Inner Space / Outer Space. The Interface Between Cosmology and Particle Physics.

[STEPHEN HAWKING] KOLB, Edward W..

Item Number: 119362

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

First edition of this work on cosmology. Octavo, original wrappers in near fine condition. Presentation inscription on loosely inserted sheet of paper, “For Stephen Hawking with best regards of all the Editors.” Stephen Hawking was a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. Hawking’s scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. He was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Hawking may be one of the most recognizable of theoretical physicists in part due to ALS, which gradually paralyzed him over the decades. After the loss of his speech, he was able to communicate through a speech-generating device—initially through use of a handheld switch, and eventually by using a single cheek muscle. He is also well known since he achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discussed his theories and cosmology in general. His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times bestseller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. A nice association linking these giants in the study of physics and space.

Inner Space/Outer Space brings together much of the exciting work contributing to a new synthesis of modern physics. Particle physicists, concerned with the "inner space" of the atom, are making discoveries that their colleagues in astrophysics, studying outer space, can use to develop and test hypotheses about the events that occurred in the microseconds after the Big Bang and that shaped the universe as we know it today. The papers collected here, from scores of scientists, constitute the proceedings of the first major international conference on research at the interface of particle physics and astrophysics, held in May 1984 at Fermilab in Batavia, IL, . The editors have written introductions to each major section that draw out the central themes and elaborate on the primary implications of the papers that follow.