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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Honestly, it is a terrible book for all audiences. It is intentionally deceptive and only ceases to prevaricate in the last few chapters. When you finally get there, you will have laboriously read through a jumble of unstructured fluff that his editor certainly did not read. The content is far and few between and uselessly applied to anyone genuinely interested in any topic it presents. He intentionally sweeps over statements that demand more clarification, and never fails to use ad hominem whenever he meets an objection.
If you are a theist who is interested in the arguments of atheists, do not read this book: it has nothing for you. If you are an atheist who is interested in learning more about your worldview and the sophisticated expressions of it, do not read this: it has nothing for you.
I could say more, but it has already been better said by someone else. I direct anyone who might read this to click the following link and read the short review.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/a-universe-from-nothing-by-lawrence-m-krauss.html
If you are a theist who is interested in the arguments of atheists, do not read this book: it has nothing for you. If you are an atheist who is interested in learning more about your worldview and the sophisticated expressions of it, do not read this: it has nothing for you.
I could say more, but it has already been better said by someone else. I direct anyone who might read this to click the following link and read the short review.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/a-universe-from-nothing-by-lawrence-m-krauss.html
challenging
informative
medium-paced
A friend recently warned me about the evils of reading about modern physics, at least reading about it from modern physicists. Devoutly religious, my friend is unable to reconcile his religion with theoretical physics, so instead he has concluded that scientists are using shoddy methods to test their theories. The book that had triggered this general ire against physics? A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing by Lawrence M. Krauss. Intrigued by what might have spooked him, I decided to read it. I am generally of the opinion that knowledge is power and unwilling to accept that something is shoddy just because one person argues it is so, I approached this book with a fair amount of curiosity. I finished it in less than 24 hours. Like A Brief History of Time, the point of this book seems to be to give the public the knowledge necessary to be able to understand the scientific foundation behind the idea of something coming from nothing. This book will not make you an expert, but it will awaken you to the realm of theoretical physics from which this theory arose and some of the implications.
Krauss presents two important ideas that many people do not seem to understand about science.
1. Preliminary data can be wrong and early publications on an incomplete data set might be sensational, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
2. To assume the answer before you ask the question is a dead end.
Krauss does take a few stabs at the idea of a creator as an a priori necessity for existence, and I can see why this could be problematic for believers in the divine. If you are truly interested in understanding this point in theoretical physics about something coming from nothing; however, the author is an expert and does a good job explaining the frameworks from which this theory arose and the evidence that supports it.
My one complaint is the lack of a bibliography, though there are many direct references to other writings in the text. If you want to, it is not too difficult to find many of those writings, and Krauss’ Scientific American articles tend to be followed by suggestions of readings to help the reader explore ideas further.
This book can have a bit of a learning curve, if you are not familiar with the terms associated with theoretical physics. The author makes a concerted effort to explain the difference between what physicists mean when they talk about nothing and philosophical ideas about nothing, but if you have no idea what terms like “order of magnitude,” “relativity,” or “multiverse” mean, you may need to look some things up while you read. Ultimately, this book will take you on a journey to the beginning and potentially the end of our universe. Along the way, you will learn about a flat universe, general relativity, and even a bit about black holes. If you approach this with a sense of adventure, you should learn something that might be paradigm shifting.
Krauss presents two important ideas that many people do not seem to understand about science.
1. Preliminary data can be wrong and early publications on an incomplete data set might be sensational, but it should be taken with a grain of salt.
2. To assume the answer before you ask the question is a dead end.
Krauss does take a few stabs at the idea of a creator as an a priori necessity for existence, and I can see why this could be problematic for believers in the divine. If you are truly interested in understanding this point in theoretical physics about something coming from nothing; however, the author is an expert and does a good job explaining the frameworks from which this theory arose and the evidence that supports it.
My one complaint is the lack of a bibliography, though there are many direct references to other writings in the text. If you want to, it is not too difficult to find many of those writings, and Krauss’ Scientific American articles tend to be followed by suggestions of readings to help the reader explore ideas further.
This book can have a bit of a learning curve, if you are not familiar with the terms associated with theoretical physics. The author makes a concerted effort to explain the difference between what physicists mean when they talk about nothing and philosophical ideas about nothing, but if you have no idea what terms like “order of magnitude,” “relativity,” or “multiverse” mean, you may need to look some things up while you read. Ultimately, this book will take you on a journey to the beginning and potentially the end of our universe. Along the way, you will learn about a flat universe, general relativity, and even a bit about black holes. If you approach this with a sense of adventure, you should learn something that might be paradigm shifting.
I wish that I had the background in physics and/or cosmology that Krauss writes for here. It is definitely accessible, but his winding, dense sentences make these complicated and subtle concepts even harder to understand. That being said, what I respect most is Krauss's attention to exactly when the topics he's covering reach their edge. He is quick to point out what we don't know, but everything he presents covers the best of what we do know about the origins of our universe. I'll probably have to revisit it again (and again) to digest it completely.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Doesn't actually elucidate the basic premise at all well, but, gives you the general idea of what this line of arguement is and some other things
A decent physics book, but not detailed enough for my tastes. Also it's marred by his frequent references to religion, which serve no illustrative purpose and are a great distraction from the greater theme.
Some equations would have been useful to go along with the arguments.
definitely a book that needs to be revisited once I know a lot more about physics.
funny
informative
medium-paced