From that perspective, the world is a small sentimental speck of dust lost in a vast and varied universe. I study the universe, as a whole, on the largest scales. Frost was right the first time.īut he wasn’t thinking big enough. Even this sterile smoldering remnant is likely fated to eventually spiral into the Sun’s outer layers and disperse its atoms in the churning atmosphere of the dying star. In about five billion years, the Sun will swell to its red giant phase, engulf the orbit of Mercury and perhaps Venus, and leave the Earth a charred, lifeless, magma-covered rock. Of course, now, thanks to science, we know the answer: it’s fire. The question of how the world will end has been the subject of speculation and debate among poets and philosophers throughout history.
ExcerptĬhapter 1: Introduction to the Cosmos CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the Cosmos Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce.
This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?ĭr.
With the Big Bang, it expanded 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 black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY * THE WASHINGTON POST * THE ECONOMIST * NEW SCIENTIST * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * THE GUARDIANįrom one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an “engrossing, elegant” ( The New York Times) look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology.
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