by Richard Panek (Author)

The epic, behind-the-scenes story of an astounding gap in our scientific knowledge of the cosmos.

In the past few years, a handful of scientists have been in a race to explain a disturbing aspect of our universe: only 4 percent of it consists of the matter that makes up you, me, our books, and every planet, star, and galaxy. The rest—96 percent of the universe—is completely unknown.

Richard Panek tells the dramatic story of how scientists reached this conclusion, and what they’re doing to find this "dark" matter and an even more bizarre substance called dark energy.

Based on in-depth, on-site reporting and hundreds of interviews—with everyone from Berkeley’s feisty Saul Perlmutter and Johns Hopkins’s meticulous Adam Riess to the quietly revolutionary Vera Rubin—the book offers an intimate portrait of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have fueled their search, redefined science, and reinvented the universe.

Review

"The centerpiece of The 4% Universe is a compelling narrative of science at its best… serve[s] handsomely as an illuminating guide to the dark mysteries lying at the heart of the intersection of astronomy and fundamental physics." —The Wall Street Journal

"Impeccably researched and highly readable." —New Scientist

Categories : Cosmology, Astronomy, Astrophysics & Space Science

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004HZY9HY

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books (January 10, 2011)

Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 10, 2011

Language ‏ : ‎ English

File size ‏ : ‎EPUB, 1.75 MB

Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported

Print length ‏ : ‎ 320 pages