Universe

The science classic made more accessible and more concise. Illustrated. Updated with new research. Stephen Hawking’s worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, has been a landmark volume in scientific writing. Its author’s engaging voice is one reason, and the compelling subjects he addresse... More

"A Brief History of Time," published in 1988, was a landmark volume in science writing and in world-wide acclaim and popularity, with more than 9 million copies in print globally. The original edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But th... More

Drawing as much on Darwinian ideas as on Einstein’s, this radical, exciting book suggests that the laws of nature are not fixed, but that they evolve in the same way that living things evolve. Smolin suggests our universe is the result of a process of evolution that has created a universe containi... More

Everybody is intrigued by ideas such as the Big Bang and black holes, and we all want to know how we fit into the Universe at large. Companion to the Cosmos is a user-friendly guide which nobody interested in the world around us can afford to be without.... More

"A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, was a landmark volume in science writing and in world-wide acclaim and popularity, with more than 9 million copies in print globally. The original edition was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the... More

This book contains 17 chapters reviewing our knowledge of the high-velocity clouds (HVCs) as of 2004, bringing this together in one place for the first time. Each of the many different aspects of HVC research is addressed by one of the experts in that subfield. These include a historical overview of... More

Our universe seems strangely ''biophilic, '' or hospitable to life. Is this happenstance, providence, or coincidence? According to cosmologist Martin Rees, the answer depends on the answer to another question, the one posed by Einstein's famous remark: ''What interests me most is whether God could h... More

Throughout the twentieth century, from the furor over Percival Lowell's claim of canals on Mars to the sophisticated Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, otherworldly life has often intrigued and occasionally consumed science and the public. The Biological Universe provides a rich and colorful ... More

How has the universe evolved? Astronomer and physicist Joseph Silk explores this and other questions of cosmology in this updated, paperback edition of his acclaimed "A Short History of the Universe," Silk shows how cosmologists study cosmic relics and construct theories of the universe's inception,... More

Gleiser explores the shared quest of ancient prophets and today's astronomers to explain the strange phenomena of our skies--from the apocalypse foretold in Revelations to modern science's ongoing identification of multiple cataclysmic threats. 37 illustrations."TRACING OUR CONTEMPLATION of the cosm... More

The refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has revealed spectacular and intriguing details in every object it has turned its acute gaze upon. What discoveries has the HST made so far? And how does this telescope actually work? This lavishly illustrated volume is the first to answer these questions in a ... More

This new edition of the critically acclaimed Scientific Companion offers a comprehensive introduction to the physical sciences: physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, meteorology, biology, atmospheric science, and oceanography. Emiliani traces the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the ... More

The distribution of elements in the cosmos, a result of the many processes in the Universe's history, provides a means for studying the Big Bang, the density of baryonic matter, nucleosynthesis, and the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. This textbook, by a pioneer in the field, forms a ... More

In Masks of the Universe, Edward Harrison brings together fundamental scientific, philosophical and religious issues in cosmology and raises thought provoking questions. Philosophical issues dominated cosmology in the ancient world. Theological issues ranked foremost in the Middle Ages; astronomy an... More

This lavishly illustrated photographic exploration of the universe will delight everyone intrigued by the night sky. This is the finest collection of color photographs of star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae ever published. Working with the world's most sophisticated telescopes and his own revolutio... More

Full-color spreads and large format give readers views of the birth of a star, venture into black holes, travel the solar system and discover vast realms of space. Clear, concise captions and text describe the every-changing cosmos. 200 full-color plates.Only a book this big could convey the majesty... More

The Quest To Discover Life Beyond Earth. "The 'dreams' that I write of are not the usual ones, the images that come up in our minds involuntarily during certain stages of sleep, but rather the hopes and expectations that we have lavished upon other worlds around us."-from the Preface. The surprisi... More