Book The Last Horizon

Synopsis

what do we know about the universe? Undoubtedly, a lot. We know its age, its structure, what it contains and how it evolved to become the space full of galaxies, stars and planets that we know.

The story of how modern physics has come so far along the path of knowledge of the cosmos is also that of an extraordinary scientific adventure, especially if we think that until just over a century ago we knew nothing about it all. An incredible feat for which we are accompanied by the astrophysicist and popularizer Amedeo Balbi in the first part of this book.

But then, do we already know everything? Of course not: although we are sure of the general structure of the cosmos, we have yet to define exactly all the details.

Balbi invites us to enter the latest frontiers of astrophysical research, in search of the confirmation of inflationary theory, dark matter, or the explanation of the accelerated expansion of the universe. A frontier in which we are far from finding a definitive answer to some basic questions: is the universe finite or infinite? If space and time have had a beginning, will they also have an end? Could the laws of nature be different? Are there other universes besides our own?

To face these questions with the tools of science, we must go beyond the last horizon, where what happened at the origins of the universe is hidden from our eyes by a wall of fire, where the measurements we have made may no longer be valid, where we may discover that the physics we have developed only describes a brief moment and a limited space of a much larger and unreachable cosmos.

The Last Horizon won in 2021 the Asimov Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of popular science.

Author biography: Amedeo Balbi

He is Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics in the Department of Physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Author of more than 100 scientific papers, his research covers a wide range of topics, such as the physics of the early universe, the problem of dark matter and dark energy or the search for life in the cosmos. His studies have contributed to the first precise measurements of cosmological parameters and to determining the geometry of the universe. He is a member of prestigious scientific institutions such as the International Astronomical Union and the Scientific Council of the Italian Society of Astrobiology. He is also a renowned science popularizer and a regular guest on Italian radio and television programs. With The Last Horizon he won the Asimov Prize 2021.

Publisher : SHACKLETON BOOKS (13 February 2023)

Language : English

Softcover : 208 pages

Product weight : 291 g

Dimensions : 16 x 1.4 x 23 cm