The Five Ages of the Universe Inside the Physics of Eternity [Paperback]

As the twentieth century closed, Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin captured the attention of the world by identifying the five ages of time. InThe Five Ages of the Universe,Adams and Laughlin demonstrate that we can now understand the complete life story of the cosmos from beginning to end.
Adams and Laughlin have been hailed as the creators of the definitive long-term projection of the evolution of the universe. Their achievement is awesome in its scale and profound in its scientific breadth. ButThe Five Ages of the Universeis more than a handbook of the physical processes that guided our past and will shape our future; it is a truly epic story.
Without leaving earth, here is a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity. It is the only biography of the universe you will ever need.Fred Adamsreceived his Ph.D. from the University of California. Recipient of the Helen B. Warner Prize, Adams is a professor of physics at the University of Michigan and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Contents

Preface

Introduction

1 The Primordial Era

2 The Stelliferous Era

3 The Degenerate Era

4 The Black Hole Era

5 The Dark Era

Conclusion

Glossary

Notes

References and Further Reading

Key Events in the Biography of the UniverseIntroduction

A guide to the big picture, fundamental physical law, windows of space and time, the great war, and extremely big numbers.

January 1, 7,000,000,000 A.D., Ann Arbor:

The New Year rings in little cause for celebration. Nobody is present even to mark its passing. Earth's surface is a torrid unrecognizable wasteland. The Sun has swelled to enormous size, so large that its seething red disk nearly fills the daytime sky. The planet Mercury and then Venus have already been obliterated, and now the tenuous outer reaches of the solar atmosphere are threatening to overtake the receding orbit of Earth.ló+