Overview

The Cosmic Mystery Tour takes us on a lightning tour of the mysteries of the universe enlivened by brief stories of the colourful characters who created modern science. It explores hot topics in physics and astronomy, including the recent discovery of gravitational waves; the quest for the origin of dark matter; the study of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy; the ongoing search for Earth-like exoplanets; the search for signals from extraterrestrials; and the development of technologies to send spacecraft to the stars. The first part of the book explores the laws that govern the universe. Physics is a spiritual quest to find deep meaning in the cosmos. Its goal is to provide a concise, but accurate description of the world that accounts for all the amazing features that it contains. The second part takes a look at the history of the cosmos, studies its geography and explores some of its architectural highlights such as red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars and the ultimate cosmic mysteries--supermassive black holes. The last part considers the possibility that life might exist elsewhere in the universe, and explores the cosmos from the outer fringes of science fiction to the ongoing search for alien civilizations.

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9780191869785

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""The Cosmic Mystery Tour is aimed at beginners looking for an easy-to-read introduction to the modern view of the Universe. It's an engaging read and provides a good springboard to further investigation of any topic that captures the reader's imagination."" -- Matthew Hodgson, Astronomy Now ""That the seemingly endless mysteries of the cosmos are gradually being not merely revealed but also understood is an exciting voyage in science: that excitement is captured by this lucid and accessible account of almost everything there is."" -- Peter Atkins, University of Oxford ""Ambitious in scope and easy to read, this book is a small guide to that largest of subjects ... the many pictures are not just the usual beautiful scientific images from NASA and ESA that we've come to expect in popular science, but include relevant artistic and cultural references ... Mee is an experienced science communicator and this shows in his confident and engaging tone ... enjoyable, fast-paced account... It would be ideal for anyone wanting to know more about the underlying physics of the pretty pictures we see in the media."" -- Pippa Goldschmidt, BBC Sky at Night ""... high-quality, small-format hardback ... The Cosmic Mystery Tour is aimed at beginners looking for an easy-to-read introduction to the modern view of the Universe. It's an engaging read and provides a good springboard to further investigation of any topic that captures the reader's imagination. �For those of us with a more rigorous academic background in physics, it is still an entertaining diversion for a couple of hours."" -- Astronomy Now ""An accessible introduction to all things cosmos..."" -- Maren Ostergard, Booklist ""The book does an admirable job of following the developments and groundwork of classical physics through the latest in quantum physics and recent discoveries including gravity waves in a very comprehensible way using excellent diagrams and images."" -- Amateur Astronomy Magazine ""Mee has a knack for introducing the reader to some of the colourful characters... His explanations are spot on, just enough to make sense of key discoveries without ever becoming overwhelming. There are also lots of colourful images � photos of scientists, concept art and even movie stills � that help break up the text."" -- Katrina Kramer, Chemistry World ""Every so often a book comes along that attempts to introduce the universe to a reader in as short a context as possible. Some work, others don't. The Cosmic Mystery Tour does ... In a very small, readable format, with way over a hundred illustrations, most of which are in color, the author has given us a handy, portable collection of the cosmos. And, the reader doesn�t have to read from cover to cover: Anywhere you open it up, and start to read, you will be fascinated with the study of our universe - past, present, and future."" -- Francine Jackson, theskyscrapers.org ""Nicholas Mee, in his brilliant The Cosmic Mystery Tour: A High-Speed Journey through Space & Time, offers a chapter-by-short-chapter assemblage of the theories, discoveries, and general relativity-type great leaps of inspiration that account for the impressive amount of knowledge we have about the universe... Refreshingly comprehensible, for the subject matter, this project is a delight."" -- Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews"

The Cosmic Mystery Tour is aimed at beginners looking for an easy-to-read introduction to the modern view of the Universe. It's an engaging read and provides a good springboard to further investigation of any topic that captures the reader's imagination. -- Matthew Hodgson, Astronomy Now That the seemingly endless mysteries of the cosmos are gradually being not merely revealed but also understood is an exciting voyage in science: that excitement is captured by this lucid and accessible account of almost everything there is. -- Peter Atkins, University of Oxford Ambitious in scope and easy to read, this book is a small guide to that largest of subjects ... the many pictures are not just the usual beautiful scientific images from NASA and ESA that we've come to expect in popular science, but include relevant artistic and cultural references ... Mee is an experienced science communicator and this shows in his confident and engaging tone ... enjoyable, fast-paced account... It would be ideal for anyone wanting to know more about the underlying physics of the pretty pictures we see in the media. -- Pippa Goldschmidt, BBC Sky at Night ... high-quality, small-format hardback ... The Cosmic Mystery Tour is aimed at beginners looking for an easy-to-read introduction to the modern view of the Universe. It's an engaging read and provides a good springboard to further investigation of any topic that captures the reader's imagination. For those of us with a more rigorous academic background in physics, it is still an entertaining diversion for a couple of hours. -- Astronomy Now An accessible introduction to all things cosmos... -- Maren Ostergard, Booklist The book does an admirable job of following the developments and groundwork of classical physics through the latest in quantum physics and recent discoveries including gravity waves in a very comprehensible way using excellent diagrams and images. -- Amateur Astronomy Magazine Mee has a knack for introducing the reader to some of the colourful characters... His explanations are spot on, just enough to make sense of key discoveries without ever becoming overwhelming. There are also lots of colourful images photos of scientists, concept art and even movie stills that help break up the text. -- Katrina Kramer, Chemistry World Every so often a book comes along that attempts to introduce the universe to a reader in as short a context as possible. Some work, others don't. The Cosmic Mystery Tour does ... In a very small, readable format, with way over a hundred illustrations, most of which are in color, the author has given us a handy, portable collection of the cosmos. And, the reader doesn t have to read from cover to cover: Anywhere you open it up, and start to read, you will be fascinated with the study of our universe - past, present, and future. -- Francine Jackson, theskyscrapers.org Nicholas Mee, in his brilliant The Cosmic Mystery Tour: A High-Speed Journey through Space & Time, offers a chapter-by-short-chapter assemblage of the theories, discoveries, and general relativity-type great leaps of inspiration that account for the impressive amount of knowledge we have about the universe... Refreshingly comprehensible, for the subject matter, this project is a delight. -- Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews

Author Information

Nicholas Mee studied theoretical physics and mathematics at the University of Cambridge. He achieved a top distinction in Part III of the Mathematical Tripos of the University of Cambridge and gained his PhD there in theoretical particle physics, with the thesis Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and Geometry. He is also author of the award-winning popular science book Higgs Force: Cosmic Symmetry Shattered, and co-author of The Physical World: An Inspirational Tour of Fundamental Physics (OUP, 2017).

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