HOW THE UNIVERSE GOT ITS SPOTS

　　Is the universe infinite or just really big? With thisquestion, the gifted young cosmologist Janna Levin not onlyannounces the central theme of her intriguing and controversial newbook but establishes herself as one of the most direct andunorthodox voices in contemporary science. For even as she sets outto determine how big “really big” may be, Levin gives us anintimate look at the day-to-day life of a globe-trotting physicist,complete with jet lag and romantic disturbances.
　　Nimbly synthesizing geometry, topology, chaos and stringtheories, Levin shows how the pattern of hot and cold spots leftover from the big bang may one day reveal the size and shape of thecosmos. She does so with such originality, lucidity—and evenpoetry—that How the Universe Got Its Spots becomes a thrilling anddeeply personal communication between a scientist and the layreader.