The 4-Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality - Couverture souple

'Richard Panek has written a contemporary adventure story of modern-day explorers who venture forth into the universe not by ships, but by telescopes and satellites. Like adventure stories of old, there are visionaries, heroes, patrons, and, perhaps, a few pirates. A riveting book.' --Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble with Physics

'Modern cosmology tackles some of the biggest questions we have about the nature of the cosmos. In The 4-Percent Universe, Richard Panek brings this quest down to a human scale. The rivalries, the surprises, and the excitement are brought vividly to life. People are a very tiny percentage of the universe, but we remain the most interesting part.' --Sean Carroll, author of From Eternity to Here

'Richard Panek turns astronomers and physicists into real (and sometimes likeable) characters. You can feel the tension as two rival groups race to discover the fate of the universe. We see scientists as real people, warts and all. Panek turns potentially baffling science into a tense story of rivalry and discovery.' --Brian Clegg, author of Before the Big Bang and Armageddon Science

Only 4% of the universe consists of the matter that makes up you, me, this form, and every star and planet. Over the last few decades scientists have been battling to understand the rest: the strange dark matterA" and even stranger dark energyA". In exhilarating and behind-the-scenes detail, Panek takes us on a tour of the bitter rivalries and fruitful collaborations, the eureka moments and blind alleys, that have fuelled the search, redefined science, and reinvented the universe.