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dweebinpursuit's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
ixthus68's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a newbie
I'm a newbie to science reading so I struggled with portions of this book. Not knowing the current state of affairs , I wasn't really sure where the book was going. The final chapter did give me some closure though.
I enjoyed listening to this more than reading it.
I'm a newbie to science reading so I struggled with portions of this book. Not knowing the current state of affairs , I wasn't really sure where the book was going. The final chapter did give me some closure though.
I enjoyed listening to this more than reading it.
tofugitive's review
3.0
This book suffered from having more scientists than a George RR Martin book has characters. It's difficult to keep up with who's who, who's done what, etc. Some of the science wasn't explained too well either, but it wasn't about the science. Recommend it more if you're already familiar with the subject and the scientists. Some cool insight to the processes and covers a lot of in-fighting, but you'd have to be really, really into the subject/community to get a lot out of it.
uhambe_nami's review against another edition
2.0
This is not so much about dark matter and dark energy but more about the scientists who have been researching it - the whole bunch of them, and their students, and how many brothers and sisters those students had, the conferences they went to, the talks they gave, and what the classrooms looked like, and that they had pizza for lunch... and so on. Let's say about 4% of it is science, the other 96% are details I'm not that interested in. There must be better books about the topic than this one!
kevin_shepherd's review against another edition
4.0
No study of Dark Matter is legitimate without frequent references to Vera Rubin (Vera Florence Cooper Rubin, 1928 - 2016). She is the astronomer who’s observations and calculations provided the first evidence of Dark Matter. Rubin’s rock-solid mathematics exposed a discrepancy between what conventional models predicted and what was actually observed. Her work strongly suggested that there were vast elements of the universe (roughly 96%!) still unaccounted for.
I am convinced that the best indicator of a truly great scientific discovery is the “scoff.” If you, as an astronomer, stand before an assembly of your peers and give a presentation—one that is augmented with slides and notes and pages and pages of calculus—and, at its conclusion, everyone stands and applauds then there is a good chance that you need to rethink your hypothesis. Historically speaking, all the great ideas are met with tepid golf claps, indifference, or outright animosity. Vera Rubin’s thesis, one that eventually changed the course of modern cosmology, was initially greeted with an eye roll and a scoff. The scoff is key. If your dissertation is scoffed then you know you’re on to something extraordinary (just a thought).
There is much more to Richard Panek’s book than the exaltation of Vera Rubin, but Panek is nothing if not cognizant and reverent of her importance. Rubin gets substantial ink in this engaging scientific chronology and that is reason enough to recommend it.
I am convinced that the best indicator of a truly great scientific discovery is the “scoff.” If you, as an astronomer, stand before an assembly of your peers and give a presentation—one that is augmented with slides and notes and pages and pages of calculus—and, at its conclusion, everyone stands and applauds then there is a good chance that you need to rethink your hypothesis. Historically speaking, all the great ideas are met with tepid golf claps, indifference, or outright animosity. Vera Rubin’s thesis, one that eventually changed the course of modern cosmology, was initially greeted with an eye roll and a scoff. The scoff is key. If your dissertation is scoffed then you know you’re on to something extraordinary (just a thought).
There is much more to Richard Panek’s book than the exaltation of Vera Rubin, but Panek is nothing if not cognizant and reverent of her importance. Rubin gets substantial ink in this engaging scientific chronology and that is reason enough to recommend it.
hank's review against another edition
4.0
A great easy to understand discussion of why we(scientists) are certain that dark matter and dark energy exists. And by certain I mean certain right now :) What I liked about this book more than some other science books is that Panek writes a story about how science groups work and the "race" to discover or prove dark matter. The hurdles and roadblocks aren't anything I had ever thought about and the different types of personalities are ones that I encounter frequently in my own work, it was "fun" reading about the same types in another field.
I think I finally have a grasp on the case for dark matter but I will probably need a couple more books like this to fully understand it. A science read I would recommend to anyone.
I think I finally have a grasp on the case for dark matter but I will probably need a couple more books like this to fully understand it. A science read I would recommend to anyone.
gloame's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book for what it was--a history. However what I was really looking for was a little more on the actual science, and there wasn't as much of that as I wanted. Still a little dry though.
cfinnigan's review against another edition
3.0
It’s fine. I really enjoyed learning about the many people behind the observations. It did not engage me.