"A new and welcome perspective on modern cosmology that any reader can easily grasp and appreciate... this is one of the very best books on the topic." -- Choice
Heart of Darkness describes the incredible saga of humankind's quest to unravel the deepest secrets of the universe. Over the past forty years, scientists have learned that two little-understood components -- dark matter and dark energy -- comprise most of the known cosmos, explain the growth of all cosmic structure, and hold the key to the universe's fate. The story of how evidence for the so-called "Lambda-Cold Dark Matter" model of cosmology has been gathered by generations of scientists throughout the world is told here by one of the pioneers of the field, Jeremiah Ostriker, and his coauthor Simon Mitton.
From humankind's early attempts to comprehend Earth's place in the solar system, to astronomers' exploration of the Milky Way galaxy and the realm of the nebulae beyond, to the detection of the primordial fluctuations of energy from which all subsequent structure developed, this book explains the physics and the history of how the current model of our universe arose and has passed every test hurled at it by the skeptics. Throughout this rich story, an essential theme is emphasized: how three aspects of rational inquiry -- the application of direct measurement and observation, the introduction of mathematical modeling, and the requirement that hypotheses should be testable and verifiable -- guide scientific progress and underpin our modern cosmological paradigm.
This monumental puzzle is far from complete, however, as scientists confront the mysteries of the ultimate causes of cosmic structure formation and the real nature and origin of dark matter and dark energy.

• We started tracking this book on January 29, 2013.
• This book was $15.37 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 127 times in the past 4,823 days.
• The current price of this book is $12.16 last checked 2 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past six months is $2.99.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $1.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on September 13, 2025.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $18.95 last reached on December 1, 2022.
• This book has been $18.95 3 times since we started tracking it.

• Science & MathAstronomy & Space ScienceAstronomy
• Science & MathAstronomy & Space ScienceCosmology

• Publication Date: January 22, 2013
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 318 Pages
• File Size: 73 KB