Relato del maravilloso descubrimiento del "eco del big bang", el espectro completo la radiación de fondo de microondas, incluyendo su asimetría de cuadrupolo, que ponía firmes cimientos a la teoría del Big Bang. Desde que Arno Penzias y Robert Wilson descubrieran  accidentalmente la señal ubicua que dejó el petardazo del Big Bang hasta la publicación, en intensa rueda de prensa, de los resultados del satélite COBE en 1992 (al autor del estudio y del libro le caería el Nobel de 2006). Maravillosa aventura por la historia del Universo, muy, muy recomendable.

Þessi bók var á einhverjum lista um þær hundrað bækur sem ætti að lesa:) Virkilega skemmtileg barnabók og ótrúlegt að ekki sé búið að þýða hana.

Great read of the development and discoveries made by the COBE satellite. Description of the Antarctic episode was very interesting. Very much enjoyed it!

Taming the Cosmic Zoo:

Written primarily for the layman reader, "Wrinkles in Time" nevertheless attracted a lot of attention from the academic world as well. The authors, Nobel Laureate George Smoot and award-winning journalist Keay Davidson, chronicle a paradigm changing discovery in Cosmology; the texture of the early universe. Part personal memoir and part science-history, Smoot shares his thoughts and insights on the efforts to solve the cosmic mystery of the Big Bang and why the Universe is filled with planets, stars and galaxies. While this is not a cosmological text-book it does offer up some complex scientific concepts and gives an in depth journal of how scientists work with, and compete with, one another. Starting out in the heady days before the 20th Century, Smoot sheds light on some early workers in astronomy and their ground breaking discoveries. Anyone who has read Sagan's "Cosmos" or Tyson's "Origins" may find themselves in some familiar territory here but Smoot's covers it in a fresh way so that it doesn't come across as repetitive. How did people arrive at the concepts of an evolving, as opposed to a static, universe? Who were some of these early workers and how did society judge them? The book really takes off when it cover Smoot's efforts prior to his days on the COBE Mission. His work on the "Echo" projects and his flights on the U-2 aircraft were, for him, both fruitful and frustrating. Doing research with High-altitude balloons had him, and his colleagues, on the edge of their seats. His memories of where he was and what he was doing during the Challenger Disaster and other important moments in science add a personal touch to some historic moments. It's not enough just to make scientific discoveries, you must decide when and how to publish your findings. Too soon and you might overlook vital information or miss minor errors, too late and other teams might "scoop you" by reaching the same conclusions as yours. You and your whole team could end up as "also rans" with nothing to show for all your time and effort but a footnote on someone else's paper. Apparently scientific research is not for the faint of heart. Two years after launching the COBE Satellite Smoot found himself in Antarctica checking on his satellite's telemetry and verifying his theory. He and his team would work together in preparation for going public with his findings to the American Physical Society in 1992. Even with all his work there would still be some controversy about the Big Bang and his evidence for "Wrinkles" in the cosmic background radiation. But that's how science works and Smoot and Davidson cover it all in this wonderful book. If you'r at all interested in Cosmology and what it takes to make a paradigm changing theory then this book may be right up your alley. "Wrinkles in Time" is profusely illustrated with numerous charts, graphs and schematic drawings along with archival and personal photo's, B&W and color too. For me this was a very satisfying read and a close look at some historic moments in science.

Last Ranger

Awesome. First of all, let me say that I was lucky. Why? I bought this from Amazon, a used copy... and I discovered that the book came to me with the author's signature on it, the real one... so, this is my second signed copy of a book. Haha, geeky lucky bastard.

Anyway, ripples and wrinkles in time. What are they? The first glimpse about their probable existence was detected by another pair of lucky bastards, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who discovered the MBR (microwave background radiation). The author (and quoting wikipedia) won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer with John C. Mather that led to the "discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation". This is deep.

There was a time in which the big bang theory was attacked, with sharp arguments. This discovery assured that the universe was not isotropic, meaning that it is in fact, dynamic. Thus, letting behind concepts related to "stationary universe" or that it was somehow special. Finding these "wrinkles" let scientists assure that the universe evolved, and will continue to do so.

I heard from the author while watching Sheldon Cooper making fun of him in an episode of the series. It may seem a bit boring at times because it narrates the author's adventure concerning this discovery, that actually occupied 18 years of his life.

Covering an impressive depth and breadth of physics at the time, Smoot recounts his involvement in the discovery of the CMB--battling extreme weather in Antartica to build a radio telescope in the ice, searching the depths of a jungle for a downed high altitude balloon, laboring in a race to build the first microwave satellite, and announcing to the world that the CMB is not smooth. It's a wonder one scientist can be involved in so much and still find the time to write an entertaining book.

I found this book well written and provocative. The author's description of time and its lack of smoothitude (a word I just made up) has occupied my thoughts a great deal since I read the book. It's the sort of book that, and this is the best compliment I can give, made me want to have lunch with the author.

An incredible read: Talking about the discovery and investigation of the cosmic microwave background and the resulting consequences to the physics community would have been fascinating enough. Yet the author actually gives a concise and understandable introduction to cosmology and astronomy with many useful illustrations, making this a truly enjoyable read for a student of physics.

The first 1/3 of this book, giving a brief, easily comprehensible overview of astronomy/cosmology up through Einstein, is so important and so well written that it should be required reading from middle school on. It's very sad how few people actually know the progression of this field, even after high school graduation.

The rest is dedicated to Smoot's long and sometimes tedious search for micro fluctuations in the cosmic background radiation. The book is not tedious, it's tightly written and never drags. It does an excellent job of giving the sense of what it is actually like, and takes, to do quality work in any scientific field. He found his "wrinkles" and deservedly won the Nobel prize for it. That is rarely the ending for many great scientists who go through everything Smoot went through.

If more people knew what "science" actually looked like day-to-day, and all the work that goes into putting out a new theory or presenting new evidence, maybe we'd have less of a problem in our country from people rejecting scientific principles. If more people saw the rocky, pitfall strewn road that scientific ideas like the Big Bang Theory, which was under constant fire from other scientists from the day it was proposed, had to travel to prevail, they'd realize that nobody proposes these ideas without a firm reason, and that firm reason is never just to attack someone's personal religion.

From the jungles of Brazil to the tundra of Antarctica, from weather balloons flown within our atmosphere to satellites launched into space, Wrinkles in Time takes you on the awe-inspiring journey of George Smoot and his team of researchers to unlock the mysteries of our universe. Chock full of pictorial representations of the cosmological effects being described, even a lay person can follow along as they search for the answers to our origins. "For we are all star-stuff.  A way for the universe to know itself."  And so too with this book, can we start to know the universe.

Una specie di autobiografia scientifica di Smoot, prima del Nobel ma dopo COBE. Interessante e ben scritta.

I really enjoyed this book. First, I have a story of how I found this book-I love these kinds of stories. We love the Big Bang Theory sit com on CBS. We find the writing exceptional, the characters endearing and the situations hysterical. I also love that they really work hard to make the science authentic by having a scientific consultant. They also have very impressive cameo appearances by well-know members of the scientific community. In one episode, our beloved characters are on a train on the way to a conference in Pasadena. On the train, Leonard is reading a book by George Smoot, the man they are going to the conference to see. The book is Wrinkles in Time. I'm intrigued by the book and the play on the title of the beloved Madeline L`Engle book.
I loved this book! I can't say that I completely understood it but I found it incredibly interesting and written for a layperson to understand. It really makes me want to read and understand more.