Seven Wonders of the Cosmos

by Jayant V. Narlikar

Our cosmic tour begins here. As we leave the secure confines of the Earth and journey into space, we find a plethora of strange and unexpected phenomena. Little can we anticipate from the quiet, star-studded sky the violent events in the cosmos. Stars explode. Powerful radio sources eject matter in jets. The ever-changing Universe grows more beautiful and more complex the deeper into it we go. Professor Narlikar skillfully steers us through a cosmic journey of discovery, starting from the Earth and Solar System and stepping out to the farthest reaches of the Universe. Using simple analogies, humorous anecdotes, and a wealth of illustrations, he conveys the thrill of observing strange and surprising features of the Universe. The seven wonders represent a range of mysterious phenomena, a class of spectacular events, or remarkable cosmic objects that have challenged human curiosity and defied explanation. They concern the giants and dwarfs of the stellar world, the catastrophic explosion of massive stars, pulsars--the ultimate timekeepers of the cosmos, the strange effects of gravity, illusions of space, and the majestic expansion of the Universe as a whole. With lucid prose, the author weaves together a host of exciting recent discoveries in astronomy and shows us how these motivate astronomers to unravel the wonders of tomorrow.

Genres: Science

324 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1999

About the author

Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA). His research was on alternative cosmology. Narlikar was also an author who wrote textbooks on cosmology, popular science books, and science fiction novels and short stories.

Reviews

[Gautam Soman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a glimpse into some of the most exciting and intriguing areas in astronomy and astrophysics. The seven wonders discussed here are not individual objects, but rather subject areas representing a range of mysterious phenomena, a class of spectacular events or a population of remarkable cosmic objects that have challenged human curiosity and defied explanation, at least so far. Using simple analogies and a wealth of illustrations, Prof. Narlikar skillfully steers us on a cosmic journey.
We come across the first wonder as soon as we leave the Earth 26 sun rising in the west, a dark sky in spite of the blazing sun! The second wonder is about the Red Giants & White Dwarfs; and about how the stars are born, evolve and die. Third wonder describes the catastrophic event of a supernova explosion. The fourth wonder is the Pulsars, the ultimate timekeepers of the universe. Fifth wonder is about neutron stars and black holes and the 18dictatorship 19 of gravity. The sixth discusses strange illusions observed in space and last wonder is the majestic expansion of universe as a whole.
Finally, we look at other unsolved cosmic mysteries and speculate on what the eight wonder might be.

With lucid prose and humorous anecdotes, the author weaves together these exciting mysteries and shows us how these motivate the astronomers to unravel the wonders of future.