A gripping first-person account of how scientists came to understand
our universe's mysterious structure
J. Richard Gott was among the first cosmologists to propose that the
structure of our universe is like a sponge made up of clusters of
galaxies intricately connected by filaments of galaxies--a magnificent
structure now called the "cosmic web" and mapped extensively by teams of
astronomers. Here is his gripping insider's account of how a generation
of undaunted theorists and observers solved the mystery of the
architecture of our cosmos.
The Cosmic Web begins with modern pioneers of extragalactic astronomy,
such as Edwin Hubble and Fritz Zwicky. It goes on to describe how,
during the Cold War, the American school of cosmology favored a model of
the universe where galaxies resided in isolated clusters, whereas the
Soviet school favored a honeycomb pattern of galaxies punctuated by
giant, isolated voids. Gott tells the stories of how his own path to a
solution began with a high-school science project when he was eighteen,
and how he and astronomer Mario Jurič measured the Sloan Great Wall of
Galaxies, a filament of galaxies that, at 1.37 billion light-years in
length, is one of the largest structures in the universe.
Drawing on Gott's own experiences working at the frontiers of science
with many of today's leading cosmologists, The Cosmic Web shows how
ambitious telescope surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are
transforming our understanding of the cosmos, and how the cosmic web
holds vital clues to the origins of the universe and the next trillion
years that lie ahead.
