Knocking on Heaven's Door : How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World

Author(s): Lisa Randall

Science & Natural History

The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the universe: its make-up, its evolution and the fundamental forces that determine its operation. "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and a rousing defence of the role of science in our lives. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall: the bestselling author of "Warped Passages" is an expert on both particle physics (the study of the smallest objects we know of) and cosmology (the study of the largest) and is one of the most highly regarded theoretical physicists in the world. In "Knocking on Heaven's Door" she recounts the thrilling progress in our understanding of the universe from Galileo and Newton to Einstein and Feynman; she explores how we decide which scientific questions to study and how we go about answering them; and, she examines the role of risk, creativity, uncertainty, beauty and truth in scientific thinking. Throughout, Lisa Randall explains with wit and clarity the latest ideas in physics and cosmology, including the aims of the biggest and most expensive machine ever built: the Large Hadron Collider, the enormous particle accelerator situated over a 100 metres below the French-Swiss border. More than 27 kilometres in circumference, it has within it the hottest spot in the galaxy as well as the coldest and features the most powerful supercomputer system of all time. One of the most illuminating science books in years, "Knocking on Heaven's Door" makes clear the biggest scientific questions we face and reveals how answering them could ultimately tell us who we are and where we came from.

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One of the most illuminating science books in years, Knocking on Heaven's Door makes clear the biggest scientific questions we face and reveals how answering them could ultimately tell us who we are and where we came from.

"[A] whip-smart inquiry into the scientific work being conducted in particle physics. . . . [Randall] brings a thrumming enthusiasm to the topic, but she is unhurried and wryly humorous. . . . ["Knocking on Heaven's Door"] dazzles like the stars." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

General Fields

  • : 9781847920690
  • : Vintage
  • : The Bodley Head Ltd
  • : 0.795
  • : 31 July 2011
  • : 240mm X 162mm X 39mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 01 October 2011
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : 464
  • : 1-Dec
  • : Hardback
  • : Lisa Randall