Katherine Freese

Katherine Freese’s The Cosmic Cocktail: Three Parts Dark Matter documents the scientific search to understand the make up of the universe and for dark matter. Dr. Freese is a cosmologist and physicist at the University of Michigan and has participated in or led numerous research projects seeking to understand and explain dark matter since her time in graduate school. The book is part autobiography of herself and part biography of the field. This juxtaposition helps to break up some of the more theory-heavy parts for the reader and also humanizes the scientists whose work she describes. Dr. Freese argues that dark matter is to be found in WIMPs, or Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, and examines in detail the various projects currently searching for dark matter, their results, and methods.
The book is at times theory-heavy, but this should not turn off prospective readers. Those who have read any of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s or Stephen Hawking’s popular science works will find The Cosmic Cocktail accessible and Dr. Freese takes the time to explain her formulas and uses metaphors and analogies when necessary. If you watched Cosmos or Through the Wormhole and want to know about the current research about dark matter and cosmology, look no further because this is the book for you. The book is readable, features cutting-edge science, and is wonderfully witty. In sum, a book that belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in science and how the universe works.… (més)