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The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity
As the twentieth century closed, Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin captured the attention of the world by identifying the five ages of time. In The Five Ages of the Universe, Adams and Laughlin demonstrate that we can now understand the complete life story of the cosmos from beginning to end.
Adams and Laughlin have been hailed as the creators of the definitive long-term projection of the evolution of the universe. Their achievement is awesome in its scale and profound in its scientific breadth. But The Five Ages of the Universe is more than a handbook of the physical processes that guided our past and will shape our future; it is a truly epic story.
Without leaving earth, here is a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity. It is the only biography of the universe you will ever need.
Adams and Laughlin have been hailed as the creators of the definitive long-term projection of the evolution of the universe. Their achievement is awesome in its scale and profound in its scientific breadth. But The Five Ages of the Universe is more than a handbook of the physical processes that guided our past and will shape our future; it is a truly epic story.
Without leaving earth, here is a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity. It is the only biography of the universe you will ever need.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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1914 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 12, 2020
It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over... And Not Even Then
There’s nothing like a little speculative cosmology to provide distraction from Covid, climate change, and Trump. In the end we’re all toast.
Well not quite, the future of the universe is apparently in the hands of brown dwarf stars. These little buggers will persist indefinitely, perhaps eternally, pumping out the energy of a 40 watt lightbulb long after everything else in the universe has returned to cosmic uniformity. And given that life survives in the most hostile places, perhaps some nasty virus is destined to triumph, even over the cockroaches.
So the eschaton will be delayed indefinitely. This news will not be welcomed by Adventists and others who look forward gleefully to the annihilation of creation. But if the apocalypse doesn’t conform to their expectations, they might find religious solace in the scientific account of the first milliseconds of creation. The story here is even less credible than that contained in the book Genesis.
According to recent scientific thinking (more precisely, as of 20 years ago), the Big Bang occurred in what might be described as an entirely non-evolutionary way. At least the process by which a dense dot of immense energy became a universe billions of light years wide in more or less a millionth of a second is somewhat vague. The hand-waving involved in explaining this preposterous claim doesn’t hold up well against the simple directness of ‘Fiat Lux.’
There are also other oddities which might provoke a rush to the exit from scientific theory. It turns out that even the basic terms have questionable meaning:
So there are things that can never be known - a comfort perhaps to those who think that this justifies their knowledge of what can’t be known. These enthusiasts can point out scientific faith in the existence of such things as dark matter to rationalise their own prejudices. Of course the difference between theirs and the scientific narrative is that very few people have been burned at the stake for the latter. So although the secular story doesn’t have a demonstrably superior beginning or conclusion, it is certainly less harmful.
I think the real reason for the preferability of science to religious thought, demonstrated in cosmological discussion, is their relative stances toward language. Science treats language - even its own technical language - as an essential but disposable commodity. Individual scientists may believe their own press and become fixated on the terms in which their theories are expressed, but the scientific community as a whole periodically purges itself of concepts, vocabularies, and explanations. Gravity, for example, or empty space really have no fixed meaning. At the start and finish of the universe, time has no meaning whatsoever. The terms are like pieces in a puzzle for which the rules of placement are entirely unknown. Their relationships with each other twist and morph constantly.
Compare that with the practice and intention of most religious thinking: to fix the language of religion as ‘truth.’ Religion inevitably becomes doctrinal to the extent that it relies on language to express that which is beyond language. If such religious language is taken as more than poetic reference to that ‘beyond,’ it is both disrespectful of reality and false. And nowhere is this clearer than in cosmology. The fight against language within language is one that has to be waged but will always result in defeat. Perhaps the real virtue of scientific thought is the courage to face that inevitable defeat.
Back to Covid, climate change, and Trump...
Postscript 12/11/2020: indeed it will never be over: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswi...
There’s nothing like a little speculative cosmology to provide distraction from Covid, climate change, and Trump. In the end we’re all toast.
Well not quite, the future of the universe is apparently in the hands of brown dwarf stars. These little buggers will persist indefinitely, perhaps eternally, pumping out the energy of a 40 watt lightbulb long after everything else in the universe has returned to cosmic uniformity. And given that life survives in the most hostile places, perhaps some nasty virus is destined to triumph, even over the cockroaches.
So the eschaton will be delayed indefinitely. This news will not be welcomed by Adventists and others who look forward gleefully to the annihilation of creation. But if the apocalypse doesn’t conform to their expectations, they might find religious solace in the scientific account of the first milliseconds of creation. The story here is even less credible than that contained in the book Genesis.
According to recent scientific thinking (more precisely, as of 20 years ago), the Big Bang occurred in what might be described as an entirely non-evolutionary way. At least the process by which a dense dot of immense energy became a universe billions of light years wide in more or less a millionth of a second is somewhat vague. The hand-waving involved in explaining this preposterous claim doesn’t hold up well against the simple directness of ‘Fiat Lux.’
There are also other oddities which might provoke a rush to the exit from scientific theory. It turns out that even the basic terms have questionable meaning:
“[T]he existence of a causal horizon leads to some ambiguity regarding what the term “universe” actually means. The term sometimes refers to only the material that is within the horizon at a given time. In the future, however, the horizon will grow and hence will eventually encompass material that is currently outside our horizon. Is this “new” material part of the universe at the current time? The answer can be yes or no, depending on how you define “the universe.” Similarly, there can be other regions of space-time that will never lie within our horizon. For the sake of definiteness, we consider such regions of space-time to belong to “other universes.”
So there are things that can never be known - a comfort perhaps to those who think that this justifies their knowledge of what can’t be known. These enthusiasts can point out scientific faith in the existence of such things as dark matter to rationalise their own prejudices. Of course the difference between theirs and the scientific narrative is that very few people have been burned at the stake for the latter. So although the secular story doesn’t have a demonstrably superior beginning or conclusion, it is certainly less harmful.
I think the real reason for the preferability of science to religious thought, demonstrated in cosmological discussion, is their relative stances toward language. Science treats language - even its own technical language - as an essential but disposable commodity. Individual scientists may believe their own press and become fixated on the terms in which their theories are expressed, but the scientific community as a whole periodically purges itself of concepts, vocabularies, and explanations. Gravity, for example, or empty space really have no fixed meaning. At the start and finish of the universe, time has no meaning whatsoever. The terms are like pieces in a puzzle for which the rules of placement are entirely unknown. Their relationships with each other twist and morph constantly.
Compare that with the practice and intention of most religious thinking: to fix the language of religion as ‘truth.’ Religion inevitably becomes doctrinal to the extent that it relies on language to express that which is beyond language. If such religious language is taken as more than poetic reference to that ‘beyond,’ it is both disrespectful of reality and false. And nowhere is this clearer than in cosmology. The fight against language within language is one that has to be waged but will always result in defeat. Perhaps the real virtue of scientific thought is the courage to face that inevitable defeat.
Back to Covid, climate change, and Trump...
Postscript 12/11/2020: indeed it will never be over: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswi...
December 22, 2016
the universe chronology
a long, long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long longlong long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long universe history for human being.
a long, long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long longlong long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long universe history for human being.
June 14, 2009
This book covers the physics of the development of the universe from the big bang to its long, drawn out demise in the unimaginably distant future.
Its science is good and interesting and, after first reading, it could well be used as a reference book. Its drawback is the flights of fancy dotted through it speculating on the possibility of life (as we don’t know it) in the distant future, seemingly added to pad out the book and to widen its audience.
A better book (from the perspective of a good read) covering similar ground, is Deep Time by David Darling.
The Five Ages of the Universe, however, is a good addition to any science library, personal or otherwise.
Its science is good and interesting and, after first reading, it could well be used as a reference book. Its drawback is the flights of fancy dotted through it speculating on the possibility of life (as we don’t know it) in the distant future, seemingly added to pad out the book and to widen its audience.
A better book (from the perspective of a good read) covering similar ground, is Deep Time by David Darling.
The Five Ages of the Universe, however, is a good addition to any science library, personal or otherwise.
March 9, 2024
This book took a really long view of the fate of our universe. Time is measured in “cosmic century” η. 10^η is years from big bang. Stars don’t exist in the first age (primordial). In fact, the first 300K yr, the universe is a featureless sea of H and He. Our current age is Stelliferous (6 to 14 Cosmic century) meaning full of stars. After that, massive stars will have all burned out leaving white and brown dwarfs behind. But in the 3rd (degenerate) age (15 to 39 cosmic century), not only will stars burn out, even protons will have decayed by the end of the age. In the 4th age lasting until 100th cosmic century (that’s a googol years from now!), the only things left over are radiations and black holes. Even black holes will gradually (except at the last second) radiate away. The final age is the dark era where not much can be reliably estimated (and I don’t blame anyone).
Overall, this is a fascinating book. You’ll review a lot of knowledge of cosmology learned from pop-sci and then some more. For instance, those supermassive blackholes at the center of galaxies can last a long time (1M solar mass -> 10^83 years) but when a black hole becomes small enough that its mass energy is comparable to the electrostatic energy derived from its charge, Hawking evaporation is prematurely arrested, leaving behind an eternal charged black hole. This is wild.
Overall, this is a fascinating book. You’ll review a lot of knowledge of cosmology learned from pop-sci and then some more. For instance, those supermassive blackholes at the center of galaxies can last a long time (1M solar mass -> 10^83 years) but when a black hole becomes small enough that its mass energy is comparable to the electrostatic energy derived from its charge, Hawking evaporation is prematurely arrested, leaving behind an eternal charged black hole. This is wild.
July 13, 2020
Some seriously melon-twisting juju. Love trying to wrap my brain around completely impossible time scales. Adams even includes speculative passages on what it might be like to live in these eras.
January 24, 2019
The book has a nice premise: tell the story of how the universe came to be and then tell the story of what will happen in the distant future. Along the way, point to ways in which life may survive---even if that means rethinking what we mean by 'life.'
Unfortunately, this book has not aged well in the 20 years since its publication. This is in part due to the book narrowly missing out on big developments in cosmology in 1998, but also due to the standard for "science explainer" books being much higher today than in the 1990s.
The explanations in the book do not compare well to what one may find on Wikipedia or on YouTube today. The book comes off as having the tone of a dry public lecture, the authors' authority as scientists is meant to be the selling point, not that the authors are talented science communicators. To be sure, the authors note that the book grew out of an academic review article they wrote. Perhaps because of this, the book feels like a lecture that has been stripped of details and lightly garnished with poetic analogies.
Just beneath the surface of what's written, there are some neat scientific ideas bubbling. The end notes of the book point to research-level literature. Part of the book even includes an aside on "black hole computers," which was original work for the book. Many of these neat ideas are hidden because the text is stripped of technical details and does not offer an alternative crutch for general audiences to appreciate the nuances of certain phrases. For example, a theme in the book that is never directly addressed is the role of information and complexity in the late stages of the universe as a measure for the existence of life.
Indeed, the most compelling pieces of the book for me were the short fictional appetizers at the beginning of each chapter that presented a snapshot of hypothetical life form in the far future of the universe. Otherwise, I had a difficult time feeling that the book had a cohesive theme or a unifying narrative. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to the story being told and failed to appreciate the astronomically large/small numbers that would show up.
Two final bits of frustration for a science book is that the figures do a poor job of supporting the textual narrative. Some of the figures feel like the authors expected them to supposed to be self explanatory. Unfortunately, the general audience will is not equipped to read a Hertzprung-Russell diagram, and certainly not one where the axes are not even labeled. The other frustration is the poro use of jargon. The book will use flowery language to give vague "this is the gist of it" explanations, but then will throw in technical jargon that either is not defined or is defined so opaquely that it might as well not have been.
That being said, the book may have an audience for those who are interested in a broad (if dated) picture of the universe. I read this with a technical background in a related field, and found myself spending a lot of time thinking about which pieces are true and which are clearly popular assumptions in the 1990s that have since passed by the wayside. (This was both a fun and frustrating exercise.)
Unfortunately, this book has not aged well in the 20 years since its publication. This is in part due to the book narrowly missing out on big developments in cosmology in 1998, but also due to the standard for "science explainer" books being much higher today than in the 1990s.
The explanations in the book do not compare well to what one may find on Wikipedia or on YouTube today. The book comes off as having the tone of a dry public lecture, the authors' authority as scientists is meant to be the selling point, not that the authors are talented science communicators. To be sure, the authors note that the book grew out of an academic review article they wrote. Perhaps because of this, the book feels like a lecture that has been stripped of details and lightly garnished with poetic analogies.
Just beneath the surface of what's written, there are some neat scientific ideas bubbling. The end notes of the book point to research-level literature. Part of the book even includes an aside on "black hole computers," which was original work for the book. Many of these neat ideas are hidden because the text is stripped of technical details and does not offer an alternative crutch for general audiences to appreciate the nuances of certain phrases. For example, a theme in the book that is never directly addressed is the role of information and complexity in the late stages of the universe as a measure for the existence of life.
Indeed, the most compelling pieces of the book for me were the short fictional appetizers at the beginning of each chapter that presented a snapshot of hypothetical life form in the far future of the universe. Otherwise, I had a difficult time feeling that the book had a cohesive theme or a unifying narrative. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to the story being told and failed to appreciate the astronomically large/small numbers that would show up.
Two final bits of frustration for a science book is that the figures do a poor job of supporting the textual narrative. Some of the figures feel like the authors expected them to supposed to be self explanatory. Unfortunately, the general audience will is not equipped to read a Hertzprung-Russell diagram, and certainly not one where the axes are not even labeled. The other frustration is the poro use of jargon. The book will use flowery language to give vague "this is the gist of it" explanations, but then will throw in technical jargon that either is not defined or is defined so opaquely that it might as well not have been.
That being said, the book may have an audience for those who are interested in a broad (if dated) picture of the universe. I read this with a technical background in a related field, and found myself spending a lot of time thinking about which pieces are true and which are clearly popular assumptions in the 1990s that have since passed by the wayside. (This was both a fun and frustrating exercise.)
May 28, 2022
4,25/5
Hugely enjoyable if you like space stuff and like to get lost in black holes and impossibly mindblowing timescales.
The only con is it is a bit outdated and lacks (logically) some of the newest discoveries and theories. But still very recomendable for someone that wants to explore the (maybe?) infinite space and it's wonders.
Hugely enjoyable if you like space stuff and like to get lost in black holes and impossibly mindblowing timescales.
The only con is it is a bit outdated and lacks (logically) some of the newest discoveries and theories. But still very recomendable for someone that wants to explore the (maybe?) infinite space and it's wonders.
June 27, 2023
I have always gravitated to books on cosmology, not only those describing the origins of the universe, but also those that inform us that in five billion years the Sun will become a red giant encompassing the whole orbit of the earth. And, of course. there are books that describe how the increasing expansion of space will eventually outstrip the constant speed of light within it, breaking down all inter-communication and causing everything to wink out.
Of all such books, I find this one the best because of its systematic organization and the good science on which it is based. The authors divide the life of the universe into five very long phases. These are the early creation of stars, the majestic existence of stars and galaxies, the degeneration of stars and galaxies into dwarfs and black holes, an era in which black holes sweep up most of matter in the universe, and finally a dark era in which the black holes have all evaporated leaving a dismal unproductive universe.
Although many people already see the end of things in the current political, economic, and physical developments on earth today, it is useful to see the ultimate denouement of the whole universe as portrayed in this book. It certainly held my attention, even if we cannot call it uplifting in any way. I recommend reading it with an adult beverage in hand.
Of all such books, I find this one the best because of its systematic organization and the good science on which it is based. The authors divide the life of the universe into five very long phases. These are the early creation of stars, the majestic existence of stars and galaxies, the degeneration of stars and galaxies into dwarfs and black holes, an era in which black holes sweep up most of matter in the universe, and finally a dark era in which the black holes have all evaporated leaving a dismal unproductive universe.
Although many people already see the end of things in the current political, economic, and physical developments on earth today, it is useful to see the ultimate denouement of the whole universe as portrayed in this book. It certainly held my attention, even if we cannot call it uplifting in any way. I recommend reading it with an adult beverage in hand.
June 13, 2020
As far as popular science writing is concerned, "The Five Ages of the Universe" is a bit underwhelming. The presentation is somewhat academic, and the writing is pretty dry. What's worse, the authors are generally more concerned with telling you what instead of explaining why. If you're looking to get excited about space, then, this isn't the place.
If, however, you're already pretty stoked on space, this will serve as a solid refresher and valuable resource. Think of it as an abridged, approachable textbook on cosmology. This is a chronological tour of the cosmos, going as far back as physics can currently take us (about 10^-45 seconds in, once quantum gravity stops being essential) to as far forward as remains interesting (about 10^100 years later).
The authors break this massive duration of time into five ages, defined as follows (intervals in years):
• Primordial era (10^-50, 10^5): the "radiation dominated" era, ends once atoms start to form.
• Stelliferous era (10^6, 10^14): the "filled with stars" era, ends when new stars stop forming.
• Degenerate era (10^15, 10^39): dead stars experience dark matter annihilation and atom decay, ends once all protons are decayed.
• Black hole era (40^40, 10^100): black holes grow and evaporate, ends once all black holes have evaporated.
• Dark era (10^100+): low energy particles drift through space.
No matter your background, you're bound to learn quite a bit. Traditionally, cosmology is concerned with events that have either occurred in the past or will occur over intervals comparable to the life of a star (ie the "primordial" and "stelliferous" eras). Research concerned with the subsequent three eras is rather recent, and in fact some of it was spearheaded by the authors while writing this book.
Still, even if you fall into aforementioned "already stoked on space" category, I'd recommend you check out Brian Greene's Until the End of Time first. A lot of the novel material covered here is also discussed there, but better explained (Greene actually cites "The Five Ages" as an important reference, which is how I came across it). "The Five Ages" is a good followup, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point.
Having recently read Greene's book, what I enjoyed most about "The Five Ages" were actually the sections on traditional cosmology, with star formation in particular (a topic I suspect is not sexy enough for most pop physics books). I also appreciated that so much breadth never came at the expense of depth. So even if a lot of the topics covered here are better explained elsewhere, "The Five Ages of the Universe" will have a treasured spot on my bookshelf, as a comprehensive yet approachable reference text.
Reading Notes
1. Intro / The Primordial Era
2. The Stelliferous Era
3. The Degenrate Era
4. The Black Hole Era
5. The Dark Era / Conclusion
If, however, you're already pretty stoked on space, this will serve as a solid refresher and valuable resource. Think of it as an abridged, approachable textbook on cosmology. This is a chronological tour of the cosmos, going as far back as physics can currently take us (about 10^-45 seconds in, once quantum gravity stops being essential) to as far forward as remains interesting (about 10^100 years later).
The authors break this massive duration of time into five ages, defined as follows (intervals in years):
• Primordial era (10^-50, 10^5): the "radiation dominated" era, ends once atoms start to form.
• Stelliferous era (10^6, 10^14): the "filled with stars" era, ends when new stars stop forming.
• Degenerate era (10^15, 10^39): dead stars experience dark matter annihilation and atom decay, ends once all protons are decayed.
• Black hole era (40^40, 10^100): black holes grow and evaporate, ends once all black holes have evaporated.
• Dark era (10^100+): low energy particles drift through space.
No matter your background, you're bound to learn quite a bit. Traditionally, cosmology is concerned with events that have either occurred in the past or will occur over intervals comparable to the life of a star (ie the "primordial" and "stelliferous" eras). Research concerned with the subsequent three eras is rather recent, and in fact some of it was spearheaded by the authors while writing this book.
Still, even if you fall into aforementioned "already stoked on space" category, I'd recommend you check out Brian Greene's Until the End of Time first. A lot of the novel material covered here is also discussed there, but better explained (Greene actually cites "The Five Ages" as an important reference, which is how I came across it). "The Five Ages" is a good followup, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point.
Having recently read Greene's book, what I enjoyed most about "The Five Ages" were actually the sections on traditional cosmology, with star formation in particular (a topic I suspect is not sexy enough for most pop physics books). I also appreciated that so much breadth never came at the expense of depth. So even if a lot of the topics covered here are better explained elsewhere, "The Five Ages of the Universe" will have a treasured spot on my bookshelf, as a comprehensive yet approachable reference text.
Reading Notes
1. Intro / The Primordial Era
2. The Stelliferous Era
3. The Degenrate Era
4. The Black Hole Era
5. The Dark Era / Conclusion
August 21, 2022
‘’Dok se svemir siri, galaksije se ponasaju kao svetionici u mraku, omogucujuci nam da primetimo to sirenje.Tesko je shvatiti prazninu naseg svemira. Prosecna galaksija ispunjava samo milioniti deo zapremine prostora u kom se nalazi a I same galaksije su izusetno retke.’’
‘’Osnovni pokretaci svemira su cetiri sile-gravitacija,elektromagnetne sile, jake I slabe nukleatne sile,’’
‘’Sirenje svemira zamracuje nocno nebo.Posto se prostor-vreme siri, udaljene zvezde manje osvetljavaju nebo.Zabacene zvezde dalekih galaksija udaljuju se od nas brzinom svetlosti.’’
‘’Galaksijeispunjavaju svemir skoro od pocetka doba zvezda.Pomocu instrumenta kao sto jesvemirski teleskop Habl, mi zapravo mozemo d a vidimo kako su izgledale galaksije u trenutku kada je svemir bio svega milijardu godina star. Ovakav jasan uvid u proslost omogucava ogranicena brzina kretanja svetkosti.Na primer zvezde iz galaksije Andromeda , koja se jedva moze primetiti za tamnih jesenjih veceri kao mala nejasna mrlja na nebu, emitovale su pre oko dva miliona godina svetlost koju vidimo.Ova svetlost je putovala do nasih ociju duze nego sto postoji ljudska vrsta.Kada kroz velike teleskope posmatramo udaljene galaksije, mi bukvalno gledamo u proslost svemira. Svetlost zvezde iz najudaljenijih poznatih galaksija putovala je do nas dvostruko duze od starosti zemlje.’’
‘’Dok zemlja s klimom bude nestajala usred pregorevanja,Mars ce polako poceti da sezagreva I postati gostoljubivo mesto.’’
‘’Kako to da se beli patuljci uopste vide? Ako su oni krajnji rezultat evolucije zvezda,zasto ove zvezde sijaju posto procesi nuklearne fuzije prestanu? Ti zvezdani ostaci sadrze ogromnu kolicinu toplotne energije zaostale iz njihove uzarene proslosti.Ovaj ogroman rezervoar toplote zraci u svemir veoma slabim intenzitetom. Zbog toga vidimo bele patuljke na nebu.’’
‘’Ako dva tela imaju istu velicinu ali razlicitu masu,masivnije telo ce imati vecu kosmicku brzinu.’’
‘’Dva casovnika na razlicitim visinama iznad Zemljine povrsine moraju da mere protok vremena razlicitom brzinom( to je momenat kada se prostor-vreme iskrivljujezbog putovanja svetlosti)’’
‘’U svakodnevnom zivotu promenjivost vremena usred gravitacije je smesno mala. Zato razliku u vremenu spoznajemo tek udaljavajuci se od Zemlje.’’
‘’Gledano iz daljine, crna rupa se ponasa poput sociva jer njena gravitacija izoblicuje prostor-vreme I uvelicava I remeti sliku objekta duz pravca posmatranja’’
‘’Isparavanje crnih rupa jedna je od retkih pojava koja spada pod oblast kvantne gravitacije(Hokingovo zracenje)’’
‘’Singularitet je tacka u kojoj se, grubo receno, oslobadja pakao. Na poziciji singulariteta u crnoj rupi gustina materije postaje beskonacna. Kada u teoriji fizicke velicine postanu beskonacne, to obicno znaci da je nesto uzasno pogresno ili da je teorija nepotpuna. Singularitet u sredistu crnih rupa javlja se jer je nepotpuno nase razumevanje kako fizickih procesa u okruzenju veoma visokih energija I velikih gustina tako I onih procesa u okruzenju niskih energija I malih gustina.’’
‘’Neki fizicari predpostavljaju da singularitet predstavlja prolaz iz naseg svemira ili mozda do drugog mesta u svemiru.’’
‘’Osnovni pokretaci svemira su cetiri sile-gravitacija,elektromagnetne sile, jake I slabe nukleatne sile,’’
‘’Sirenje svemira zamracuje nocno nebo.Posto se prostor-vreme siri, udaljene zvezde manje osvetljavaju nebo.Zabacene zvezde dalekih galaksija udaljuju se od nas brzinom svetlosti.’’
‘’Galaksijeispunjavaju svemir skoro od pocetka doba zvezda.Pomocu instrumenta kao sto jesvemirski teleskop Habl, mi zapravo mozemo d a vidimo kako su izgledale galaksije u trenutku kada je svemir bio svega milijardu godina star. Ovakav jasan uvid u proslost omogucava ogranicena brzina kretanja svetkosti.Na primer zvezde iz galaksije Andromeda , koja se jedva moze primetiti za tamnih jesenjih veceri kao mala nejasna mrlja na nebu, emitovale su pre oko dva miliona godina svetlost koju vidimo.Ova svetlost je putovala do nasih ociju duze nego sto postoji ljudska vrsta.Kada kroz velike teleskope posmatramo udaljene galaksije, mi bukvalno gledamo u proslost svemira. Svetlost zvezde iz najudaljenijih poznatih galaksija putovala je do nas dvostruko duze od starosti zemlje.’’
‘’Dok zemlja s klimom bude nestajala usred pregorevanja,Mars ce polako poceti da sezagreva I postati gostoljubivo mesto.’’
‘’Kako to da se beli patuljci uopste vide? Ako su oni krajnji rezultat evolucije zvezda,zasto ove zvezde sijaju posto procesi nuklearne fuzije prestanu? Ti zvezdani ostaci sadrze ogromnu kolicinu toplotne energije zaostale iz njihove uzarene proslosti.Ovaj ogroman rezervoar toplote zraci u svemir veoma slabim intenzitetom. Zbog toga vidimo bele patuljke na nebu.’’
‘’Ako dva tela imaju istu velicinu ali razlicitu masu,masivnije telo ce imati vecu kosmicku brzinu.’’
‘’Dva casovnika na razlicitim visinama iznad Zemljine povrsine moraju da mere protok vremena razlicitom brzinom( to je momenat kada se prostor-vreme iskrivljujezbog putovanja svetlosti)’’
‘’U svakodnevnom zivotu promenjivost vremena usred gravitacije je smesno mala. Zato razliku u vremenu spoznajemo tek udaljavajuci se od Zemlje.’’
‘’Gledano iz daljine, crna rupa se ponasa poput sociva jer njena gravitacija izoblicuje prostor-vreme I uvelicava I remeti sliku objekta duz pravca posmatranja’’
‘’Isparavanje crnih rupa jedna je od retkih pojava koja spada pod oblast kvantne gravitacije(Hokingovo zracenje)’’
‘’Singularitet je tacka u kojoj se, grubo receno, oslobadja pakao. Na poziciji singulariteta u crnoj rupi gustina materije postaje beskonacna. Kada u teoriji fizicke velicine postanu beskonacne, to obicno znaci da je nesto uzasno pogresno ili da je teorija nepotpuna. Singularitet u sredistu crnih rupa javlja se jer je nepotpuno nase razumevanje kako fizickih procesa u okruzenju veoma visokih energija I velikih gustina tako I onih procesa u okruzenju niskih energija I malih gustina.’’
‘’Neki fizicari predpostavljaju da singularitet predstavlja prolaz iz naseg svemira ili mozda do drugog mesta u svemiru.’’
August 31, 2009
The authors take the reader through a journey that begins with the explosive (an under, understatement) Big Bang era, through progressive cooling eras that allow masses (space debris, stars,galaxies, galaxy clusters) first to form and then proceed to their eventual decay (degeneration), and then their collapse into black holes that culminate in the fifth age, the dark era (no thermodynamic energy and cosmic heat death). The scales of time and space are astounding of course (e.g., our Milky Way has 100 billion stars; our sun is one of a billion trillion stars; the known universe is 20 billion light years, but it may be many billions of light years larger than this). In the last, dark, era (no light), the cosmos has three potential outcomes. It may continue to expand from the initial Big Bang, or it may collapse back into its original state (Big Crunch), or it may reach some perpetual balance point. It could be that the universe, or portions of it, disappears into massive black holes that in turn form new universes that in Darwinian fashion are offspring that operate by somewhat different physical laws. The authors frame our universe's physical laws in terms of the four basic cosmic forces but then take one of them, gravity, and counter it with entropy to say that this "pull together-pull apart" dynamic is basic to the operation of the cosmos. The authors sidestep the question of whether this "pull apart" component is a force by calling it "a tendency." The authors surprisingly speculate whether we or life can survive all of this vast cosmic violence and even suggest that humans may have come control over our cosmic fate. That's a bit upbeat. It's a secular version of the religious quest for eternity. All in all, the book is a tale of beyond impressive cosmic power and furiosity that has its own beauty and majesty.
July 25, 2021
The book is a wonderful survey of cosmology. It is of particular interest because it takes what we know about the universe's past to project what the future will look like, ultimately painting a stunning portrait of the cosmos.
It breaks the biography of the universe into five stages--primordial, stelliferous, degenerate, black-hole, dark. The primordial era is direct aftermath of the big bang, while the stelliferous era is the one we are in presently, dominated by stars and galaxies. The degenerate era occurs after all stars have blinked out, and the black hole era arises once black holes have devoured everything in the universe. The story of the universe comes to an end in the dark era once Hawking radiation and the 2nd law of thermodynamics have erased the final traces of everything.
The book was the first of its kind. As such, it walks a fine line between informing experts in the field of the authors' novel ideas, as well as explaining concepts accessibly for the layperson. I'd say it accomplishes the latter quite successfully, although I am not a cosmologist so cannot speak to the former. It was written in 1999, so parts of it are slightly outdated; the fields of astrophysics and cosmology are constantly and rapidly evolving, after all.
The book is also special in that it muses on what intelligent life might look like in each of these five eras, and how life can continue to survive as entropy continues its ineluctable erasure of everything. Overall, I would recommend for those interested in space, physics, cosmology, astrobiology, big history, and where we came from and where we are headed.
It breaks the biography of the universe into five stages--primordial, stelliferous, degenerate, black-hole, dark. The primordial era is direct aftermath of the big bang, while the stelliferous era is the one we are in presently, dominated by stars and galaxies. The degenerate era occurs after all stars have blinked out, and the black hole era arises once black holes have devoured everything in the universe. The story of the universe comes to an end in the dark era once Hawking radiation and the 2nd law of thermodynamics have erased the final traces of everything.
The book was the first of its kind. As such, it walks a fine line between informing experts in the field of the authors' novel ideas, as well as explaining concepts accessibly for the layperson. I'd say it accomplishes the latter quite successfully, although I am not a cosmologist so cannot speak to the former. It was written in 1999, so parts of it are slightly outdated; the fields of astrophysics and cosmology are constantly and rapidly evolving, after all.
The book is also special in that it muses on what intelligent life might look like in each of these five eras, and how life can continue to survive as entropy continues its ineluctable erasure of everything. Overall, I would recommend for those interested in space, physics, cosmology, astrobiology, big history, and where we came from and where we are headed.
November 10, 2022
The book is 20 years old so the scientific inaccuracy of some statements was to be expected. The structure of the book, travelling the ages of the universe is well-defined, and each age is divided into small sections that explain different events and concepts relevant to the age.
I must say, however, that some of the events and concepts won't clarify much to a layman reader, the book tries to be a mix of a popular science book and a technical paper that falls short of fully pleasing each type of reader. As a detail, I'm usually a fan of introductory stories at the beginning of chapters and it would have been nice to fill those stories with concepts that leave the reader thinking between chapters. Unfortunately, in this book, the stories fell short of interesting to give me any kind of thought about them and seemed a little bit out of place.
Finally, the "black hole computers" has an errata when it comes to building the AND logic gate. I got the feeling that the authors didn't review properly their own concept of black hole computers and the section was there more as a filler.
In summary, an interesting book if you like to explore further into "the end of the universe" but take everything with a grain of salt. As previously said, the book is old and, as with any topic regarding the far future, a lot of what is said can be labelled as conjectures and speculations based on the knowledge of physics in the year 2000.
I must say, however, that some of the events and concepts won't clarify much to a layman reader, the book tries to be a mix of a popular science book and a technical paper that falls short of fully pleasing each type of reader. As a detail, I'm usually a fan of introductory stories at the beginning of chapters and it would have been nice to fill those stories with concepts that leave the reader thinking between chapters. Unfortunately, in this book, the stories fell short of interesting to give me any kind of thought about them and seemed a little bit out of place.
Finally, the "black hole computers" has an errata when it comes to building the AND logic gate. I got the feeling that the authors didn't review properly their own concept of black hole computers and the section was there more as a filler.
In summary, an interesting book if you like to explore further into "the end of the universe" but take everything with a grain of salt. As previously said, the book is old and, as with any topic regarding the far future, a lot of what is said can be labelled as conjectures and speculations based on the knowledge of physics in the year 2000.
November 5, 2022
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2002
I love and collect books about cosmology since many years. This one was a great reading. Not only about the beginning and current state, but also about the fate of the Universe in the future.
Time will show how these computer simulated predictions are accurate. But it will not be you or me of course to observe it.
Book as for today is a bit outdated, does not take under consideration new discoveries like dark energy and acceleration of the Universe.
I have asked Professor Adams about it and he e-mailed: "the biggest change to our vision of the future comes in the Dark Era; positronium formation will be less likely, and a vacuum phase transition will be more likely if the Universe has a component of this dark energy. The basic picture however is still correct". What I really like about this book is that it gets even more interesting in the end. Explanation of quantum mechanical tunneling and possibilities of sudden cosmic scale phase transition is so vivid that I had a hard time to fall a sleep. My imagination was running wild ignited by description of space-time foam and multiverses. Summarizing: it was easy, quick and enjoyable learning about not so easy subjects. "References and further reading" list included in this book is worth to have a look as well.
Professor Adams is currently working on his new book.
I love and collect books about cosmology since many years. This one was a great reading. Not only about the beginning and current state, but also about the fate of the Universe in the future.
Time will show how these computer simulated predictions are accurate. But it will not be you or me of course to observe it.
Book as for today is a bit outdated, does not take under consideration new discoveries like dark energy and acceleration of the Universe.
I have asked Professor Adams about it and he e-mailed: "the biggest change to our vision of the future comes in the Dark Era; positronium formation will be less likely, and a vacuum phase transition will be more likely if the Universe has a component of this dark energy. The basic picture however is still correct". What I really like about this book is that it gets even more interesting in the end. Explanation of quantum mechanical tunneling and possibilities of sudden cosmic scale phase transition is so vivid that I had a hard time to fall a sleep. My imagination was running wild ignited by description of space-time foam and multiverses. Summarizing: it was easy, quick and enjoyable learning about not so easy subjects. "References and further reading" list included in this book is worth to have a look as well.
Professor Adams is currently working on his new book.
January 21, 2021
Truly amazing book. It has become my all time favourite book on cosmology and science. This book explains everything from inception to end in a truly fascinating manner. It provides a striking view on our position in this universe. Although a very complex subject matter is discussed in the book, the narrative style is so unique that it gives you a feeling of reading a nice sci-fi novel with a mesmerizing and dynamic story.
This book is hideously frightening and intriguing at the same time.
This book is hideously frightening and intriguing at the same time.
January 5, 2020
This is a great book for those without a science background who are interested in the universe around them. Throughout the book the underlying battle between thermodynamics and gravity is highlighted. The sheer size of space, time and the forces at work in the universe will give you a headache. Take a Tylenol though. It’s worth it.
April 22, 2020
Equal parts confusing and fascinating, this book examines the history of the universe from birth to death, both before and beyond. Life is short when measured against eternity, but nothing interesting lasts forever.
May 9, 2020
Fascinating, mind-boggling material about the extremely far future of the universe. However I think that the author should have stressed the fact that all these predictions are based on current theories which may turn out not to be correct.
August 6, 2014
A bit dated in terms of available cosmological evidence, but very interesting - an updated version would be very welcome as an introduction to the physics underpinning modern cosmology.
June 28, 2017
3,5 tähteä
August 7, 2017
Eye opening guide to the long term fate of the universe, albeit with some outdated information. Book is grounded in scientific fact, but last chapter seems to contain a little too much speculation.
December 22, 2023
I only read a few popular books on physics and astronomy per decade, so I don’t feel like a complete dolt. Given our current state of understanding, Adams & Laughlin describe the history of the universe from its first appearance, through our time, to its final phases in the cold and the dark. Variations are provided for the cases where the universe is open, flat, or closed. They also describe a couple of possibilities for an eventual renewal of the universe.
Their five ages include: the Primordial Era (from the Big Bang to the creation of hadrons from quarks, the formation of elements, and the domination of matter over energy), the Stelliferous Era (the formation of stars, solar systems, and galaxies, the death of the sun, our galaxy’s collision with Andromeda, and the end of star formation), the Degenerate Era (planets escape from stars, stars evaporate, white dwarfs deplete dark matter, black holes expand, protons decay, eventually eating away at planets and white dwarfs), the Black Hole era (stellar black holes evaporate, positronium forms in a flat universe, and the largest supermassive black holes disappear), and the Dark Era (positronium decays, and higher order proton decay processes occur).
At the end they discuss two possible vehicles for regeneration of the universe: cosmological phase transitions (having to do with changes in the state of the vacuum), and child universes formed from the singularities within black holes. They also suggest that either of these changes could be purposefully induced by sentient beings.
They also go into the idea that, in a multiverse, perhaps we have a sort of Darwinian competition going on among universes. Successful universes produce larger numbers of black holes that produce larger numbers of child universes. The basic physics systems differ a bit among the offspring. The universes found in greatest abundance are those that generate the most stars, galaxies, and black holes, which will also be the universes most likely to breed life.
It's a bit challenging to read in spots, but not impossibly so. It was, for me, a slow read because I was constantly stopping to try to picture things and to think about and savor what I had just read. I enjoyed this book because I like it when ideas force me to put my mental pedal to the metal and blow the carbon out of my cerebral carburetors.
Their five ages include: the Primordial Era (from the Big Bang to the creation of hadrons from quarks, the formation of elements, and the domination of matter over energy), the Stelliferous Era (the formation of stars, solar systems, and galaxies, the death of the sun, our galaxy’s collision with Andromeda, and the end of star formation), the Degenerate Era (planets escape from stars, stars evaporate, white dwarfs deplete dark matter, black holes expand, protons decay, eventually eating away at planets and white dwarfs), the Black Hole era (stellar black holes evaporate, positronium forms in a flat universe, and the largest supermassive black holes disappear), and the Dark Era (positronium decays, and higher order proton decay processes occur).
At the end they discuss two possible vehicles for regeneration of the universe: cosmological phase transitions (having to do with changes in the state of the vacuum), and child universes formed from the singularities within black holes. They also suggest that either of these changes could be purposefully induced by sentient beings.
They also go into the idea that, in a multiverse, perhaps we have a sort of Darwinian competition going on among universes. Successful universes produce larger numbers of black holes that produce larger numbers of child universes. The basic physics systems differ a bit among the offspring. The universes found in greatest abundance are those that generate the most stars, galaxies, and black holes, which will also be the universes most likely to breed life.
It's a bit challenging to read in spots, but not impossibly so. It was, for me, a slow read because I was constantly stopping to try to picture things and to think about and savor what I had just read. I enjoyed this book because I like it when ideas force me to put my mental pedal to the metal and blow the carbon out of my cerebral carburetors.
January 1, 2021
Not quite 4 stars - perhaps because it was written 20 years ago and covers a lot of ground I have read about already (although I'm not claiming to understand it). A valuable lesson in timescales and size as the knowable universe both gets bigger and we see more of it. Or might be valuable if we last long enough! I really like the idea of cosmological decades where the first 10 billion is the first decade, the next 100 billion is the second and so on. Gave me a nice feel for how young the universe is at 14 billion years and the earth being four and a half billion - but I need to brush up on just how much bigger a billion is than a million. Billions frighten me a lot - think I'll order Tim Hardford's book 'How to Make the World Add Up'.
October 15, 2018
The single most interesting book I've read. But, as others have pointed out, some of the information is outdated.
December 22, 2023
Thought-provoking and detailed review of the evolution of the universe.
It paints a picture of "there will be nothing left" which is far bleaker than what I imagined before.
It paints a picture of "there will be nothing left" which is far bleaker than what I imagined before.
January 30, 2025
I wanted to read a physics book before my son takes physics next year (I never had to) but this ended up being astrophysics (the only entry-level physics book I could find at the local library).
I really enjoyed it, and learned a lot. There's not a lot of info about what happens after this "era" of the universe that we're in now, so this was enlightening, and it's the primary focus of the book (the Big Bang and time right after gets some ink, but that's just two of the "ages."
Anyway, it's basically impossible to wrap your brain around the concept of cosmological decades (for me, anyway) and the amounts of time are so insanely long that it's all fairly meaningless to a human, except as an academic exercise. We are talking about quadrillions of quadrillions of years, and that kind of thing. You know, when every black hole in the universe has burned out, to say nothing of every star, long, long before that.
Anyway, it's super interesting and mind-bending and well written for the non-physicist reader, like me, except when it comes to cosmological decades, anyway.
See you in the Dark Era, lol, when a brain would have to be as big as a galaxy to actually work, given the amount of energy available in the universe.
But don't worry, another universe could drop out of ours at any moment.
It's wild stuff, I tell ya, and only slightly less confusing than figuring out what documents you need to get your kid a driving learners permit.
I really enjoyed it, and learned a lot. There's not a lot of info about what happens after this "era" of the universe that we're in now, so this was enlightening, and it's the primary focus of the book (the Big Bang and time right after gets some ink, but that's just two of the "ages."
Anyway, it's basically impossible to wrap your brain around the concept of cosmological decades (for me, anyway) and the amounts of time are so insanely long that it's all fairly meaningless to a human, except as an academic exercise. We are talking about quadrillions of quadrillions of years, and that kind of thing. You know, when every black hole in the universe has burned out, to say nothing of every star, long, long before that.
Anyway, it's super interesting and mind-bending and well written for the non-physicist reader, like me, except when it comes to cosmological decades, anyway.
See you in the Dark Era, lol, when a brain would have to be as big as a galaxy to actually work, given the amount of energy available in the universe.
But don't worry, another universe could drop out of ours at any moment.
It's wild stuff, I tell ya, and only slightly less confusing than figuring out what documents you need to get your kid a driving learners permit.
October 29, 2009
I was just listening a great
lecture on these subjects yesterday given by the physicist Lawrence Krauss
and it reminded me of this book. I think I'll give it a reread sometime soon. I'm pretty sure I still have it with some grouping of my slightly unconsolidated book collection hidden away somewhere...
I read this a while back, before I had the more serious general interest in science that I now have, but even then I found this book extremely fascinating, thought-provoking and at moments terrifying in a very undiluted way. Trying to contemplate The Biggest Picture (the known universe) and its potential death is daunting no matter when it's done (age 16 and any age beyond), or so I'm quite convinced. One of the mind blowing and jaw dropping moments I remember pretty clearly was reaching a point in the book where the various demises of the universe were summarized.
I read this a while back, before I had the more serious general interest in science that I now have, but even then I found this book extremely fascinating, thought-provoking and at moments terrifying in a very undiluted way. Trying to contemplate The Biggest Picture (the known universe) and its potential death is daunting no matter when it's done (age 16 and any age beyond), or so I'm quite convinced. One of the mind blowing and jaw dropping moments I remember pretty clearly was reaching a point in the book where the various demises of the universe were summarized.
April 6, 2009
I am not sure quite what I was expecting of this book, but it sadly failed to deliver on whatever that expectation was. The sweeping discussion of cosmology - past, present, and distant (really distant) future - certainly sums up everything you ever wanted to know about the creation and destruction of the universe, but it never seemed to find its audience. Parts of it are aimed at readers mostly uninformed about astrophysics and quantum mechanics, while others delve into mathematical discussions and theories based on cutting-edge, but unproven, hypothesis. The Five Ages of the Universe simply lacks the approachability of, say, A Brief History of Time but also fails to drop more than a few interesting nuggets for those already informed about the past and (proposed) future of the universe. It's a decent read, but I can't really recommend it to anyone in particular.
April 10, 2010
Great book.... truly I don't know if it's more of science fiction or serious science. But therotical physics had always been like this, a speculative science field, so would say that what comes in this book is tremendously speculative? What matters to me, if after 10^100 bilion years or 10^100^100 bilion years (or cosmological decades, the time unity used in this book) it will be some lifeform or some hope of a new beginning... for the place where we all live. God can itself Be a scientist, after all. And Our own universe could be Is scientific project. And a great project it is ! Note: this book, like the way Napoleon complained to Laplace, don't ever use the word "God".
October 18, 2013
I read this book for a philosophy discussion and was unfortunately quite rushed. The book really explores in fascinating depth the death of the universe. What will it be like in the far distant future, long after all the stars are gone, the black holes have evaporated, and even protons have decayed? Well other than really cold and dark? Can life of any sort be created from black holes? How about life from just electrons and positrons? Most of the ideas in the books seemed plausible. I found some speculations quite challenging and unique.
And I plan on living long enough to tell you if the authors have it right. :)
And I plan on living long enough to tell you if the authors have it right. :)
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