Through a Universe Darkly

A compelling adventure and an engrossing history, Through a Universe Darkly introduces the men and women who are peering into the celestial darkness, hoping to uncover the invisible substance whose discovery will unlock the secrets of the universe's composition and finally tell us how galaxies were born, how stars live and die, and whether our universe will end in a conflagration or limp outward to icy nothingness. Faced with the unknown, the world's first philosopher, the ancient Greek Thales, asked, "What is the universe composed of?" And thus started a centuries-long search that has led to the quarks and grand unified theories of modern-day physics. As celestial explorers have relentlessly stretched the boundaries of the star-spangled roof above us, this simple, rudimentary question of what it all is made of continues to perplex astronomers. Set within the grand sweep of human history, Through a Universe Darkly shows how the quest to learn the composition of the heavens has propelled astronomical inquiry from the ancient Greeks through Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein and up to today's cutting edge scientists. Over the centuries, astronomers have searched for the elements of our universe, unraveling riddles with solutions both revolutionary and awe-inspiring. This is a history of astronomy from a different perspective; it is a history of cosmic matter. Halfway through this century, just as astronomers were confident that they had identified all of the universe's material constituents, a mystery arose that thrust astronomy back into a dark age. Something more was out there, an unknown substance that came to be called dark matter. Could the luminous stars and galaxies be merewhitecaps, whose gleaning presence diverts our eyes from a hidden ocean of matter below? Conveying the tantalizing exhilaration of discovery that has driven astronomers for centuries, Through a Universe Darkly interweaves history, scientific personalities, and philosophy in an intoxicating story of the exploration of the universe's contents - most of all of dark matter, the mind-boggling, invisible substance that is changing our view of the universe.