Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that’s the fastest speed there is.
So sang Eric Idle to a perplexed housewife (a drag-clad Terry Jones) in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Truly, it’s one of the most beloved science songs of the twentieth century; right up there with Tom Lehrer singing The Elements.
However if you would like to go a little deeper in learning more about this universe of ours, Jo Dunkley‘s recently published Our Universe; An Astronomer’s Guide will certainly set you on the right course for further understanding.
Despite it’s subtitle, Prof. Dunkley‘s highly accessible book should not by any means be thought to be of use only to astronomers. What with all the commonly appearing stories about space making their way into both the old and new news media these days, an understanding of just what we presently know about what’s “out there,” how we presently think it formed, how it all works together, and where it’s all going is not only fascinating, it also helps to keep things in perspective – particularly at those times, as Mr. Idle concludes in his song,
…when you’re feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere out in space,
‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on Earth!
