The Constants of Nature - From Beginning to End - Open Humanities

Author: Barrow
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: This book is a high-level popular science reading material and another significant work by Barrow, a renowned British science popularizer and professor at the University of Cambridge. The book starts with the fundamental physical quantities in daily life—measuring space, time, and the weight of matter in meters, seconds, and kilograms—and discusses the basic constants of nature. These constants include the strength of gravity, the magnitude of magnetism, the speed of light, and the mass of tiny particles of matter. The author argues that the constants of nature are a set of numbers that determine the essence of the universe. They reflect the profound mysteries of the universe, revealing why the universe is so vast, why it has existed for so long, how strong the forces within the universe are, and how the universe will change. Are these constants truly eternal? Why does life appear only on one planet in the solar system? The book also reviews the history of human exploration of the constants of nature, including the contributions of scientific giants such as Newton and Einstein.