God's Equation

by ACZEL, AMIR D.

• ISBN13: 9780385334853
• ISBN10: 0385334850
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-11-28
• Publisher: Delta

Summary

Are we on the verge of solving the riddle of creation using Einstein's "greatest blunder"? In a work that is at once lucid, exhilarating and profound, renowned mathematician Dr. Amir Aczel, critically acclaimed author ofFermat's Last Theorem, takes us into the heart of science's greatest mystery. In January 1998, astronomers found evidence that the cosmos is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The way we perceive the universe was changed forever. The most compelling theory cosmologists could find to explain this phenomenon was Einstein's cosmological constant, a theory he conceived--and rejected---over eighty years ago. Drawing on newly discovered letters of Einstein--many translated here for the first time--years of research, and interviews with prominent mathematicians, cosmologists, physicists, and astronomers, Aczel takes us on a fascinating journey into "the strange geometry of space-time," and into the mind of a genius. Here the unthinkable becomes real: an infinite, ever-expanding, ever-accelerating universe whose only absolute is the speed of light. Awesome in scope, thrilling in detail,God's Equationis storytelling at its finest.

Author Biography

Amir D. Aczel is the author of many research articles on mathematics, two textbooks, and nine nonfiction books, including the international bestseller Fermat's Last Theorem, which was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Award. Aczel has appeared on more than 30 television programs, including nationwide appearances on CNN, CNBC, and Nightline, and on more than 100 radio programs, including NPR's Weekend Edition and Morning Edition. Aczel is a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Exploding Stars	1	(12)
Early Einstein	13	(14)
Prague, 1911	27	(16)
Euclid's Riddle	43	(18)
Grossmann's Notebooks	61	(10)
The Crimean Expedition	71	(20)
Riemann's Metric	91	(14)
Berlin	105	(16)
Principle Island	121	(18)
The Joint Meeting	139	(10)
Cosmological Considerations	149	(18)
The Expansion of Space	167	(14)
The Nature of Matter	181	(8)
The Geometry of the Universe	189	(8)
Batavia, Illinois, May 4, 1998	197	(10)
God's Equation	207	(14)
References	221	(4)
Index	225