won't say what those are because that would spoil the reading of the book for some people.

Basically, physicists face a fundamental problem in that they have come no nearer to creating / finding a Theory of Everything in the last hundred years. To me this begs the questions - does there have to be one, does there have to be a theory of everything? This is more a philosophical conundrum than one for physicists to answer.

A Theory of Everything would combine one of the four fundamental forces of nature - Gravity - which applies on a grand cosmological scale with the other three: The Strong Nuclear Force, Electromagnetism, and the Weak Nuclear Force which apply at the quantum level i.e. at the smallest levels of the universe. Gravity is in the world of Albert Einstein and General Relativity and the other three belong in the world of Heisenberg, Bohr, Schrodinger, and Quanta.

The two worlds can't be combined and yet they both exist before our very eyes. So what is going on?

Well, I think the problem might just be human logic wanting to close the circle on our understanding of the universe by creating a nice formula to explain everything. On the other hand, as this book indicates, differences and lack of symmetry do occur in the universe for example in the amount of matter vs the amount of anti-matter. Different amounts of matter and anti-matter were produced by The Big Bang otherwise I wouldn't be able to write this review, so why did that happen?

Not everything has to fit into a nice logical system does it?

As you can probably tell, this book raises more questions than it answers, which seems to be the fate for physicists for the foreseeable future.

[thewildreaderwithacat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Did The Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions discusses the quantum of the cosmos - its past, present and the future, the chemistry of the heavens and the theory of everything.

I liked the layout of topics in the book, it has good explanation along with examples which make the book intersting for audience from varied educational background. Also the diagrammatic explanations and formulas highlighted make the reading process easy-going.

The book is a great read for readers interested in the Cosmos, whereas students and audience with educational background in the subject can pick the book as a refresher.

Thank you Netgalley, publishers and autors, Chris Ferrie and Geraint F. Lewis for the ARC.

Where Did The Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions is a great read and I enjoyed reading and sharing my thoughts on it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize until another GR reviewer pointed it out that the co-author Ferrie writes science books for children. Since I'd been perusing this thinking to myself, this has a tone and style of an engaging read for smart kids. Neither pandering nor cutesy, but an accessible level which respects the audience.

It works, obviously, for me, who picks up popular titles in astrophysics, as a layman mathematically "challenged." Baryons, symmetry, and random quantum fluctuations (the last so memorable in Brian Greene's magisterial Until the End of Time; highly recommended, and critiqued by me not long ago) all gain admirable explanations, and the questions, as they accrue, earn evenhanded, concise clarity.

Perhaps too brief in parts, but that's my own preference. Don't expect all of the Big Questions to get tidy answers, given our limited comprehension. Yet, overall, this moves briskly and thoughtfully.

My interest leans to the start and finish of the cosmos. The middle sections, therefore, weren't absent their highlights, but the "why are we here at all" and Big Crunch/ heat death scenarios have always intrigued me most. There's simple "sketch pad" types of graphics, but nothing (almost) that's beyond the comprehension of physics-limited folks. A pleasing primer from 2020, and anyone can benefit.

[Books and margaritas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Did the Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions is a fantastic beginner friendly book about the origins of the universe. It covers a wide range of topics in cosmology and quantum mechanics: inflation, black holes and neutron stars, elementary particles and gravitational waves, neutrinos, the ultimate theory of everything, etc. And while the book discusses a lot of extremely complicated principles, it is written in an easy and accessible manner.

I have read a lot of books on astrophysics before reading this one by Ferrie and Lewis. Notwithstanding my previous somewhat shaky and introductory knowledge of astrophysics and cosmology, I found this book very educational as I learned some new concepts that hadn’t been covered in much detail in other similar books. Even if I was already familiar with some other principles, the way the authors described it here helped me better to understand the theoretical science at play.

A remarkable and entertaining read that will shed some light on most astounding existential questions and phenomena that our scientific community relentlessly tries to explain.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humans ask big questions. Anyone with a small child will understand this statement. "Where Did The Universe Come From?" is a collection of these questions and their answers according to modern physics. The book works as a primer, introducing the ideas while not delving too deeply into them. You won't find Einstein's Field Equations here.

The book has a collection of books for further reading, so if any question and answer pairs spark your interest, you can read into them further.

Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ebook from the Early Read Program from Sourcebooks.
When I was in school, we had atoms made up of protons and neutrons and big bits like that. We did not have quarks and bosuns and properties like up and down.
But, intrepid me, I thought I could learn a few things and get up to sped.
This volume is a slender 200 pages that covers a lot of space (pun intended), from the invisible particles that make up all of matter to the universe that is so large we can't see it's end. The writing is accessible, with easy to follow illustrations in words and images. It covers the history of physics to the awaiting 'theory of everything' that will bring together Newtonian physics and quantum physics. And answers a lot of questions.
In a talk with my personal coach today, I learned he has a complete grasp on everything in this book! Its time I got as smart as a guy half my age.
This book is a start.

[Bibliophileverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me the book is too difficult to read as I am from a different background. I was hoping it would be same as a Stephen Hawking book. But, the theories and calculations are way over my interest. But, still I would give the book 4 stars.

[Nerea Blackthorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7

Thank you to the publisher Sourcebooks and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book talks about the birth of the universe, its formation and the chemicals that were involved, and what are we made of.

It is a book for people who is deeply in love and wants to know more about the science of the universe, and its objects and its physics, because there are some details that involve the creation, and the chemicals that were born and needed for the making of the cosmos as we know it. There are informative chapters in which the authors talk about the elements and events that were necessary for our existence, and the universe, talking about the recombination between nuclei and electrons, the first clutch of protostars,...

As I have said before, I only recommend this book to people who are truly interested in learning more about this subject.

There are commented some interesting details, events and objects about and in the cosmos, such as black holes, wormholes, the rippling between space and time, the observed spectrum of light and its colors and intensities, the Sun and its power and the role that formed in the creation of the universe, dark energy, dark matter, and theories about the existence of a multiverse.

The information in this book is told in an informative and interesting way, so it makes it so fascinating and absorbing.

I highly recommend you this book, I repeat, for lovers of the cosmos.

This book comes out on 7th September 2021, so stay tuned!

Link to buy it!

#WhereDidTheUniverseComeFrom #Netgalley

[Pablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general overview of the state of cosmology. I read a lot of these books so I didn't see a lot of new material, which is fine. If you're just checking out the field now, or if you haven't read a book like this in 10 years or so, here you go.

[Hemen Kalita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skippable.

The authors didn't explain well as they tried to incorporate everything into a tiny book. Not recommended.

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good quick read of basic quantum physics and astronomy, while being centred around the duality of quantum physics and gravity/general relativity.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book, I commented to a friend that it felt like a 'lite' version of an astrophysics primer. The book nicely morphed into much deeper topics, yet kept the readability extremely strong. This book is great to recommend to anyone new to the basics of quantum physics. It also does an excellent job living up to the 'cosmos' in the title as the very large scale objects in the universe are discussed. I appreciated the ending with brief details on promising physics research areas for the future.

I liked the readability and objectivity of this book. Maybe its a little dry, but I wasn't reading this book to be entertained. I have heard/read virtually everything in this book already in my variety of astrophysics books that I've read. I appreciated the authors putting it all together here without going off on the usual tangent(s) that most other books written by researchers tend to do late in their books.

There were some physical things about the book that I wish were changed.
- I disliked the 5" x 7" book size.
- The notes in the appendix were not written in typical MLA citation format, but rather had written verbiage talking briefly about the source. I liked this. But I liked it enough to wish these notes were put directly on the book page where the citation occurred.
- Many of these citations were web URLs. I truly wish all books that cite so many URLs would make a single URL available that has all these links collected so I can follow up for more information.
- There were only a handful of illustrations (pure black/white). I'd like more.
- I'd also like some summary/tables at the end of chapters.
- It was fine to not really include any equations. But to put Maxwell's Equations on page 9 is pretty intimidating to a reader. This should have been in an appendix (maybe).

Readability: 5
Science: 4
Book layout: 3

Easily a 4-4.5* book.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was incredibly interesting and scientific, yet written in such a way as to mostly bring it down to a non-scientist's reading level. It explained things in a logical manner that allowed me to be able to grasp the concepts as it continued to build the information. Some bits were still a bit complex, but the examples provided helped me wrap my head around much of the information.

[Andrea Wenger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a general overview of cosmology and the history of the universe. It's an interesting read, with the information presented in a logical sequence. The book spends considerable time on the challenge of discovering a unified "theory of everything" that explains both general relativity and quantum mechanics. I consider it to be a good introduction for people relatively new to the subject. The content is well explained and easy for laypeople to understand (to the degree that quantum mechanics is understandable, lol).

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

[Douglas Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book titles. They make me slap my forehead sometimes. Why pose a question not answered in the book? Probably because an editor at the publishing house pushed for an intriguing title that would sell more books. Where Did the Universe Come From? is fairly standard fare that summarizes what scientists know so far about the birth of the universe, black holes, and quantum physics. Good stuff, but it uses the well-worn format of recounting the history of scientific advances before (finally) launching into the Theory of Everything, which could someday tie General Relativity (gravity) to quantum physics (matter & force) and tell us something about the big picture. Then the book ends rather apologetically without ever answering the title question. "But," you might say, "the origin of the Big Bang is not yet answerable!" I beg to differ. Read Laura Mersini-Houghton's book, Before the Big Bang. No kidding, there are solid scientific answers to where the universe may have come from, and Mersini-Houghton is a leading astrophysicist. Anyway, the writing is good, the topics are all fascinating, and the material is up to date, so if you want to understand the current state of astrophysics, cosmology, and quantum physics, it's a good book for that.

[Alice Beckett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but still a bit too complex for me. I don’t know for sure, but I feel like a better author (or set of authors) could have explained it all in a way that didn’t take quite so much work. They used simple words, but I think the way they structured it(maybe?), didn’t give concepts enough room to sink in before barrelling on to the next chapter. And every chapter builds on info from the earlier ones, so if it didn’t stick, it quickly becomes really hard work.
But I appreciate the effort, and I did learn stuff. I’d just need a quiet space, a thick notepad, and space-time to focus before I’d be able to properly recall it.

[Sue Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. Cosmic questions...they baffle me, and it's a subject that I just cannot seem to grasp. This book was easy to read, easy to understand, and although I won't profess to have a full grasp, I do feel more educated on the subject.

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a very interesting book. I will never look at the universe in the same way. By studying the world we cannot see we can understand the universe that is too big to see.
The authors use language and illustrations that, hopefully, make the difficult ideas understandable. A must read.

[Edward Schmitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable non-technical book on the history of the universe, including projections of what the future might be.

[Kevin Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always been drawn to books that tackle the big questions about the universe, and my bookshelf is filled with works by different authors on the subject. Over time, I’ve noticed that some writers are simply better than others at explaining complex concepts. For me, a book is worthwhile if it helps me gain new insights or a clearer understanding.

With that in mind, I found this book enjoyable in some areas, though less so in others. On the positive side, it offers the most coherent explanation of virtual particles and quantum fields I’ve come across. It also explains quantum tunneling in a concise and accessible way, and provides a very clear example of entropy.

On the downside, I felt the discussion on inflation wasn’t as strong as in other works I’ve read.

Overall, it’s a good read, but if you’re like me, you may want to supplement it with other sources to get a fuller picture of all the topics covered.

[Kirk Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could have read this book as a junior or senior in high-school. It may have sent me down a different path. I did learn that there is an outside chance that I may slip, fall and end up in a completely different universe where I had read this in high-school, or an even more likely chance that a universe where I read this in highs-school does exist, though I personally may never experience it unless I McConaughey my way I to a black hole.
It does help having an interest and some basic knowledge of the subject, but this books seems to be well tailored to the armchair physicist. More detail than Astrophysics for people in a hurry, but as digestible.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Where did the universe come from? And other cosmic questions” is an attempt to present contemporary theories of the nature and origins of the universe in terms edifying to educated readers lacking a deep understanding of physics. It poses questions followed by answers, in text and mathematical equations, of up to a few pages. I found it to be interesting, but extending beyond my ken. My impression is that some of the answers presented remain matters of debate among physicists. Although I tried to comprehend its lessons, I cannot say that I really understand the physical universe much more that I did when I started this read.

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book quite easy to read and understand. Complex topics are presented in small portions, so it’s not overly complicated to follow. It answers the most common questions about the universe, and it explains them according to the different discoveries. Of course, it doesn’t answer some of the last questions because we still don’t have the information. Yet, it makes a good job of presenting the possible theories that could solve everything.

I won this book through Goodreads and I thank to publishers for providing me this copy. My review isn't influenced by this fact.

[Voyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is short and compact book that contains all updates about contemporary cosmology. There is no heavy 'philosophy' neither speculative dwellings here.
Where did the universe come from? Well the answer may be found in older books like "A Universe from Nothing-Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss (pompous'I know it all" fella). However his book is a crap, while this one is excellent.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Physics was the only scientific field where I struggled. This book did a great job of making accessible the concepts I had difficulty grasping previously. I enjoyed the walk through of the history of physics and how the field has developed over time. The why and how of it all are fascinating questions.

[Woody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is written in a way that most non-particle physicists. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. While I understood all the individual words, put together, the concepts were light-years beyond me. Oddly enough, I still thought it was an enjoyable read.

[Jim Blessing]

I rarely read books of this type. The first part was very good. But it started to get too complicated after that.

[KarnagesMistress]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.