Cosmic Numbers: The Numbers That Define Our Universe

by James D Stein

Overview

Our fascination with numbers begins when we are children and continues throughout our lives. We start counting our fingers and toes and end up balancing checkbooks and calculating risk. So powerful is the appeal of numbers that many people ascribe to them a mystical significance. Other numbers go beyond the supernatural, working to explain our universe and how it behaves.
Cosmic Numbers, mathematics professor James D. Stein traces the discovery, evolution, and interrelationships of the numbers that define our world. Everyone knows about the speed of light and absolute zero, but numbers like Boltzmann's constant and the Chandrasekhar limit are not as well known, and they do far more than one might imagine: They tell us how this world began and what the future holds. Much more than a gee-whiz collection of facts and figures, Cosmic Numbers illuminates why particular numbers are so important -- both to the scientist and to the rest of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465063796
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/28/2013
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

James D. Stein is a past member of the Institute of Advanced Studies and is currently a Professor of Mathematics at California State University (Long Beach). His list of publications is extensive and includes: How to Shoot from the Hip Without Getting Shot in the Foot (with Herbert L. Stone and Charles V. Harlow); How Math Explains the World (a Scientific American Book Club selection); The Right Decision (also a Scientific American Book Club selection); and How Math Can Save Your Life. He has been a guest blogger for Psychology Today and his work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 The Gravitational Constant 1

2 The Speed Of Light 15

3 The Ideal Gas Constant 29

4 Absolute Zero 43

5 Avogadro's Number 57

6 Electricity And The Proportionality Constant 71

7 The Boltzmann Constant 85

8 The Planck Constant 103

9 The Schwarzschild Radius 117

10 The Efficiency Of Hydrogen Fusion 133

11 The Chandrasekhar Limit 149

12 The Hubble Constant 167

13 Omega 185

Codata Note 203

Notes 207

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

New Scientist
“Amid seemingly endless strings of equations, a handful of numbers stand out.  These are the physical constants, numbers that hold their true value in any situation—the unbreakable scaffolding of reality. In Cosmic Numbers, mathematician James Stein offers a tour of some of these constants.... These are numbers we take for granted today, but Stein stresses the lengths people went to determine them.  There is plenty of interesting background too.”
 
Washington Independent Review of Books
“The author cajoles the reader to enjoy the spirit of discovery with him, keeping a light style of narrative. Nevertheless, Stein does not shy away from introducing mathematical formulae as well as precise descriptions of the science involved, sometimes in a rather condensed form. The nonscientific reader need not be intimidated by these.... This book will appeal to a wide audience of readers who are curious to know more about the discovery of the laws that govern our universe.... [A]n enjoyable and informative read.”
 

Ian Stewart, author of The Mathematics of Life
“A vivid exploration of today's science, from the forces that keep our planet in orbit to the origin of the atoms that form our bodies. Clear and concise, easy to read, and enormously informative, Cosmic Numbers relates the stories behind some of the most important numbers in science—where they came from, what they tell us, and how they changed the way we view our world.”
 
John L. Casti, Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Vienna, and author of Mood Matters, Paradigms Lost, Five Golden Rules, and The Cambridge Quintet
“Most people use numbers like 1, 2, 3 ... to count. But the numbers that really count are the ones described in this book! They tell us why we see the universe we do and not see something else. After reading this very enlightening, informative and entertaining book, you'll see why some numbers are just a bit more equal than others.”
 
Leonard Wapner, El Camino College
“We memorized them in our high school science classes. Now Jim Stein teaches us to appreciate nature's constants by giving us the stories and the personalities behind their discovery. It's an enjoyable and thought provoking read.”
 

Paul J. Nahin, author of Number-Crunching and An Imaginary Tale
“It would seem trivially obvious to say all numbers are not equal. Some numbers are especially important, however, not because of mathematics but because of physics. This book discusses the history and ‘use' of thirteen such numbers, which if only slightly different would make the world we live in a vastly different place—or simply not even possible. After reading James Stein's Cosmic Numbers you'll understand why existence itself is ‘in the numbers.'”

The Guardian (UK)
“[Cosmic Numbers] is a story of man's lust for measurement...and also a persuasive explanation of why it is worth measuring such apparently arcane phenomena very exactly.”

Kirkus
“Cheerful but not dumbed-down....  Every educated reader should know what these numbers mean. Stein casts his net widely, delivering an entertaining history of each, often wandering into areas of science only distantly related but no less worthwhile.”

Booklist
“In the explanatory power of fundamental numbers, Stein discerns the fundamental harmonies that emerge in the most profound science. Stein teases these harmonies out of their formulas and then weaves them into a broader conceptual fabric…By turns amusing and poignant, Stein's engaging style eases general readers past their fears of scientific math, while also guiding them into a deeper appreciation of the stubborn human complexities of the scientists behind that mat.... Numbers become portals to mind-expanding questions.”

The Boston Globe
“A brisk, fun ride…Stein is good at extracting drama from the brilliant minds and experiments that fill his book, and it's impossible to read it without gaping in awe at just how much science got done in the days prior to statistical analysis software and multicore processors.

From the Publisher

Cal State professor Stein's "history by the numbers" breathes warm, surprising life into the constants that define the shape, breadth, and scope of our lives and our universe. The stories behind the measurement of scientific values like the speed of light and absolute zero are the history of modern science itself. Each value is a stepping stone to the next: Henry Cavendish's ingenious experiment to reveal the universal gravitational constant led to chemist Robert Boyle's painstaking work, which defined the "Ideal Gas Constant." The speed of light wasn't nailed down until Albert Michelson improved an older, flawed experiment. Later numbers reach deeper into the atom and farther from Earth, like Planck's constant, part of the foundation of quantum theory, which paved the way for understanding nuclear fusion and stellar life cycles. Some numbers we still don't know for certain, like the number called Omega, whose value will determine the eventual fate of our universe. Stein (How Math Can Save Your Life) expertly weaves together math, history, and biography into a thoroughly entertaining story of hard work and discovery. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Cheerful but not dumbed-down discussions of 13 fundamental numbers.

Unlike many popular-science writers, Stein (Mathematics/California State Univ., Long Beach; How Math Can Save Your Life, 2010, etc.) does not boast that he avoids math, so readers should remember their high-school algebra. Almost everyone knows that light has a speed and that temperatures can drop to absolute zero. However, no one knew that 500 years ago, and Stein recounts how astronomers (in the case of light) and physicists (for absolute zero) teased out the details. Fundamentals discovered more recently bear the names of their founding geniuses: Planck's constant that began the quantum revolution, Hubble's constant that measures how fast the universe is expanding, the Schwarzschild radius (how to make a black hole; squeezing the Earth to the size of a pea would do it) and the Chandrasekhar limit, which determines if an aging star will go quietly or light up the galaxy in a supernova (our sun is too small to explode). Stein is not shy about explaining the mathematics behind these phenomena at length rarely seen in a popular-science book. Readers who keep a pencil and paper handy will benefit, but those who skim will not regret the experience. While not math-free, the book is illustration-free, so readers should make liberal use of that pencil and paper because many explanations become clearer with a simple diagram.

Every educated reader should know what these numbers mean. Stein casts his net widely, delivering an entertaining history of each, often wandering into areas of science only distantly related but no less worthwhile.

Kirkus Reviews