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A review by kaylecorey
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Donald Goldsmith, Neil deGrasse Tyson
2.0
This book was not well-executed. And it's incredibly frustrating, because the content is incredibly interesting. There were several times I was open-mouthed with wonder at the concepts that were being discussed. I was especially taken in by the descriptions and explanations around dark matter and antimatter.
At it's best, Origins takes complex theories of astrophysics and makes them easier to digest. But at it's worst, it reads like a textbook trying too hard to be funny. The net that it casts is too wide, and in an attempt to reach many levels of readers with many levels of scientific knowledge, it is hugely uneven. And the tone, while mostly genial, slides into mockery too often to be ignored.
I wanted to like this book, and it's possible I'm not the right audience. It opened my eyes to concepts I'm interested in learning more about, but as a standalone piece it fell flat.
At it's best, Origins takes complex theories of astrophysics and makes them easier to digest. But at it's worst, it reads like a textbook trying too hard to be funny. The net that it casts is too wide, and in an attempt to reach many levels of readers with many levels of scientific knowledge, it is hugely uneven. And the tone, while mostly genial, slides into mockery too often to be ignored.
I wanted to like this book, and it's possible I'm not the right audience. It opened my eyes to concepts I'm interested in learning more about, but as a standalone piece it fell flat.