Product Description

'Fascinating-The major strength of the book lies in the diversity of topics discussed' Nature

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264020 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
Constants of Nature are the numbers that define the essence of the Universe. They tell us how strong its forces are, and what its fundamental laws can do: the strength of gravity, of magnetism, the speed of light and the masses of the smallest particles of matter. They express our greatest knowledge and our greatest ignorance about the cosmos. Yet, while we have become skilled at measuring the values of these constants, our frustrating inability to explain or predict their values shows how much we still have to learn about the inner workings of the Universe.

Customer Reviews

Mankind matters
I bought this book to get an update on cosmology and Barrow certainly has a spellbinding story to tell about the constancy of the universe and several what-if scenarios on how tiny changes in the essential constants governing the structure of space. I knew nothing about the anthropic principle but readning the book I went from scepticism due to the potential misuse from non-scientist camps (ie intelligent design) but finally rendered myself and know consider myself at least avidly interested in the debate on that particular subject on the Internet.

The historical thread through the book on how famous physisists have grapppled with constancy is written in an engaging tone and
ties well into the rest of the book.