This short, smart book tells you everything you need to know about
"nothing." What remains when you take all the matter away? Can empty
space--"nothing"--exist? To answer these questions, eminent scientist
Frank Close takes us on a lively and accessible journey that ranges from
ancient ideas and cultural superstitions to the frontiers of current
research, illuminating the story of how scientists have explored the
void and the rich discoveries they have made there. Readers will find an
enlightening history of the vacuum: how the efforts to make a better
vacuum led to the discovery of the electron; the ideas of Newton, Mach,
and Einstein on the nature of space and time; the mysterious aether and
how Einstein did away with it; and the latest ideas that the vacuum is
filled with the Higgs field. The story ranges from the absolute zero of
temperature and the seething vacuum of virtual particles and
anti-particles that fills space, to the extreme heat and energy of the
early universe.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and
style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of
life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer,
they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central
problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud,
quantum theory to Islam.