Is the universe infinite or just really big? With this
question, the gifted young cosmologist Janna Levin not only
announces the central theme of her intriguing and controversial new
book but establishes herself as one of the most direct and
unorthodox voices in contemporary science. For even as she sets out
to determine how big “really big” may be, Levin gives us an
intimate look at the day-to-day life of a globe-trotting physicist,
complete with jet lag and romantic disturbances.
Nimbly synthesizing geometry, topology, chaos and string
theories, Levin shows how the pattern of hot and cold spots left
over from the big bang may one day reveal the size and shape of the
cosmos. She does so with such originality, lucidity—and even
poetry—that How the Universe Got Its Spots becomes a thrilling and
deeply personal communication between a scientist and the lay
reader.
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