Joel A reviewed End of Everything by Katie Mack
Fascinating
4 stars
Very clearly explained tour of very deep cosmological ideas
paperback, 240 pages
Published May 4, 2021 by Scribner.
The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)
by Katie Mack
4 stars
(14 reviews)
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. …
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.
Engaging read for general audiences on what we know about the history and future of the universe
5 stars
An engaging read for the general audience about what we currently know about the history and structure of the universe and what that knowledge -- and the pieces we don't know -- might mean for its future and eventual end. Katie Mack writes in a casual, entertaining style. It's clear she finds all of this absolutely fascinating. And she sprinkles the writing with funny stories and quotes and side notes to get across the basics of quantum mechanics, Higgs fields, high-energy physics and the like without delving too much into the math. But the math, and the measurements, are important, because as it turns out, very small changes in how things work at the quantum level can have major implications on the universe's ultimate fate.
The last time I read about this topic in anything resembling depth was about a decade ago. Since then there've been major discoveries in …
An engaging read for the general audience about what we currently know about the history and structure of the universe and what that knowledge -- and the pieces we don't know -- might mean for its future and eventual end. Katie Mack writes in a casual, entertaining style. It's clear she finds all of this absolutely fascinating. And she sprinkles the writing with funny stories and quotes and side notes to get across the basics of quantum mechanics, Higgs fields, high-energy physics and the like without delving too much into the math. But the math, and the measurements, are important, because as it turns out, very small changes in how things work at the quantum level can have major implications on the universe's ultimate fate.
The last time I read about this topic in anything resembling depth was about a decade ago. Since then there've been major discoveries in both quantum physics (chiefly confirming the existence of the Higgs boson) and astronomy, where we've found ways to look at ever more distant galaxies, and effectively farther and farther back in time.
Dr. Mack goes through the easier to grasp possibilities first, the ones based on what we do know about the universe. Big crunch, heat death, big rip - these are almost tangible, and which is more likely depends on things we can measure right now. Then she gets into the more esoteric possibilities, the ones based on the uncertainties. Like, if this quantum field we've measured is a little bit off one way or the other, reality might be unstable, so it would be really helpful to get better measurements. Or some of the multidimensional theories that have been proposed to unify relativistic gravity with quantum mechanics. If our 3D universe is just one of many in a larger-dimensional space, colliding with another one would probably be bad news for both!
She finishes up with a quick round-up of upcoming lines of research and some new theories in development that could fill in the gaps, or could shift to a new paradigm. (One theorist she spoke to suggested that even space and time might not be fundamental aspects of the universe, but built on something else)
Yuri Krupenin reviewed The End of Everything by Katie Mack
Review of 'The End of Everything' on 'GoodReads'
3 stars
Ничего нового или неожиданного, но полезно иметь большинство гипотез современной науки на тему "как может закончиться вселенная" под одной обложой; стиль письма определил бы скорее всё же как "с огоньком", чем "сверхдлинный восторженный пост с реддита", но вы предупреждены и о проблесках второго если что.
Paul J reviewed The End of Everything by Katie Mack
Review of 'The End of Everything' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
All the ways the Universe can end, and it's ok
I didn't realise that there are so many ways for the Universe to end. I vaguely knew about some possibilities, and they remain distant possibilities. Kate Mack's book is a wonderful exploration of the possible ends of our Universe, and wonderfully intelligible for non-physicists.
markm reviewed The End of Everything by Katie Mack
Review of 'The End of Everything' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Either with a whimper or a bang, and, as God-Man recently said, I swear, if they weren't already so close to extinction...
khanhas reviewed The End of Everything by Katie Mack
Review of 'The End of Everything' on 'GoodReads'
5 stars
Great read. Fuel me up again with old passion of mine with astronomy
