Andrew Pontzen is a professor of cosmology at University College London. He has written for the New Scientist, BBC Sky at Night, and BBC Science Focus; lectured at the Royal Institution; and contributed to BBC Radio 4 programmes including Inside Science and Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry. In 2020 he was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society's Gerald Withrow Prize for bringing cosmology to wide audiences. The Universe in a Box is his first book.
A truly excellent exposition of a fascinating, little-understood, and very important scientific activity. I was enlightened, amazed, and profoundly impressed. I've seldom seen a book (and this is an age of really good writing about science for the general public) so clear, so vivid -- Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials Our understanding of 'cosmic origins' - the emergence of stars, galaxies and our entire expanding universe - has burgeoned thanks to more powerful telescopes and computers. Andrew Pontzen gives a vivid perspective on what it's like to be a scientist trying to 'model' the universe. This fascinating book, written with clarity and zest, deserves wide readership -- Martin Rees, author of Just Six Numbers Forget telescopes and microscopes, Pontzen's laboratory sits inside his computer and it is quickly becoming the most important tool in science -- Jim Al-Khalili, author of The Joy of Science An electrifying new history of the universe and how it all fits together, and of the human effort to unlock its mysteries -- Hannah Fry, author of Rutherford and Fry’s Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything A joyride through the history of cosmic simulations, taking in weather forecasting and climate models, the mysteries of dark matter, dark energy and black holes, quantum mechanics, multiverses and artificial intelligence - all between the covers of a single book! -- Ananyo Bhattacharya, author of The Man from the Future