Calculating the Cosmos: How Mathematics Unveils the Universe

Calculating The Cosmos is a fascinating exploration of our cosmos, from the creation of the Earth and our own Solar System, through the Milky Way Galaxy until the end of the universe. Professor Ian Stewart skilfully uses Newtonian Laws of Gravity, Einstein’s Laws of Relativity alongside complex different equations and chaotic dynamics to explain the current theories about the creation of the universe and billions of galaxies – all without asking the reader to understand the maths! Calculating The Cosmos explains how the Newtonian Laws of Gravitation have enabled mathematicians to predict and explain the formation and existence of unknown planets and stars and their orbits, which astronomers have then been able to validate (or sometimes disprove) through observation and measurement. And equally, cosmological observations can be explained through mathematical analyses. Stewart explains how supercomputers running complex models can now determine the chemistry and orbits of stars and galaxies millions of light years away. Today, NASA and the ESA use these same programs to plan trajectories and orbits of space probes. Stewart takes the reader through logical, simple stages from the Earth’s creation to the theories behind Black Holes and Dark Matter, up to the current thinking about the end of the Universe. Each step is presented in an enjoyable and highly readable fashion. Calculating The Cosmos explains an extraordinarily complex subject in a remarkably understandable and interesting way. I have learned so much about how mathematics interacts with astronomy and how astronomy benefits from the open-minded approach of mathematicians, and also about our truly incomprehensible universe. Professor Stewart has expanded my understanding of the Earth, our galaxy and the universe, whilst leaving open so many intriguing questions.

son happy with book needed for a levels

Great book. Easy to understand and well written

This is an exceptionally useful and well organised book that meets a long-overdue need. It covers all the science that underpins our understanding of the Universe in a way that is easy to understand. It also provides a critical perspective by indicating where orthodox opinion isn't quite as cut & dried as we are led to believe. If you've ever found the idea of dark matter a bit puzzling, or the notion of a simultaneously alive/dead cat, then this book will make you feel a lot less stupid. I think most people who buy it will be like me and already have some knowledge of the subject - in other words they will be coming at it with a lot of questions...and the later chapters are invaluable for anyone troubled by the easy assumptions of the standard model of cosmology.

I Liked the fuller explanations of the maths involved in cosmology. I never appreciated the amount of approximation needed to progress.

Fascinating reading, difficult to put down. Explains a lot of the things that had puzzled me.

This is a weird one - it's a book where I'm really struggling to identify who it's for and what it is supposed to do. The only conclusion I can draw is that Calculating the Cosmos is intended for people who like Ian Stewart's excellent maths books, but who don't usually read popular science books, so need a maths-driven introduction to astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. The particularly odd thing is that despite the subtitle 'how mathematics unveils the universe' there is very little explicit maths in the book - it's mostly just straightforward physics with little prominence given to the mathematical side. And the physics is put across in a fairly heavy handed 'fact, fact, fact...' way - the book is light on narrative throughout. Where it does stray into history there are one or two examples that don't quite get the story straight - for instance, when talking about Newton's development of his gravitational work, Stewart tells us that it took a 'stroke of genius' to see that the Moon is both falling and moving sideways so it misses. What he doesn't point out was that the genius in question was Robert Hooke, not Isaac Newton. This is one of the few points where Newton explicitly says the idea had not occurred to him until Hooke wrote to him about it. Where the book does stand out is where Stewart delves into something that is usually glossed over in a popular science book. Sometimes this content feels a touch 'so what?' - for example in describing the method used to simulate the formation of the Moon - but in other cases, for example the analysis of how comet 67P got its 'rubber duck' shape, the route of the Rosetta probe, and in probably the best explanation of curved spacetime and manifolds I've seen. Best of all, Stewart explains how dark matter could not exist at all, simply being a matter of making the wrong assumptions in combining the interactions of stars in a galaxy and the way he eloquently dissects the many worlds hypothesis (many of the best bits are towards the end of the book). However, these are standout moments amongst a whole collection of information we've seen so many times before, and when he does explain the science, the approach taken is often not easy to grasp - for example his impenetrable use of Penrose diagrams in talking about black holes. The story of the Rosetta probe is probably the closest we come to having some narrative to engage us, but even here the storytelling is bland, and, from a mathematical standpoint, we miss the opportunity to look at a different kinds of mathematical involvement, as there was interesting work done on the scheduling of Rosetta's experiments to deal with the very limited communications bandwidth. This isn't a bad book, but apart from those handful of highlights where something is explained better than elsewhere, most of it fails to bring in anything new and lacks the engaging writing style of, say, Stewart's books written with Terry Pratchett. Here Stewart rarely makes use of mathematical insights to tell us anything different to straightforward familiar astronomy and cosmology, which is a shame as he is so excellent at making maths interesting. For the science, though, we get this distinctly 'here's a fact, here's another fact, here's yet another fact' style of writing. It might work as a book for that maths-based space newcomer, but I'm afraid its not for me.

a good non-technical summary - as expected

Loved it, it is written in a growing way that helps you understand the concepts as they develop, thank you

superb writing on a difficult topic. Ian Stewart allows the reader to grapple with some of the large questions about the universe.

An insightful and well-written account of mathematics's role in revealing the wonders of our universe. That was Stewart’s goal, and he did an excellent job. He is also honest about the limits of current knowledge, the shortcomings of some modern theories, and our need to look further. A very understandable and human work well worth the read.

Instructif car pointe les faiblesses du modèle standard cosmologique lambda CDM (big bang - inflation - matière froide sombre) : pas de formule de math mais technique tout de même dans son propos, en anglais.

A marvellous book with diagrams and explanations . The style of writing is very simple to understand.