Thursday, April 2, 2015

Book Review: In Search of Dark Matter

I have been searching for a book to read on a scientific topic recently, and one that really piqued my interest was a book discussing dark matter. It is called "In Search of Dark Matter", written by Ken Freeman and Geoff McNamara. It attempts to explain the mystery of dark matter, and why it is puzzling the modern scientific world. It also simultaneously tries to provide appropriate historical context, and reaches across a variety of disciplines to get the message across. However, the most important aspect that this book contains is that it discusses modern, up-to-date research on dark matter. Most of the book's content strikes at the heart of the problem; for example, it talks about gravitational lensing, galaxy rotation curves, WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles), and even alternatives to the entire dark matter theory itself. This work does not rely purely on one conjecture, rather it tries to open up the discussion so that nothing is left out. I highly value that trait, and am going to enjoy completing this book sometime soon. Here is the link to the book for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/Search-Matter-Springer-Praxis-Exploration/dp/0387276165/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428002097&sr=8-1&keywords=in+search+of+dark+matter