What do you think?
Rate this book
The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos
The Extravagant Universe tells the story of a remarkable adventure of scientific discovery. One of the world's leading astronomers, Robert Kirshner, takes readers inside a lively research team on the quest that led them to an extraordinary cosmological the expansion of the universe is accelerating under the influence of a dark energy that makes space itself expand. In addition to sharing the story of this exciting discovery, Kirshner also brings the science up-to-date in a new epilogue. He explains how the idea of an accelerating universe--once a daring interpretation of sketchy data--is now the standard assumption in cosmology today.
This measurement of dark energy--a quality of space itself that causes cosmic acceleration--points to a gaping hole in our understanding of fundamental physics. In 1917, Einstein proposed the "cosmological constant" to explain a static universe. When observations proved that the universe was expanding, he cast this early form of dark energy aside. But recent observations described first-hand in this book show that the cosmological constant--or something just like it--dominates the universe's mass and energy budget and determines its fate and shape.
Warned by Einstein's blunder, and contradicted by the initial results of a competing research team, Kirshner and his colleagues were reluctant to accept their own result. But, convinced by evidence built on their hard-earned understanding of exploding stars, they announced their conclusion that the universe is accelerating in February 1998. Other lines of inquiry and parallel supernova research now support a new synthesis of a cosmos dominated by dark energy but also containing several forms of dark matter. We live in an extravagant universe with a surprising number of essential the real universe we measure is not the simplest one we could imagine.
This measurement of dark energy--a quality of space itself that causes cosmic acceleration--points to a gaping hole in our understanding of fundamental physics. In 1917, Einstein proposed the "cosmological constant" to explain a static universe. When observations proved that the universe was expanding, he cast this early form of dark energy aside. But recent observations described first-hand in this book show that the cosmological constant--or something just like it--dominates the universe's mass and energy budget and determines its fate and shape.
Warned by Einstein's blunder, and contradicted by the initial results of a competing research team, Kirshner and his colleagues were reluctant to accept their own result. But, convinced by evidence built on their hard-earned understanding of exploding stars, they announced their conclusion that the universe is accelerating in February 1998. Other lines of inquiry and parallel supernova research now support a new synthesis of a cosmos dominated by dark energy but also containing several forms of dark matter. We live in an extravagant universe with a surprising number of essential the real universe we measure is not the simplest one we could imagine.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
18 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 31, 2021
This was on my shelf for many years and I have finally got around to it. It's a first person account of the discovery of the acceleration of cosmic expansion, and therefore dark energy, in the 1990's. If you are primarily interested in learning about the science itself, as opposed to the process of discovery, then this text is now a little dated, having been written in the early 2000's.
However, the work described here has now been confirmed as the most significant new results in cosmology (and arguably in physics) in the last 40 years, and so it is interesting to read an early, fresh insider account of what is now a milestone in scientific history. Since this book was written, two of its main protagonists (both PhD students of the author) have been awarded the Nobel Prize for this work.
Generally the book is stronger on the process of science than on the content. The later chapters, about the convoluted, messy process of preparing, making and analysing the observations that led to the great breakthrough, were particularly good. As an introduction to supernovae for the general reader however, I found the book doesn't work that well, maybe because it tends to favours chronology over clarity and structure. Also the style is occasionally wordy and too-clever-by-half.
However, the work described here has now been confirmed as the most significant new results in cosmology (and arguably in physics) in the last 40 years, and so it is interesting to read an early, fresh insider account of what is now a milestone in scientific history. Since this book was written, two of its main protagonists (both PhD students of the author) have been awarded the Nobel Prize for this work.
Generally the book is stronger on the process of science than on the content. The later chapters, about the convoluted, messy process of preparing, making and analysing the observations that led to the great breakthrough, were particularly good. As an introduction to supernovae for the general reader however, I found the book doesn't work that well, maybe because it tends to favours chronology over clarity and structure. Also the style is occasionally wordy and too-clever-by-half.
April 21, 2017
My gosh this guy likes to hear himself talk.
May 8, 2011
This was a fascinating account of the search for the cosmological constant that had confounded Einstein and that determines the ultimate fate of the universe as told by someone who had an integral part in the process. Although the author is a well known, published astronomer and a Harvard professor, the prose is easy to follow and unfolds like a great detective story. This reader found it to be a real page turner as each new bit of data and each observation added a little more to understanding how the universe behaves. It was an excellent primer into how the scientific method seeks after truth. And the search for knowledge does not end here, but the final chapter and the epilogue serve to map where the science is likely to go from where this leaves off. It's not often that one finds such an exciting read in this section of the library!
June 15, 2021
2.5 stars:
I really liked the content and focus of this book, but to be honest, the writing and organization could use some work. There were so many analogies and metaphors that they muddied the information more than clarifying it, and there sentences so full of unnecessary information that I had to read them twice. That being said, I in no way regret reading this book, as I am full of curiosity and admiration towards the work that Kirshner and his team has done for cosmology.
If you have an interest in cosmology and the workings and history behind our understanding of the universe, I would recommend this book, but if you are looking for a book that could perhaps pull you into this field, or just a good read, I would look elsewhere.
I really liked the content and focus of this book, but to be honest, the writing and organization could use some work. There were so many analogies and metaphors that they muddied the information more than clarifying it, and there sentences so full of unnecessary information that I had to read them twice. That being said, I in no way regret reading this book, as I am full of curiosity and admiration towards the work that Kirshner and his team has done for cosmology.
If you have an interest in cosmology and the workings and history behind our understanding of the universe, I would recommend this book, but if you are looking for a book that could perhaps pull you into this field, or just a good read, I would look elsewhere.
October 16, 2016
The author is a famous astronomer who holds a named chair at Harvard and this book is a memoir of his work with the high-z supernova search team that seems to have shown that the universe's expansion is accelerating, but that it passed through a time where it was decelerating. His work also helped put the ideas of dark matter and energy and their importance in the scientific consciousness. You will need some interest in these matters to enjoy this autobiography; much of the text comprises the names of scores of researchers, their associated institutions, how hard it is to schedule telescope time, how unpleasant committee meetings are, and so forth. There is some humor, including a picture of Fritz Zwicky (who coined the terms supernova and dark matter) flashing an "o" sign, associated in the text with his complaint that his colleagues were spherical bastards, i.e. bastards no matter how you looked at them. Dr. Kirshner was starting his career in the subbasement at CIT where he encountered Dr. Zwicky at the end of his career. Kirshner does not point out that it is fairly common to put elderly famous tenured faculty in the basement as they become more difficult and less productive in their later years, since you can't fire them. One of the best features of this book is the introductory material which serves as a not too untechnical introduction to astrophysics and cosmology.
November 6, 2008
Krishner reminds me of my much-detested lab reports that contain about 10 pages of first-rate data and graphs that look like entangled spaghetti and 10 lines of extremely theoretically rigorous analysis. And like human beings who love to think they’re the center of the universe, Krishner loves to think he’s the center of this book. One way or another, he’d wander off track and start rambling about himself or his group. I don’t care how you got there, i don’t care you went to observatory A to see B in group C working on project D at university E and then you presented it in conference F before G,H,I and your PhD student K improved it. I really don’t care, just tell me exactly how you did it, what result you got, interpret it and explain the theories for me. But he doesn’t do it, damn. He loves talking about all the trivialities and then forgets what he was talking about before so he starts repeating it again and again in an incomprehensible chronological order. I flicked through the last 50 pages, not seeing any data and already bored out of my skull, I gave up. At least, now I’ve learnt how I feel towards my teachers who mark my lab reports. Genuine sympathy.
August 31, 2020
For what it is, it is decently interesting, with good analogies and generally understandable narrative, although with a lot of names thrown in there, and a little bit confusing as it gets to the good part. It's a little dated now, from what I understand, and yet, still a good catch up on a very important issue in astronomy.
August 12, 2018
This book is either a hit or miss. Kirshner indisputably shares information in an interesting manner, but I personally found his tangents on what kind of pizza he ordered or teenagers with credit cards mildly exhausting.
Read
May 4, 2021Excellent book. I think of it as an introductory course textbook for astronomy majors. But it is not as technical as astronomy later gets. A person with an interest in science could easily get through it.
February 19, 2008
The first half was very good but he gets a bit carried away in the second half, going head over heels into one particular line of cosmic research. A bit more detail than the average joe needs.
September 25, 2015
It is studied for "Dark Matter and Dark Energy", the author introduced how to measure Super Nova.
October 26, 2024
Kirshner tells the story of how he and his team used data from supernovas to document the universe’s acceleration. From what I gathered, while Hubble early on saw an expanding universe, there were problems with his methodology. In any event, Kirshner not only confirms an expanding universe, but adds that such expansion is accelerating (expanding at an ever-increasing rate?). As to what lies behind the expansion, Kirshner posits dark energy as, in some form, the propellant that frees space- time from gravitational effects.
So far so good, but I thought the new-kid-in-the-block part that tends to get lost in discussions about cosmic acceleration is Kirshner’s argument that gravity holds back expansion the first 7 billion years after the big bang, at which point a transition occurred between a decelerating and an accelerating universe (the phase we’re in now). Before, though gravity held expansion back, it was not strong enough to counter the outward movement of matter and energy. After the transition point, gravity became so weak per the inverse square law that matter and energy broke free of its effects, resulting in cosmic acceleration.
In this account, Kirshner resurrects Einstein’s cosmological constant as the explanatory variable, but it’s not clear how this applies as I understood it to be the factor that keeps the universe in a static (flat) state, neither expanding infinitely nor contracting under gravity’s effects. Why that point wouldn’t be the transition zone between gravity and dark energy’s expansion effect in Kirshner’s scenario is not clear. He seems to apply the Einstein constant more as dark energy’s counter to gravity, thus allowing its accelerating and expansive nature.
In his discussion of dark energy, Kirshner nowhere mentions that it might be explained by something other than mystery (dark energy has not been found). Is it possible that the big bang itself - the expansive effect outward - creates inertial movement (per Newton’s law - a body wants to go in straight-line motion unless acted upon by gravity) that then, progressively from the big bang center per the inverse square law, becomes lessened in its effects? And, once it passes the transition point (Einstein’s cosmological constant), it becomes free to carry on without the drag of gravity? Might this be the “negative vacuum pressure” that Kirshner discusses?
Kirshner also does not discuss the overall implication of Einstein’s views on cosmic curvature, which is subject to some sort of overarching gravitational effect that keeps the universe and everything in it (planets, stars and galaxies) round. Seen this way, rather than an out-and-back movement that is the way it is typically depicted, outward movement from the big bang that passes the transition zone continues its movement around cosmic curvature to return to its beginnings - a new gravitational center. Is it then possible that this creates a new big bang scenario and thus a cyclic cosmos that combines all three models typically posited for the cosmic future - outward expansion, stasis (the transition zone) and contraction? And is this another way to look at Hoyle’s continuous creation argument?
Cosmic curvature now prompts another question. Is there a horizon problem? Is what we are looking at a straight shot (flat) back to the big bang, as it is commonly illustrated in diagrams for public consumption , or is what we see phenomena (galactic and otherwise) from another part of the universe that has curved into our viewing space?
The book is somewhat uneven. In many places Kirshner buries the reader with weedy detail, but overall, it is a very stimulating account of what lies out there in the cosmic history.
So far so good, but I thought the new-kid-in-the-block part that tends to get lost in discussions about cosmic acceleration is Kirshner’s argument that gravity holds back expansion the first 7 billion years after the big bang, at which point a transition occurred between a decelerating and an accelerating universe (the phase we’re in now). Before, though gravity held expansion back, it was not strong enough to counter the outward movement of matter and energy. After the transition point, gravity became so weak per the inverse square law that matter and energy broke free of its effects, resulting in cosmic acceleration.
In this account, Kirshner resurrects Einstein’s cosmological constant as the explanatory variable, but it’s not clear how this applies as I understood it to be the factor that keeps the universe in a static (flat) state, neither expanding infinitely nor contracting under gravity’s effects. Why that point wouldn’t be the transition zone between gravity and dark energy’s expansion effect in Kirshner’s scenario is not clear. He seems to apply the Einstein constant more as dark energy’s counter to gravity, thus allowing its accelerating and expansive nature.
In his discussion of dark energy, Kirshner nowhere mentions that it might be explained by something other than mystery (dark energy has not been found). Is it possible that the big bang itself - the expansive effect outward - creates inertial movement (per Newton’s law - a body wants to go in straight-line motion unless acted upon by gravity) that then, progressively from the big bang center per the inverse square law, becomes lessened in its effects? And, once it passes the transition point (Einstein’s cosmological constant), it becomes free to carry on without the drag of gravity? Might this be the “negative vacuum pressure” that Kirshner discusses?
Kirshner also does not discuss the overall implication of Einstein’s views on cosmic curvature, which is subject to some sort of overarching gravitational effect that keeps the universe and everything in it (planets, stars and galaxies) round. Seen this way, rather than an out-and-back movement that is the way it is typically depicted, outward movement from the big bang that passes the transition zone continues its movement around cosmic curvature to return to its beginnings - a new gravitational center. Is it then possible that this creates a new big bang scenario and thus a cyclic cosmos that combines all three models typically posited for the cosmic future - outward expansion, stasis (the transition zone) and contraction? And is this another way to look at Hoyle’s continuous creation argument?
Cosmic curvature now prompts another question. Is there a horizon problem? Is what we are looking at a straight shot (flat) back to the big bang, as it is commonly illustrated in diagrams for public consumption , or is what we see phenomena (galactic and otherwise) from another part of the universe that has curved into our viewing space?
The book is somewhat uneven. In many places Kirshner buries the reader with weedy detail, but overall, it is a very stimulating account of what lies out there in the cosmic history.
November 4, 2022
They looked for deceleration and have found the opposite.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2003
I am a bit disappointed by Robert Kirshner's effort.
He tried to reach the very general public using relaxed and friendly writing style, however around page 137, book gets boring.
Too many technical details about telescopes, detectors, cameras, plates, emulsions, silicone diodes, CC devices etc. muddle important, true and meaningful scientific achievements. Text is flooded with hundreds of names and undertakings - it makes reader tired of historical facts.
The descriptions of an old, new, correct and ill designed ideas and research projects mixed me up.
Generally author avoids mathematical equations, yet tries to describe in words many relations present in observational cosmology. This is not a best approach; presenting additional, simple mathematical equations would help.
Book has only few graphs and drawings - not enough in my opinion. For example: there is a referral to "light curve" method at page 104, but you will not see any plot until page 177.
Several colorful pictures cannot make up for all criticism that I have expressed.
Good news is, that writing becomes eventually focused again, beginning from chapter 10. At this point author tries to summarize achievements of all teams involved in supernovae research, draws conclusions about shape and future of the Universe, sketches planes for further research. He also makes interesting speculations.
Two years ago, Donald Goldsmith has published his educative book "The Runaway Universe" covering the same subject (high - z supernowae observations). I believe it has better drawings and is better composed.
On the other hand, Professor Kirshner's book brings 2 years update (albeit not that much significant). Pick your choice.
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2003
I am a bit disappointed by Robert Kirshner's effort.
He tried to reach the very general public using relaxed and friendly writing style, however around page 137, book gets boring.
Too many technical details about telescopes, detectors, cameras, plates, emulsions, silicone diodes, CC devices etc. muddle important, true and meaningful scientific achievements. Text is flooded with hundreds of names and undertakings - it makes reader tired of historical facts.
The descriptions of an old, new, correct and ill designed ideas and research projects mixed me up.
Generally author avoids mathematical equations, yet tries to describe in words many relations present in observational cosmology. This is not a best approach; presenting additional, simple mathematical equations would help.
Book has only few graphs and drawings - not enough in my opinion. For example: there is a referral to "light curve" method at page 104, but you will not see any plot until page 177.
Several colorful pictures cannot make up for all criticism that I have expressed.
Good news is, that writing becomes eventually focused again, beginning from chapter 10. At this point author tries to summarize achievements of all teams involved in supernovae research, draws conclusions about shape and future of the Universe, sketches planes for further research. He also makes interesting speculations.
Two years ago, Donald Goldsmith has published his educative book "The Runaway Universe" covering the same subject (high - z supernowae observations). I believe it has better drawings and is better composed.
On the other hand, Professor Kirshner's book brings 2 years update (albeit not that much significant). Pick your choice.
February 20, 2024
A book by a scientist for scientists. Not designed for public reading, and sort of boring. And the concept that they discuss, universal expansion, does not affect daily life or anything except the refinement of data. Pretty boring.
May 12, 2018
see Prof Kirshner talk on you tube,
https://youtu.be/vtrkxRA1lJM
https://youtu.be/vtrkxRA1lJM
May 9, 2022
Read it for science. Confusing af but not terrible
September 9, 2014
A look at the frontiers of observational cosmology—determining the age, shape, and fate of the universe by studying the light from extremely distant objects—by one of the leading astronomers in the field. The writing is succinct and often clever and can appeal both to those knowledgeable in astronomy and those with a more minimal science background. The second half of the book recounts the steps leading up to one of the most amazing discoveries of the 20th century: that the expansion of the universe is accelerating due to the mysterious 'dark energy'. Throughout the book are a number of insights into what distinguishes good science from not-so-good science, the kind of diligence and painstaking attention to detail that paid off with his team's dark energy discovery.
Want to read
October 13, 2011Came across this book in recent NYT oped piece by Kirshner, "The Universe, Dark Energy and Us," that provides good thumbnail sketch of this discovery. K. readily concedes we really don't know how to fully explain what he describes as such "mysterious" forces, and therefore need more funding for scientific research. Despite the overtly monetary purpose of piece (though he withholds it til very end), I was impressed with K's humility and ability to summarize complex idea in quick strokes with lucid language. Made me want to read more by him.
January 31, 2014
Kirschner is engaging and funny, making the subject come alive, much funnier than hawking, for example. Sadly the second half of the book seems terribly dragged out and needlessly lists the name if everyone who so much as smiled at the projects described, and the climactic discoveries were thereby dulled.
August 17, 2007
Not really entertaining or informative enough to be a full novel. Could have been stripped down a bit and cut in half and would have been much more rewarding for me. Interesting insight into how we measure time,distance and age on a universal scale though.
December 9, 2010
Reading this again to refresh my memory about some of the basics of cosmology for my general exam...
I took (and passed!) my exam when I was about halfway through, but I think I will finish this re-read. It's a great book!
I took (and passed!) my exam when I was about halfway through, but I think I will finish this re-read. It's a great book!
May 8, 2012
Deep.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews