Conversations About Astrophysics & Cosmology (Ideas Roadshow Collections)

This collection includes the following 5 complete books featuring renowned physicists Roger Penrose (Nobel Laureate), Paul Steinhardt, Scott Tremaine, Justin Khoury, and Rocky Kolb providing fully accessible insights into cutting-edge academic research while revealing the inspirations and personal journeys behind their research. A detailed preface highlights the connections between the different books and all five books are broken into chapters with a detailed introduction and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:

I. Cosmological Conundrums - A conversation with Justin Khoury, Professor of Physics, University of Pennsylvania. This conversation gives a window into the world of a practicing cosmologist, the often-considerable gap between formal scientific positions and personal scientific interests. Further topics include: the early universe, the Big Bang, dark matter, dark energy, Cosmic Microwave Background, and the MOND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics) theory.

II. Astrophysical Wonders - A conversation with Scott Tremaine, Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics, Institute for Advanced Study. Scott Tremaine is an internationally renowned expert in both galactic-scale and planetary-scale astronomy. Topics that are covered include the process of scientific discovery, in particular related to comets, Pluto, planetary rings, shepherding satellites, exoplanets, chaos theory and the formation, stability and uniqueness of our solar system. Further topics include galactic-scale astronomy, galaxy formation, dark matter, quasars, black holes, the large-scale structure of the universe and many outstanding open questions of contemporary astrophysics.

III. A Universe Of Particles: Cosmological Reflections - A conversation with Rocky Kolb, the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago. This conversation covers topics such as the development of and Kolb's work on inflationary cosmology, the Standard Model of particle physics, dark matter, dark energy, Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), the Large Hadron Collider, advice for high-school teachers to ignite a passion for learning in students, and more.

IV. Inflated Expectations: A Cosmological Tale - A conversation with Paul Steinhardt, the Albert Einstein Professor of Science and Director of the Center for Theoretical Science, Princeton University. Paul Steinhardt is one of the originators of the theory of cosmic inflation and has become one of its fiercest critics. This conversation examines Steinhardt’s development and later scepticism of the theory of cosmic inflation, the response of the scientific community to the failure of this theory, his theory of cosmology, The Ekpyrotic Universe, and more.

V. The Cyclic Universe - A conversation with Roger Penrose, co-recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford. Roger Penrose is convinced that there is one fundamental problem that is consistently being overlooked: why did our universe begin in such a particular state of extremely low entropy? This comprehensive conversation provides a detailed exploration of Penrose's groundbreaking theory, Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC), accompanied by a wide range of explanatory drawings by Penrose.

Howard Burton is the host and editor of all Ideas Roadshow conversations and was the Founding Executive Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics and an MA in philosophy. Ideas Roadshow offers an expanding series of 20 Collections, including Conversations About Physics, Volumes 1 and 2.

Howard Burton is the founder and host of Ideas Roadshow, an award-winning digital media initiative that produces books and videos based upon long-format filmed conversations with international experts across a wide variety of subject areas. He holds a PhD in physics and an MA in philosophy, and was the founding executive director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.