{"product_id":"the-secret-melody-and-man-created-the-universe","title":"The Secret Melody: And Man Created the Universe","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf the cosmos is vast  says astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan  it is by no means silent. Nature  he writes  \"delights in continuously sending us her notes of music.\" Like some far-off orchestra  it tantalizes us with fragments of a symphony  but the melody linking the bits and snatches of song is missing. The task of science is to unravel the secrets of that hidden melody  so that we can listen to the composition in all its glory. In The Secret Melody  Trinh Xuan Thuan examines our many attempts to capture the music of nature and hear the cosmic fugue. First  as prelude  he describes the many other cosmologies that preceded the modern Big Bang theory of creation--the magical universe of cavemen  the ancient Chinese idea of the universe (which Thuan compares to a gigantic bureaucracy)  the mathematical universe introduced by Pythagoras  and the heliocentric universe of Copernicus--and he explores the work of Galileo  Tycho Brahe  and other early scientists. He then describes in a clear  vivid  and poetic language our current understanding of the cosmos  painting a sharp picture of how modern astronomers study the universe  the equipment they use  the most prominent scientists  and the major discoveries. A mind-boggling portrait of the cosmos emerges in these pages. We read  for instance  of the incredible size of our own galaxy  the Milky Way  which is some 90 000 light-years in diameter  with several hundred billion stars orbiting its center. More amazing  we discover we live in a universe where stars  like human beings  are born  live  and die  leaving behind such strange and exotic objects as neutron stars and black holes; where time may expand and space may contract; and where billions of galaxies have sprung from a tiny primordial speck that was infinitely smaller than a hydrogen atom in a gigantic explosion  the Big Bang. And  of course  any examination of the origin and nature of the universe inevitably raises philosophical and religious questions  and Thuan examines these issues as well  presenting a provocative case for the anthropic principle (which argues that the universe has been fine-tuned to an extreme precision to produce living creatures with consciousness and intelligence) and illuminating the place of God in a Big Bang cosmology. Here then is an intriguing look at modern cosmology  blending up-to-the-minute descriptions of the forefront of astronomy with thoughtful reflections on sciences possible impact on philosophical and religious belief. With many beautiful and informative illustrations  The Secret Melody is an enthralling look at our endless efforts to understand the cosmos and to hear the music of the stars.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986275921973,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195073703","price":29.27,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195073706.jpg?v=1770894108","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-secret-melody-and-man-created-the-universe","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}