Description

From Steven Weinberg's The First Three Minutes (Basic, 1976. o.p.; 1988. pap.) to Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time ( LJ 4/15/88), numerous science popularizations have expounded the Big Bang Theory for the origin of the universe as indisputable fact. Readers of those books will find this one startling and intriguing. Lerner, a plasma physicist, points out flaws in the Big Bang model and proposes an alternative theory: an eternal, self-sustaining "plasma" universe where electromagnetic fields within conducting gases provide other, simpler explanations for observed phenomena. His contention that the Big Bang is merely a repackaged creation myth is presumptuous, but well argued. To present a current scientific controversy to a general audience risks, on one hand, misleading the public and, on the other, circumventing the peer review process. This book, however, makes valid points in a convincing manner and does neither. Recommended for general science collections.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bozeman
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.