The Universe: From Flat Earth to Quasar: Revised Edition

360 Pages·1971·19.127 MB·English

by  Isaac Asimov

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The Universe
From Flat Earth to Quasar
REVISED EDITION
Isaac Asimov
Does the Universe extend forever or is
there an end somewhere? Does it expand
and contract like an accordion with each
cosmic spasm lasting billions of years?
Was there a time when it exploded and
will the flying fragments separate until
our own fragment is virtually alone? Does
it renew itself and is it eternal, unborn
and undying?
This is a complete scientific survey of
all that is known about the Universe, pre-
sented with the clarity and precision so
characteristic of the writing of Isaac Asi-
mov. Beginning with chapters on the
earth and our solar system, he guides the
reader through exploration and discovery
of the unimaginably distant reaches of
outer space.
Barely fifty years ago, the horizons of
our known universe were pushed back.
The Milky Way was recognized as only a
drop in a huge black ocean of space;
other galaxies were discovered; the Uni-
verse was found to be expanding—its rim
many billions of light-years away. And as
man daily probes fu the un-
( n back flap)
Jacket na Fong Hor
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ruz, California

Digitized by the Internet Archive _
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https :/larchive.org/details/universefromflat0000asim_c2a7

The Universe
Books on astronomy by
Isaac Asimov:
The Clock We Live On
The Kingdom of the Sun
The Double Planet
Planets for Man*
Environments Out There
The Universe: From Flat
Earth to Quasar
*with Stephen H. Dole
For young readers:
To the Ends of the Universe
The ABC’s of Space
THE
UNIVERSE
From Flat Earth to Quasar
Isaac Asimov
REVISED EDITION
WALKER AND COMPANY
NEW YORK
CANTON PUBLIC LIBRAR
CANTON, MASS.
Copyright © 1966, 1971 by Isaac Asimov
All rights reserved. No portion of this work
may be reproduced without permission except
for brief passages for the purpose of review.
Published simultaneously in Canada by The
Ryerson Press, Toronto.
International Standard Book Number: 0-8027-
0316-x
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:
78-126283
Printed in the United States of America