Katie Mack is a theoretical cosmologist and Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. She’s also a fan of Science Fiction and popular culture. She does a great job of covering the various ways that our Universe, as we understand it at the moment, could come to an end in a few billion or trillion years. Or in the next few minutes.
She has a friendly way of talking about the most esoteric and abstract concepts. I was reminded of Sheldon teaching Penny about physics by starting with ancient Greece on a warm Summer evening. We all know a bit about physics from things like Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a few popular books such as A Brief History of Time. She uses these bits of common ground to help us stay with her as she talks about Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Muons, Quarks, and the dreaded Total Vacuum Bubble.
There’s been a few shifts and advancements in the world of theoretical physics since I read A Brief History of Time. For example, I don’t recall Dark Energy at all. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are basically the Ether of the modern era, there is no proof, and there can never be any proof, that they exist. They are invisible and undetectable, but they have to be there. More than once she says that the math is beautiful and elegant, if you feel like spending twenty years or so learning how to understand it. So basically, we have to take the scientists word for it.
The End of Everything talks about The Big Bang, The Big Crunch, The Big Rip, and a few other odds and ends where Physicists give cute names to baffling concepts. The Big Rip is also new to me, the idea that the Universe might near instantaneously self destruct by pulling itself apart is an interesting one. I don’t know enough about the math for it to give me much of a sense of dread.
There’s a lot of information here and while I’m not going to be filling wall sized blackboards with incomprehensible symbols, I did enjoy this look at how the Universe will, absolutely, probably, you know, very likely, end.
