The End of Everything
2020 • 240 pages
Ratings18
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings18
Average rating4.3
**From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an accessible and eye-opening look—in the bestselling tradition of Sean Carroll and Carlo Rovelli—at the five different ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in physics.**
We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it went from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from dark matter to black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life. But what happens at the end of the story? In billions of years, humanity could still exist in some unrecognizable form, venturing out to distant space, finding new homes and building new civilizations. But the death of the universe is final. What might such a cataclysm look like? And what does it mean for us?
Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was eighteen, when her astronomy professor first informed her the universe could end at any moment, setting her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she unpacks them in The End of Everything, taking us on a mind-bending tour through each of the cosmos’ possible finales: the Big Crunch; the Heat Death; Vacuum Decay; the Big Rip; and the Bounce. In the tradition of Neil DeGrasse’s bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Mack guides us through major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, in a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of everything we know.
Reviews with the most likes.
What an excellent book! It's a topic that seems to fit quite well with 2020 as a whole... the possible ways in which the universe will end (and there's no doubt that it will end, eventually). The science is presented in a way that is easily understood regardless of your background knowledge, with very clear explanations of some very funky concepts! Katie also has a great sense of humour that shines through and makes this book a pleasure to read.
A nice summary of the options of how the universe will end. The explanation is easy to read for people who are not physicists like me. Some part of the chapter is really well explained and in-depth, while other chapters seem quite shallow.
Katie Mack covers challenging (like, actually hard to understand) material with great humor, clean organization, and a conversational tone.
Not on her or the book, but I did not always feel like she was 100% pulling me along (my brain just breaks at the whole space time maybe isn't real idea) but she gave it a valiant effort. Someday, perhaps, I will get it. Maybe if I did the math.
The truly great thing about this book is that I felt like I learned something - I walk away from the book getting that we EARTH will end in fiery death but the END OF EVERYTHING is a little bit up in the air because we don't really know why our fundamental models of physics work and teeny tiny changes in assumed constants actually do matter.
