JOAO MAGUEIJO

The idea that the speed of light is a constant - at 186,000 miles per second - is one of the few scientific facts that almost everyone knows. That constant - c- also appears in the most famous of all scientific equations: e=mc2- Yet over the last few years, a small group of highly reputable young physicists have suggested that the central dogma of modern physics may not be an absolute truth - light may have moved faster in the earlier life of the universe, it may still be moving at different speeds elsewhere today. In telling the story of this heresy, and its gradual journey towards acceptance, Joao Magueijo writes as one of the three central figures in the story, introducing the reader to modern cosmology, to the implications of VSL (variable speed of light) and to the world of physicists. The initial rejection of Magueijo''s ideas is beginning to give way to a reluctant acceptance that the young men may have a point - only the next few years will tell the final fate of this ''dangerous'' idea.

On the night of March 26, 1938, nuclear physicist Ettore Majorana boarded a ship, cash and passport in hand. He was never seen again. In A Brilliant Darkness, theoretical physicist Joao Magueijo tells the story of Majorana and his research group, "the Via Panisperna Boys," who discovered atomic fission in 1934. As Majorana, the most brilliant of the group, began to realize the implications of what they had found, he became increasingly unstable. Did he commit suicide that night in Palermo? Was he kidnapped? Did he stage his own death?A Brilliant Darkness chronicles Majoranas invaluable contributions to science -- including his major discovery, the Majorana neutrino -- while revealing the truth behind his fascinating and tragic life.

Um roteiro de cómicos fins-de-semana mal passados e tentativas frustradas de fazer férias em Inglaterra servem de ponto de partida para uma viagem pela cultura anglo-saxónica, como vista pelos olhos de um cientista portugues radicado no Reino Unido ha mais de vinte anos e do qual estamos mais habituados a ler obras de divulgaço cientifica. Bifes Mal Passados e alternadamente hilariante e serio, convidando a uma reflexo sobre identidade cultural, e incitando os portugueses a despojarem-se de complexos de inferioridade. Joo Magueijo e um estudioso do Cosmos, tendo sido um dos pioneiros da teoria da velocidade da luz variavel. E actualmente Professor Catedratico no Imperial College, em Londres. Nas duas ocasies em que foi a pesca, apanhou um salmonete e uma piranha (um facto real, mas a melhor comedia e a que se passou mesmo, como mostra neste livro). Os seus livros Mais Rapido Que a Luz e O Grande Inquisidor esto publicados em Portugal pela Gradiva. Este e o primeiro livro que escreve em portugues.

Este libro es la crónica de una idea "insensata" que ha provocado apasionadas polémicas pues cuestiona la regla fundamental de la física moderna enunciada por Einstein en su teoría de la relatividad: que la velocidad de la luz en el vacio es constante. El autor, quien es cosmologo y fisico teorico doctorado en la Universidad de Cambridge y profesor en el Imperial College de Londres, presenta una teoria que postula la variacion de la velocidad de la luz y plantea que en los primeros momentos del universo la velocidad de la luz era mayor. La postulacion tiene implicaciones en eventos como los viajes espaciales, los agujeros negros, la dilatacion del tiempo y la teoria de las cuerdas.

The idea that the speed of light is a constant - at 186,000 miles per second - is one of the few scientific facts that almost everyone knows. That constant - c- also appears in the most famous of all scientific equations: e=mc2- Yet over the last few years, a small group of highly reputable young physicists have suggested that the central dogma of modern physics may not be an absolute truth - light may have moved faster in the earlier life of the universe, it may still be moving at different speeds elsewhere today. In telling the story of this heresy, and its gradual journey towards acceptance, Joao Magueijo writes as one of the three central figures in the story, introducing the reader to modern cosmology, to the implications of VSL (variable speed of light) and to the world of physicists. The initial rejection of Magueijos ideas is beginning to give way to a reluctant acceptance that the young men may have a point - only the next few years will tell the final fate of this dangerous idea.