The Cyclical Serpent

by Paul Halpern

From the very dawn of history, humans have struggled with the question of cosmic destiny. Ancient cultures worldwide invoked powerful mythological images to celebrate the cyclical nature of the earth and cosmos. As Halpern shows, these persistent and provocative symbols - such as a serpent devouring its own tail - prefigure many of the controversies that continue to rage among cosmologists today. Will the universe fade into quiescence - a static graveyard of cinders, black holes, and burnt-out suns? Or will it collapse in on itself in a colossal "Big Crunch," only to explode in another cycle of time and space? The answers to these questions are stored in the ineffable cosmos, and scientists must draw on the most ingenious advances of modern physics to solve the riddles posed by the ancients. . Halpern's journey leads us through the most extraordinary breakthroughs in twentieth-century physics and cosmology, and to the remarkable tools scientists employ to look backward and forward in t