In 2004 a rock star, a TV astronomer and a young research astronomer sat down to write the story of the Universe in the order in which it happened, from its birth at the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, through to its ultimate demise in the infinitely far future.
The aim of this book is to explain the Big Bang and everything that followed in a way that made sense, in the strict order in which events occurred, and without using maths, so it would be understandable to everyone, regardless of educational background. The original edition of Bang! was a bestseller, and a go-to for anyone wanting to understand the story of the origins and evolution of our Universe that did not duck the science.
Since the first edition, thousands of planets have been discovered, the 'habitable zone' has expanded and a flotilla of new satellites has explored our own solar system, bringing back fresh images and new science. In this book all the latest findings about the evolution of stars and galaxies are included, and the current thinking about our ultimate origins. The latest ideas about Dark Matter and Dark Energy are explained, all illustrated with new images from the world's largest telescopes and space missions.
This is the new, updated, popular guide to 'Life, the Universe, and Everything' – The Complete History of the Universe.
Brian May, CBE, PhD, ARCS, FRAS is a founding member of the rock group Queen, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer, authority on 3-D stereoscopic photography, a passionate campaigner for animal rights and welfare, an advocate for political and social change, and a PhD astronomer. His thesis 'A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud' was published in 2007, and he has written seven books. Brian was Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University 2008-13, has received three Honorary Doctorates and holds the post of visiting researcher at Imperial College. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was named in his honour, and he was appointed Science Team Collaborator for NASA, compiling the first ever stereo images of Pluto, Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and the asteroids Ultima Thule and Bennu.
Sir Patrick Moore is best remembered as the presenter of the world's longest running television programme BBC TV's
The Sky at Night - which was first broadcast in 1957. He is the author of more than 80 books, and has played a unique role in astronomy education and popularizing science through six decades. He was knighted in 2001, the same year he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. In 2002 Buzz Aldrin presented him with a BAFTA award for services to television. He passed in 2012 and the Science Museum acquired a large collection of his objects and papers.
Christopher Lintott, PhD, FRAS is a British astrophysicist, author and broadcaster. He is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and is the founder of both Galaxy Zoo and the Zooniverse that grew from it. Chris is interested in how galaxies form and evolve, and how citizen science can change the world. Chris has written two books with Brian May and Patrick Moore:
Bang! (2006) and
The Cosmic Tourist (2012); his third, solo, book
The Crowd and the Cosmos: Adventures in the Zooniverse was released in 2019. He is also the primary presenter of the BBC television series
The Sky at Night, having previously been co-presenter with Patrick Moore until his death in 2012. Patrick started the programme in 1957 and it is the longest running TV programme in the world.
Hannah Wakeford, PhD, FRAS is a lecturer in Astrophysics at the University of Bristol, where she researches the atmospheres of exoplanets. She studied for a Masters in Space Physics at Aberystwyth University with field studies in Svalbard to measure the aurora, and completed her PhD thesis on exoplanets at the University of Exeter before heading to the USA to work at NASA and STScl. Alongside her research she runs the monthly podcast
Exocast all about exoplanet science. Away from academia, she has been a scu
