Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Inflationary Universe

Ever since I took an intro to cosmology course (that's the study of the cosmos, not to be confused with cosmetology, which is a course an aspiring beautician would enroll in), I've developed a real fascination with this subject, and moreover I gained enough background knowledge to actually understand something about it!  So I was excited to delve into Alan Guth's The Inflationary Universe.  Guth, a leading cosmologist at MIT, came up with the original version of the inflationary theory, which describes, basically, what happened in the very early universe (times when the universe was less than a second old) before the big bang described in the standard big bang theory, which, as Guth likes to point out, doesn't say what banged, or why, or how.  I won't get into any more science here--that's for you to read about, if you're interested.  As for the book itself, it took me ten days to read, and it was definitely worth the time it took.  The prose itself is friendly to lay readers, and there are many really useful diagrams to help you along, too.  Mathematical or overly technical language is kept to a minimum.  Nonetheless, the content itself is pretty heavy stuff, so even with the clear prose, I just had to think a lot about what was being said.  That was great!  Reading this book really worked my brain in ways that I haven't worked it enough since graduating from college.  So if you're interested in cosmology (or particle physics) and want a bit of a mental workout, I'd definitely recommend The Inflationary Universe.