The Red Limit

by Timothy Ferris

Book Overview

For centuries, it was assumed that our universe was static. In the late 1920s, astronomers defeated this assumption with a startling new discovery. From Earth, the light of distant galaxies appeared... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068801836X
• ISBN13: 9780688018368
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A history of cosmology

This book is not so much a science book as it is a history of science. Ferris tells the story of the development of the various theories surrounding cosmology the development of the universe. As such he does spend a lot of time talking about theories which were later proved incorrect. Periodically while reading the book I did find myself checking out various things on the internet in order to see what the final result would be. He covers things like the debates on whether the universe contains one galaxy or many, how the big bang theory was developed, the discoveries of things like cephiad variable stars, the galactic red shift, and background microwave radiation that led to a better understanding of the universe. He also covers some of the great scientific debates, like the one about uncertainty between Einstein and Heisenberg. I found the book to be very readable and informative. The only reason it's not 5 stars is that it is somewhat dated. However, as it is not really a book about science, but a book about the history of science, its dated nature doesn't detract from its overall narrative. As I mentioned above, anyone wanting to know the modern spin on things which might not have been available when the book was written can simply google things as he reads.

Excellent!

A great review of the discovery of the expanding universe; the science is interesting and understandable for the lay person. Even more compelling is the drama of the scientists themselves, there life, personalities,strengths, foibles and their wonderful discoveries. It is science and history of science combined in an easy to read 250 page book that helps us all comprehend just a grasp of the incomprehensable nature of our existence in this universe.