Author:Lawrence Krauss
Will the universe continue to expand forever, reverse its expansion and begin to contract, or reach a delicately poised state where it simply persists forever? The answer depends on the amount and properties of matter in the universe, and that has given rise to one of the great paradoxes of modern cosmology; there is too little visible matter to account for the behaviour we can see. Over 90 percent of the universe consists of 'missing mass' or 'dark matter' - what Lawrence Krauss, in his classic book, termed "the fifth essence". In this new edition of The Fifth Essence, retitled Quintessence after the now widely accepted term for dark matter, Krauss shows how the dark matter problem is now connected with two of the hottest areas in recent cosmology: the fate of the universe and the "cosmological constant." With a new introduction, epilogue and chapter updates, Krauss updates his classic and shares one of the most stunning discoveries of recent years: an antigravity force that explains recent observations of a permanently expanding universe.
An important book... remarkably complete. For anyone interested in the subject of human origins, seldom has it been possible to find out so much between the covers of a popular work.
—— Richard LeakeyA masterful combination of careful scholarship and clever narrative... authoritative and delightful to read.
—— Roger LewinWonderful reading, bringing vivacity to dusty boneyards... Impossible to put down.
—— Jonathan Kingdom , The Times Literary SupplementAt last! In their sane and lucid - and much needed - corrective to the torrent of overblown genetic rhetoric, Patrick Bateson and Paul Martin take the reader on a journey through humanity's seven ages
—— Steven RoseBateson and Martin have delivered what others have claimed to provide: a solid, signposted road out of the trench war between nature and nurture
—— Marek Kohn , IndependentWith a clarity of style that belies the complexity of the subject, Patrick Bateson and Paul Martin conduct us through the strategic highways adn tactical byways of individual life history
—— Richard Dawkins'Exhilarating'
—— Melvyn Bragg , Observer'As enthralling in its own way as was Darwin's original'
—— Kenan Malik , Independent on Sunday