PENROSE, Roger - Cycles of Time - (Excellent Paperback)

(NO MORE THAN 5 BOOKS PER ORDER OR PARCEL ALLOWED) - Book looks brand new and unread to me - 288 pg.   >>>   Penrose presents a new perspective on three of cosmologys essential questions: What came before the Big Bang? What is the source of order in our universe? And what cosmic future awaits us?   -   He shows how the expected fate of our ever-accelerating and expanding universeheat death or ultimate entropycan actually be reinterpreted as the conditions that will begin a new Big Bang. He details the basic principles beneath our universe, explaining various standard and non-standard cosmological models, the fundamental role of the cosmic microwave background, the paramount significance of black holes, and other basic building blocks of contemporary physics. Intellectually thrilling and widely accessible, Cycles of Time is a welcome new contribution to our understanding of the universe from one of our greatest mathematicians and thinkers.   >>>   "A groundbreaking book providing a new take on three of cosmology's most profound questions: What, if anything, came before the Big Bang? What is the source of order in our universe? What is the universe's ultimate future? Current understanding of our universe dictates that all matter will eventually thin out to zero density, with huge black holes finally evaporating away into massless energy. Roger Penrose--one of the most innovative mathematicians of our time--turns around this predominant picture of the universe's "heat death," arguing how the expected ultimate fate of our accelerating, expanding universe can actually be reinterpreted as the "Big Bang" of a new one. Along the way to this remarkable cosmological picture, Penrose sheds new light on basic principles that underlie the behavior of our universe, describing various standard and nonstandard cosmological models, the fundamental role of the cosmic microwave background, and the key status of black holes. Intellectually thrilling and accessible, Cycles of Time is another essential guide to the universe from one of our preeminent thinkers"    >>>  I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Rather than start with half a book of the history of physics, Roger Penrose jumps right in and discusses what he thinks. He knows all of the material so well that he can seemingly discuss anything about Cosmology. The mathematics are beyond me now, but I love the breadth of the ideas, and I'm going to study this book and learn all I can about every aspect. Penrose is so well established that he can talk about theories and conjectures with a freedom that most physicists I have read completely avoid. It's not that I agree with Penrose, or that I know enough to agree or disagree, but I greatly admire his courage and erudition. I highly recommend this book.