The constants of nature : from Alpha to Omega--the numbers that encode the deepest secrets of the universe
/ John D. Barrow
- 1st American ed
- New York : Pantheon Books , c2002.
- xv, 352 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-342) and index.
Before the beginning -- Journey towards ultimate reality -- Superhuman standards -- Further, deeper, fewer: the quest for a theory of everything -- Eddington's unfinished symphony -- Mystery of the very large numbers -- Biology and the stars -- Anthropic principle -- Altering constants and rewriting history -- New dimensions -- Variations on a constant theme -- Reach for the sky -- Other worlds and big questions
Barrow (mathematical sciences, U. of Cambridge) has been concerned about, and writing about, the constants of nature for over two decades now. Here he adds a new chapter: recent technology for analyzing light from distant quasars reveals what conditions have been like over the past 11 billion years, and startling findings about whether or not the so-called constants have been fickle.