We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe

by Jorge Cham, Diana J Schaub

Overview

Prepare to learn everything we still don’t know about our strange and mysterious universe.

Humanity's understanding of the physical world is full of gaps. Not tiny little gaps you can safely ignore —there are huge yawning voids in our basic notions of how the world works. PHD Comics creator Jorge Cham and particle physicist Daniel Whiteson have teamed up to explore everything we don't know about the universe: the enormous holes in our knowledge of the cosmos. Armed with their popular infographics, cartoons, and unusually entertaining and lucid explanations of science, they give us the best answers currently available for a lot of questions that are still perplexing scientists, including:

* Why does the universe have a speed limit?
* Why aren't we all made of antimatter?
* What (or who) is attacking Earth with tiny, superfast particles?
* What is dark matter, and why does it keep ignoring us?

It turns out the universe is full of weird things that don't make any sense. But Cham and Whiteson make a compelling case that the questions we can't answer are as interesting as the ones we can.

This fully illustrated introduction to the biggest mysteries in physics also helpfully demystifies many complicated things we do know about, from quarks and neutrinos to gravitational waves and exploding black holes. With equal doses of humor and delight, Cham and Whiteson invite us to see the universe as a possibly boundless expanse of uncharted territory that's still ours to explore.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735211520
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	51,073
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jorge Cham is the creator of the popular online comic Piled Higher and Deeper, also known as PHD Comics. He earned his PhD in robotics at Stanford.

Daniel Whiteson is a professor of experimental particle physics at the University of California, Irvine, and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He conducts research using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 What Is the Universe Made Of? 3

2 What Is Dark Matter? 13

3 What Is Dark Energy? 27

4 What Is the Most Basic Element of Matter? 43

5 The Mysteries of Mass 59

6 Why Is Gravity So Different from the Other Forces? 77

7 What Is Space? 95

8 What Is Time? 117

9 How Many Dimensions Are There? 141

10 Can We Travel Faster Than Light? 161

11 Who Is Shooting Superfast Particles at the Earth? 185

12 Why Are We Made of Matter, Not Antimatter? 203

14 What Happened During the Big Bang? 227

15 How BIG Is the Universe? 253

16 Is There a Theory of Everything? 279

17 Are We Alone in the Universe? 309

A Conclusion of Sorts 335

Acknowledgments 341

Bibliography 343

Index 347

Editorial Reviews

Accessible and entertaining. . . . Cham and Whiteson distil the essence of the little we know—and the lots we have no idea about. . . . a very enjoyable read.” —Nature

“This witty book reveals the humbling vastness of our ignorance about the universe, along with charming insights into what we actually do understand.”
—Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Reality Is Not What It Seems

“[A] lucid and irreverent survey of the many unsolved mysteries of our universe... Cham and Whiteson mesh comics, lighthearted infographics, and lively explanations to painlessly introduce curious readers to complex concepts in easily digestible chapters. This fun guide is just the ticket for science fans of any age.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Cham and Whiteson perfectly balance hilarity and serious science.” —Chemistry World

“[A] lively, agnostic book on physics and its discontents... An entertaining and educational review for anyone seeking to brush up on or build his or her knowledge.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Science! Nerdy goodness! Cute illustrations! Big questions about the universe that we still can’t answer! … Did I mention the cute illustrations?” —Book Riot

“You couldn’t ask for better guides to the mind-bending mysteries of cutting-edge physics than Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. They bring a whimsical light touch to some very heavy topics, and the result is a sheer delight for the reader.”
—Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Calculus Diaries and Me, Myself and Why: Searching for the Science of Self

“Science knows a lot about the universe, but the real excitement is in what we don't know. And it's hard to imagine a more enjoyable way to explore the unknown than by reading this book. Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson will guide you through the biggest mysteries of the cosmos, smiling all the way.”
—Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
 
“A delightful combination of comedy and cosmology that is as charming as it is informative.”
—Zach Weinersmith, creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

“Not often do you encounter such an optimistic and fun exploration of human ignorance.”
—Henry Reich, creator of MinutePhysics
 
“Accessible and hilarious (the two best things it is possible for a book to be), We Have No Idea not only explores WHAT we don't know, but WHY we don't know it.  You'd think that'd be plenty, but Cham and Whiteson also provide the most credible and up-to-date scientific explanations as to what some of the answers to these huge (and hugely important) questions might possibly be, PLUS puns.”
—Ryan North, author of Romeo and/or Juliet and To Be or Not To Be

From the Publisher

★ 03/13/2017
Cham, creator of PHD Comics, and Whiteson, professor of experimental particle physics at UC-Irvine, take their YouTube talent to the page for this lucid and irreverent survey of the many unsolved mysteries of our universe. The authors set a brisk pace as they charge fearlessly across the shadowy terrain of modern physics and cosmology, covering gravity and fundamental particles as well as the Big Bang and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. An opening section on dark matter and dark energy explores the 95% of the universe that seems impervious to human curiosity. Continuing their journey, they ask such questions as: What are cosmic rays? Where’s our universe’s antimatter? Why does time only move forward? And just how big is the universe anyway? The book’s cast includes hamsters, evil twins, Doctor Who, and others. Black holes, the Higgs boson, and theories of everything rub elbows with Pi charts, pop culture, and Lego philosophy. Cham and Whiteson mesh comics, lighthearted infographics, and lively explanations to painlessly introduce curious readers to complex concepts in easily digestible chapters. This fun guide is just the ticket for science fans of any age. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (May)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2017
Accompanied by funny cartoons, this title takes readers on a mind-expanding, exhilarating trip through everything scientists don't know about the universe, which turns out to be quite a lot. Cham and Whiteson start with the humbling fact that 27 percent of the universe is made up of dark matter—which we can't see, interact with, or measure. A staggering 68 percent of the universe is dark energy, which the authors point out is just a convenient and possibly misleading term for something we know even less about. The rest of the book explores the remaining five percent, detailing our incomplete understanding of everything from mass to space-time to gravity and more. Fortunately, Cham and Whiteson present a wealth of information about what physicists do know, and their excitement about scientific advancement and their optimism about future discoveries are infectious. Their stabs at levity are a bit grating (although they're aware how lame their jokes are) and unnecessary, since their prose is lucid, even when the concepts become almost impossible to grasp. VERDICT An enjoyable and thought-provoking read for older teens with at least a cursory understanding of physics.—Mark Flowers, Springstowne Library, Vallejo, CA

School Library Journal

2017-03-28
How did we end up in "a nonbland universe full of structure" instead of somewhere else? No one can yet say: that's the organizing principle of this lively, agnostic book on physics and its discontents.Cham, an online cartoonist with a doctorate in robotics, and Whiteson (Experimental Particle Physics/Univ. of California, Irvine), who conducts research at the Large Hadron Collider, combine forces to explore all the things that we cannot say with any confidence about the universe in which we live, an engaging conceit for a book that wears its considerable learning lightly. One question is what the universe is made of, most of it what physicists call "dark matter" or "dark energy"—in fact, only about 5 percent of it is anything we can explain with our current knowledge. "Most of the universe is made of something else": quite a daunting concept, and by the time Cham and Whiteson get around to explaining what happens, quantum mechanistically speaking, when a particle meets its antiparticle, it's mind-bogglingly complex. That's where the cartoons come in. Though the authors are occasionally silly—the notion of filling space with cilantro being one such moment—the overarching spirit is one of helpfulness. After reading this book, general readers without much background in physics will be able to speak knowledgeably about, for example, how quarks relate to leptons. But with a proviso, bearing in mind the book's premise: yes, with up and down quarks we can make neutrons and protons, but what do the other nine of the dozen known particles do? Write the authors, "why are they there? We have no idea." Indeed, we do not, but Cham and Whiteson brightly foresee a time in which we have the answers and "today's philosophy questions are tomorrow's precision science experiments." An entertaining and educational review for anyone seeking to brush up on or build his or her knowledge—or, perhaps better, lack of knowledge.

Kirkus Reviews