The Universe

Astronomers today believe the Universe may have begun 13.7 billion years ago, when its entire energy, mass, space, and even time, expanded out from a single point. Here we track the history of the Universe.The story begins among the rough-hewn rocks of ancient megaliths such as Stonehenge. It continues when the Greek genius Aristarchus pictures the geometry of Earth, Moon, and Sun and the huge empty spaces between them; when Edwin Hubble reveals the Universe is getting ever larger; and when Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky finds that most of the Universe is missing. These moments were turning points, when years of accumulated thought converged upon one astronomer's obsession, to turn a confounding puzzle into a discovery that changed the way we see the world. We call these Ponderables.

Includes a removable concertina housed in the back of the book providing a 12-page Timeline History of the Universe as well as the Star Chart of the Night Sky for every month on the reverse side.