VIEW LARGER COVER
Scientists studying the universe find strange things in two places—out in space and in their heads. This is the story of how the most imaginative physicists of our time perceive strange features of the universe in advance of the actual discoveries.
It is almost a given that physics and cosmology present us with some of the grandest mysteries of all. What weightier questions to ponder than, "How does the universe work?" or "What is the universe made of?" There are any number of bizarre phenomena that could provide clues or even answers to these queries. The strangeness ranges from unusual forms of matter and realms of existence to wild ideas about how time and space are related to one another. Many of these proposals may well turn out to be wrong. But how many will be proven to be right?
This book speaks for the scientific theorists who are bold enough to imagine and predict the impossible. New ideas are percolating in their heads every day. One physicist may dream of subatomic particles that could resolve a variety of cosmological conundrums while another may study the likes of "funny energy," which may explain how rapidly the universe is expanding. This is the stuff of Strange Matters.
In broad terms, this book is about a variety of discoveries that theorists of the past imagined before the observers and experimenters actually saw them. Moreover, it is about the things that today’s are now imagining—but haven't yet been discovered or confirmed by the observers. Strange Matters artfully mixes the present with the past and future, reporting from the frontiers of research where history is in the process of being made.
Each chapter examines a different step along the twisted path we've walked to gain our rudimentary understanding of the universe, incorporating historical examples of successful "prediscoveries" with current stories that relate brand new ideas. We come to see the universe not only in terms of what has already been discovered, but also in terms of what has yet to be observed.
Strange Matters is a guide to the discoveries of the twenty-first century, a series of visions dreamt by the most imaginative scientists of our time merged with the achievements of the past—to point the way towards even greater accomplishments of the future.
Tom Siegfried has been science editor of the Dallas Morning News since 1985. In 1993 he received the American Chemical Society’s James H. Grady-James T. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public. In 1997 he received the American Psychiatric Association's Robert T. Morse Writer's Award. He is the author of The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to M Theory—The New Physics of Information, which Booklist called "a volume of remarkable sweep." Tom lives in Arlington, Texas, with his wife Chris.
Tom Siegfried. 2002. Strange Matters: Undiscovered Ideas at the Frontiers of Space and Time. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/10371.
The National Academies Press (NAP) has partnered with Copyright Clearance Center's Marketplace service to offer you a variety of options for reusing NAP content. Through Marketplace, you may request permission to reprint NAP content in another publication, course pack, secure website, or other media. Marketplace allows you to instantly obtain permission, pay related fees, and print a license directly from the NAP website. The complete terms and conditions of your reuse license can be found in the license agreement that will be made available to you during the online order process. To request permission through Marketplace you are required to create an account by filling out a simple online form. The following list describes license reuses offered by the NAP through Marketplace:
Click here to obtain permission for the above reuses. If you have questions or comments concerning the Marketplace service, please contact:
Marketplace Support
International +1.978.646.2600
US Toll Free +1.855.239.3415
E-mail: support@copyright.com
marketplace.copyright.com
To request permission to distribute a PDF, please contact our Customer Service Department at customer_service@nap.edu.