Overbye Dennis. Mysteries of the Universe

The New York Times Company, 2002. — 65 p.There are few scientists of whom it can be said that their mistakes are more interesting than their colleagues' successes, but Albert Einstein was one. Few "blunders" have had a longer and more eventful life than the cosmological constant, sometimes described as the most famous fudge factor in the history of science, that Einstein added to his theory of general relativity in 1917. Its role was to provide a repulsive force in order to keep the universe from theoretically collapsing under its own weight. Einstein abandoned the cosmological constant when the universe turned out to be expanding, but in succeeding years, the cosmological constant, like Rasputin, has stubbornly refused to die, dragging itself to the fore, whispering of deep enigmas and mysterious new forces in nature, whenever cosmologists have run into trouble reconciling their observations of the universe with their theories.Cosmological constant | May 26, 1998
A famous Einstein ‘Fudge’ Returns to Haunt Cosmology
Quantum physics | December 12, 2000
Quantum Theory Tugged, And All of Physics Unraveled
Particle physics | March 20, 2001
In the New Physics, No Quark Is an Island
Dark energy | April 10, 2001
From Light to Darkness: Astronomy’s New Universe
Imaginary time | May 22, 2001
Before the Big Bang, There Was … What?
String theory vs. Relativity | June 12, 2001
Theorists of Inner Space Look to Observers of Outer Space
The theory of everything | December 11, 2001
Cracking the Cosmic Code With a Little Help From Doctor Hawking
Endless possibilities | January 1, 2002
The End of Everything
Dark matter | January 8, 2002
Dark Matter, Still Elusive, Gains Visibility
Black hole radiation | January 22, 2002
Hawking’s Breakthrough Is Still an Enigma
Dr. John archibald wheeler | March 12, 2002
Peering Through the Gates of Time
The reality of mathematics | March 26, 2002
The Most Seductive Equation in Science: Beauty Equals Truth
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