The Constants of Nature: The Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe

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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, May 6, 2009 - Science - 368 pages
Reality as we know it is bound by a set of constants—numbers and values that dictate the strengths of forces like gravity, the speed of light, and the masses of elementary particles. In The Constants of Nature, Cambridge Professor and bestselling author John D.Barrow takes us on an exploration of these governing principles. Drawing on physicists such as Einstein and Planck, Barrow illustrates with stunning clarity our dependence on the steadfastness of these principles. But he also suggests that the basic forces may have been radically different during the universe’s infancy, and suggests that they may continue a deeply hidden evolution. Perhaps most tantalizingly, Barrow theorizes about the realities that might one day be found in a universe with different parameters than our own.
 

Contents

Journey Towards Ultimate Reality
5
Maintaining universal standards
13
Planck gets real
28
The Quest for a Theory
53
Eddingtons Unfinished Symphony
77
The Mystery of the Very Large Numbers
97
Biology and the Stars
119
The Anthropic Principle
141
Altering Constants and Rewriting History
177
New Dimensions
201
Variations on a Constant Theme
231
Reach for the
251
Other Worlds and Big Questions
275
Notes
293
Index
343
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About the author (2009)

John D. Barrow is professor of mathematical sciences at the University of Cambridge. His previous books include The Book of Nothing, Theories of Everything, The Artful Universe, Between Inner Space and Outer Space, The Universe That Discovered Itself, and The Origin of the Universe. He lives in England.

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