Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos: The Scientific Quest for the Secret of the Universe

Particle physicist Alan Guth's discovery in 1979 of the ``hyperexplosive bubbling'' of the earliest universe uncovered a major glitch in the Big Bang theory and implied that the cosmos may be incredibly vaster than astronomers had previously assumed. Overbye, an editor of Discover , here conveys the tremendous excitement at the front lines of modern cosmology, a young field rife with unexpected discoveries, seething rivalries and inspired guesswork. Among the scientists he profiles are astronomer Vera Rubin, discoverer of dark matter; Ed Witten, developer of superstring theory; John Wheeler, ``the original wild man,'' inventor of black holes; and ``smart aleck'' Stephen Hawking, a ``black-hole cosmonaut'' who posited the existence of trillions of mini-black holes sprinkling our galaxy. Overbye's personal narrative makes complex realms of conflicting theory and observation accessible to the layperson. Photos. (Jan.)