Big Bang

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Big Bang
Simon Singh

The bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book tells the story of the brilliant minds that deciphered the mysteries of the Big Bang. A fascinating exploration of the ultimate question: how was our universe created?Albert Einstein once said: ‘The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.’ Simon Singh believes geniuses like Einstein are not the only people able to grasp the physics that govern the universe. We all can.As well as explaining what the Big Bang theory actually is and why cosmologists believe it is an accurate description of the origins of the universe, this book is also the fascinating story of the scientists who fought against the established idea of an eternal and unchanging universe. Simon Singh, renowned for making difficult ideas much less daunting than they first seem, is the perfect guide for this journey.Everybody has heard of the Big Bang Theory. But how many of us can actually claim to understand it? With characteristic clarity and a narrative peppered with anecdotes and personal histories of those who have struggled to understand creation, Simon Singh has written the story of the most important theory ever.

Big Bang

The Most Important Scientific Discovery of All Time and Why You Need to Know About it

Simon Singh

Copyright (#ulink_bc2771e4-3d9d-5c3d-a257-4c7bf2686cf9)

Fourth Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This edition published by Harper Perennial 2005

First published by Fourth Estate 2004

Copyright © Simon Singh 2004

Diagrams copyright © Raymond Turvey 2004

PS section copyright © Louise Tucker 2005,

except‘The Missing Pages’ by Simon Singh © Simon Singh 2005

PS™ is a trademark of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

Simon Singh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007152520

Ebook Edition © NOVEMBER 2010 ISBN: 9780007375509

Version: 2017-01-04

From the Reviews of Big Bang (#ulink_020d885c-4b41-54e2-ad7f-155f6c694aa2)

‘Singh is a very gifted storyteller who never misses the chance to make his subject clearer or more entertaining’

SCARLETT THOMAS, Independent on Sunday

‘This very well-written book conveys the ideas underpinning cosmological theory with great clarity’

Nature

‘Singh uses beautifully simple analogies and clearly explained dia grams to enable even the most mathematically hobbled of us to recapitulate the history of man’s intellectual engagement with the dark spaces around him’

Sunday Telegraph

‘If you are intrigued by the story but wary of mathematics, do not worry; Simon Singh spares us most of the maths, and he juggles big ideas with tact and care’

Daily Mail

A model of clarity’

Economist

‘Singh tells his tale well, with chatty anecdotes leavening the astro physics’

Guardian

‘An epic tale brilliantly told, packed with courage and tragedy, heroes and martyrs’

Daily Telegraph

‘Even if the cosmologists don’t know where the universe is going, at least they have found out where it has come from. Anybody who wants to understand this wonderful achievement will not do better than start with Singh’s book’

Mail on Sunday

‘An excellent introduction to the way modern science works’

The Times Higher Education Supplement

Dedication (#ulink_20856934-ef88-5473-918f-11bd62d17847)

This book would not have been possible without Carl Sagan, James Burke, Magnus Pyke, Heinz Wolff, Patrick Moore, Johnny Ball, Rob Buckman, Miriam Stoppard, Raymond Baxter, and all the science TV producers and directors who inspired my interest in science.

Epigraph (#ulink_73ffff34-f532-5085-a3f8-03d3e799d522)

Place three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.

JAMES JEANS

The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy.

STEVEN WEINBERG

In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.

PAUL DIRAC

The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Table of Contents

Cover (#ub3d4ccc9-c184-512c-9000-899beef2a0db)

Title Page (#uc265eb98-819f-535b-9d35-0c0b93246b0c)

Copyright (#uef327ba9-92d6-5cfe-94a3-38c7582159aa)

From the Reviews of Big Bang (#u21c6a851-81c4-57c0-b161-ed16876a9d88)

Dedication (#uff9cf9d4-569b-5453-b799-d1fa0ede9f06)

Epigraph (#u04461fb7-d1c8-5c4f-b5c5-6bab52589454)

Chapter 1 IN THE BEGINNING (#u92faa47a-1af3-55b3-a7f4-5ecfacabba76)

Chapter 2 THEORIES OF THE UNIVERSE (#u5a19a30d-a4d9-55e3-83d8-a2ee1c9abae0)

Chapter 3 THE GREAT DEBATE (#u772c4bb6-8eb5-5d40-a464-a102eb83dc96)

Chapter 4 MAVERICKS OF THE COSMOS (#u061b68dc-aa1a-55d1-8b04-f4adb400434e)

Chapter 5 THE PARADIGM SHIFT (#ud629e24f-a3f9-5cbb-9c68-e10c5b6a3b28)

Epilogue (#u2bf85948-2bb2-56b3-b2e2-7be7be40783b)

Keep Reading (#uff786f27-a9b2-5207-9eae-5bfbeb718b67)

What is Science? (#uab02e3a8-a6bf-5ca5-b2b8-b1ee62203794)

Glossary (#u614ffca4-ca2e-5d7f-8f61-20b245d6cad9)

Further Reading (#u7f209774-74cb-5af0-82e6-44926d01ec09)

Index (#u592ea57c-d1ee-5acc-b552-435d6c8d1255)

P.S. (#ufcb76978-9966-5791-8ba0-97e0c11b94cf)

About the Author (#u297c41c5-6b2a-59f2-b573-03195a4f282e)

About the Book (#u85501a28-c351-52e4-9c97-d337278640bc)

Read on (#u7bd4f403-4677-5e91-a40f-2d7cba55f663)

Acknowledgements (#u6756243e-d4ae-5310-aa1b-3a093a3f60f3)

About the Author (#u0a5c690d-cc9a-5182-9880-664526d93ee9)

Also by the Author (#u4467e212-3448-5976-8e95-91e9234c8c77)

About the Publisher (#u8f2c1831-1cad-5144-ac34-0db3cf3ff658)