God's Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Expanding Universe

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Are we on the verge of solving the riddle of creation using Einstein's "greatest blunder"?In a work that is at once lucid, exhilarating and profound, renowned mathematician Dr. Amir Aczel, critically acclaimed author of Fermat's Last Theorem, takes us into the heart of science's greatest mystery. In January 1998, astronomers found evidence that the cosmos is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The way we perceive the universe was changed forever. The most compelling theory cosmologists could find to explain this phenomenon was Einstein's cosmological constant, a theory he conceived--and rejected---over eighty years ago. Drawing on newly discovered letters of Einstein--many translated here for the first time--years of research, and interviews with prominent mathematicians, cosmologists, physicists, and astronomers, Aczel takes us on a fascinating journey into "the strange geometry of space-time," and into the mind of a genius. Here the unthinkable becomes real: an infinite, ever-expanding, ever-accelerating universe whose only absolute is the speed of light. Awesome in scope, thrilling in detail, God's Equation is storytelling at its finest.

Author(s): Amir D. Aczel
Year: 2000

Language: English
Pages: 237

Cover......Page 1
Back Cover......Page 2
Also by Amir D. Aczel......Page 3
PRAISE FOR AMIR D. ACZEL'S
Fermat's Last Theorem......Page 4
Title......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
Dedication......Page 8
Contents......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
CHAPTER 1

Exploding Stars......Page 22
CHAPTER 2

Early Einstein......Page 34
CHAPTER 3

Prague, 1911......Page 48
CHAPTER 4 Euclid's Riddle......Page 64
CHAPTER 5

Grossmann's Notebooks
......Page 82
CHAPTER 6

The Crimean Expedition
......Page 92
CHAPTER 7 Riemann's Metric......Page 112
CHAPTER 8

Berlin: The Field Equation......Page 125
CHAPTER 9

Principe Island, 1919......Page 141
CHAPTER 10 The Joint Meeting......Page 159
CHAPTER 11 Cosmological Considerations......Page 169
CHAPTER 12

The Expansion of Space......Page 186
CHAPTER 13

The Nature of Matter......Page 200
CHAPTER 14

The Geometry of the Universe......Page 208
CHAPTER 15

Batavia, Illinois, May 4, 1998......Page 216
CHAPTER 16

God's Equation
......Page 226
References......Page 240
Index......Page 244
About the Author......Page 256