You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Another excellent Simon Singh pop sci book. I wouldn't say it's as good as The Code Book or Fermat's Last Theorem, but it's enjoyable none-the-less.
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
An excellent description of the scientific process as it applies to the Big Bang. It is short on mathematics and hard science but it is an extremely well-written and readable history, Singh does an nice job of explaining who the major characters were and a bit about what drove them to play the part they did. Each chapter's opening page contains a series of quotes that are excellent. My favorite is one from Isaac Asimov who said "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I have found it) but 'That's funny...'" Highly recommended especially to counter the anti-science crowd - "I am not a scientist but [insert anti-scientific position here}".
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Simon Singh tells the story of how the big bang theory came to be, starting from ancient Greece all the way up to the early 2000s when the book was written. He tells this story with great clarity. I felt like I was doing science with the"characters", coming up with theories and trying to validate them with observations. The book was written in such a way that there were actually cliffhangers; unsolved problems that were later resolved. As Singh mentions, the author also gives insight into how science is actually done - from developing theory to using available technology to validate the theory which may take many years and might be errorprone, as was the case with Hubble's initial measurements for the distance to Andromeda, to continuing to find evidence that validates a theory, to skeptics that try to develop competing theories, to ultimate acceptance. So this book is not only about what is the big bang theory, but also about the people involved, what were their backgrounds, what were they trying to solve, what were they thinking about, and how were they received. Ultimately it is a book that shows human's perseverance to understand reality through models and evidence. It still amazes me that we were able to theorize and do experiments to validate the way in which the universe formed.
This was a wonderful read! I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a story of how we have developed our current view of the universe and its workings. It was really great to get some perspective after reading a lot of nonfiction books about the subject as we currently see it. Names that been alluded to in those books became clear and in context. The conversational tone of the book took you on a journey with the author.
An excellent history of the science leading to the acceptance of the Big Bang theory- from early Greek philosophers and Copernicus to the COBE satellite and beyond.
http://denizyuret.blogspot.com/2005/10/big-bang.html