Big Bang
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
2 stars-- An "okay" book, possibly draggy or too light, not my thing
From the back cover: Everybody has heard of the Big Bang Theory, but how many of us can claim to understand it? With characteristic clarity and a narrative peppered with anecdotes and personal histories of those who have struggled to understand creation, Simon Singh has written teh story of the most important theory ever.
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It pains me to write this, as I loved Singh's exemplary "Fermat's Last Theorem" and "The Code Book" -- but this tome, and it is in high need of an editor--- was not nearly up to those other books' execution and quality.
First off--- this is not about the Big Bang Theory per se. This is about the history of various theories of the Cosmos, from Eratosthenes to Copernicus to Galileo, and up into modern times, the "Steady State Theory" vs. "The Big Bang theory". The BBT is not particularly talked about more or less than any of the others. If I had wanted a history of comsological theory I would have asked for it...
As someone with a reasonable education in physics and history of the cosmos, I found little new here, and it wasn't all that interesting or insightful. I technically quite reading this, but I read about half word for word, then did a somewhat skim but mostly read for a quarter, then pretty much skimmed/ skipped the end (ironically, the portion on the BBT which I already knew the precepts of in the detail explained here).
A few portions / quotes I found interesting:
[After describing Eratosthenes calculations to work out the size of the Earth] : It proved that all that was needed to measure the planet was a man with a stick and a brain. In other words, couple intellect with some experimental apparatus and almost anything seems achievable.
[a quote contained within, but Henri Poincare]: The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not speak of that beauty that strikes the senses, the beauty of qualities and appearances; ... I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts, and which a pure intelligence can grasp."
Einstein once made a tongue-in-cheek comment when asked by a student how he would have reacted if God's universe had turned out to behave differently from the way the general theory of relativity had predicted. In a wonderful demonstration of mock hubris, Einstein answered: 'Then I would feel sorry for the Good Lord. The theory is correct anyway.'"
{Einstein] eventually came to appreciate the irony of his position [as a an authority], and once lamented 'To punish me for my contempt for authority, Fate made me an authority myself.'"
'The known is finite, the unknown is infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land." T.H. Huxley.
Furthermore, those who want to be touched by serendipity must be ready to embrace an opportunity when it presents itself, rather than merely brushing down their seed-covered trousers, pouring their failed superglue down the sink or abandoning a failed medical trial. ... Winston Churchill once observed: 'Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
From the back cover: Everybody has heard of the Big Bang Theory, but how many of us can claim to understand it? With characteristic clarity and a narrative peppered with anecdotes and personal histories of those who have struggled to understand creation, Simon Singh has written teh story of the most important theory ever.
------------
It pains me to write this, as I loved Singh's exemplary "Fermat's Last Theorem" and "The Code Book" -- but this tome, and it is in high need of an editor--- was not nearly up to those other books' execution and quality.
First off--- this is not about the Big Bang Theory per se. This is about the history of various theories of the Cosmos, from Eratosthenes to Copernicus to Galileo, and up into modern times, the "Steady State Theory" vs. "The Big Bang theory". The BBT is not particularly talked about more or less than any of the others. If I had wanted a history of comsological theory I would have asked for it...
As someone with a reasonable education in physics and history of the cosmos, I found little new here, and it wasn't all that interesting or insightful. I technically quite reading this, but I read about half word for word, then did a somewhat skim but mostly read for a quarter, then pretty much skimmed/ skipped the end (ironically, the portion on the BBT which I already knew the precepts of in the detail explained here).
A few portions / quotes I found interesting:
[After describing Eratosthenes calculations to work out the size of the Earth] : It proved that all that was needed to measure the planet was a man with a stick and a brain. In other words, couple intellect with some experimental apparatus and almost anything seems achievable.
[a quote contained within, but Henri Poincare]: The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not speak of that beauty that strikes the senses, the beauty of qualities and appearances; ... I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts, and which a pure intelligence can grasp."
Einstein once made a tongue-in-cheek comment when asked by a student how he would have reacted if God's universe had turned out to behave differently from the way the general theory of relativity had predicted. In a wonderful demonstration of mock hubris, Einstein answered: 'Then I would feel sorry for the Good Lord. The theory is correct anyway.'"
{Einstein] eventually came to appreciate the irony of his position [as a an authority], and once lamented 'To punish me for my contempt for authority, Fate made me an authority myself.'"
'The known is finite, the unknown is infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land." T.H. Huxley.
Furthermore, those who want to be touched by serendipity must be ready to embrace an opportunity when it presents itself, rather than merely brushing down their seed-covered trousers, pouring their failed superglue down the sink or abandoning a failed medical trial. ... Winston Churchill once observed: 'Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
Journal Entry 2 by PokPok at Panera Bread, 401 Vista Village Dr. in Vista, California USA on Saturday, September 9, 2017
Released 6 yrs ago (9/9/2017 UTC) at Panera Bread, 401 Vista Village Dr. in Vista, California USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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Thank you for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry on the BookCrossing site (www.bookcrossing.com) to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free). If you join, please consider indicating that you were referred by PokPok. I hope you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you’ve finished reading. Whenever you’re ready to send it on its way, make release notes if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.
Thank you for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry on the BookCrossing site (www.bookcrossing.com) to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free). If you join, please consider indicating that you were referred by PokPok. I hope you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you’ve finished reading. Whenever you’re ready to send it on its way, make release notes if you are leaving it “in the wild” again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry. It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free.
