A Short History of the Universe

Book excerpt: How has the universe evolved? Astronomer and physicist Joseph Silk explores this and other questions of cosmology in this updated, paperback edition of his acclaimed A Short History of the Universe. Silk shows how cosmologists study cosmic relics and construct theories of the universe's inception, its evolution, and its plausible future. He describes how physicists apply their theories of subatomic particles to re-create the first moments of the big bang and how astronomers map huge reaches of the universe to understand the later creation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. He also reports on one of science's most dramatic detective stories: the search for the missing matter that will determine the ultimate fate of the universe.