Big Bang

click here for more details, find new or used items	Simon Singh Used from £2.51 Pages: 560 (Paperback) ISBN: 0007162219 Pub: Harper Perennial Pub date: 2005-04-01 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 409648

Reader Reviews:

An excellent read (0/0 people found this helpful)

I review few books but I am taken enough with this book to pick up my pen!

I found this book easy to read and very informative.What it amounts to is that you are taken through a history of cosmology from the very earliest times in an interesting way, from Erastothenes and others through Ptolemy then on to Copernicus, Kepler and on to more modern times. This historical approach gives you an excellent understanding of the issues and an understanding of the significance of new discoveries as they were made. I found the tables contrasting the way various theories met the observations and criticisms of their time very useful. It made me understand why even after Copernicus people did not have to be silly to reject the sun centred solar system postulated by him.

The same applies to the advances of the twentieth century developments described in the book all made even more interesting by snapshots of the characters of the people involved. One thinks of science as being objective but human subjectivity also plays a part in determining what is the fashionable theory of the time.

Overall I have emerged from this book with an understanding not only of the Big Bang but of how the Greeks with the simplest of equipment managed to estimate the circumference of the earth, the size of the moon, the distance to the moon and the sun; of the solar system; of the development of our elements most of which come from super nova which are very much post Big Bang and with us of course to-day.

Recommended even to those without any scientific background.

Brilliant (0/0 people found this helpful)

This is a brilliant book that explains how scientists over more than two and a half thousand years have arrived at the current understanding of how the universe was created.

Particularly interesting is how many of the scientists like to hang on to theorys that they invented in the face of new evidence.

An interesting, lively and thought provoking read (0/0 people found this helpful)

In this book, Singh takes the reader on a thought provoking journey through the history of science related to the creation, talking you through the development of the Big Bang theory and its major components. 'Big Bang' covers topics ranging from Einstein's theory of relativity through to nuclear physics, covering many different fields of physics all relating to the development of a theory to explain the beginning of the universe. The scientific and mathematical aspects are clearly explained and not complicated to understand for the layperson, but the book still offers enough facts and historical background to satisfy more informed readers. It is written in an entertaining way, and the historical narrative kept me interested the whole way through. One of the reasons I like this book is because it doesn't just offer an insight into the Big Bang itself- it also explains how the world of scientific research works, with fun descriptions of the rivalry involved and the way in which different theories compete against eachother.

Definitely worth a read- a good introduction to the topic.

Top class popular science. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Simon Singh is a physicist by nature and so it is apt that has finally published a book about physics (his previous two books deal with mathematics and cryptology). The first thing I noticed was that this book is substantially larger than his other books, although initally wary, I started to read. The book's length suddenly became no problem, the writing style propelled me through it at an incredible pace. Singh makes the reader understand initially complex ideas - which is no simple feat.

The book essentially charts one of the simplest, yet trickiest question of all - 'how did the universe begin?' The author tackles this by examining, chronologically, the progress of scientific thought. He also provides the reader with an important lesson in the nature of science i.e. how evidence is the driving force of scientific progress. The book then moves on to talk about the two competing theories for the emergence of the universe. The author never patronises the reader, but explains clearly the merits of both theories and the eventual paradigm shift towards the title of the book.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I can't remember a dull momemnt. This book is a top class example of how difficult scientific concepts can be made simple, accessible and enjoyable. Highly reccommended.

Simply put......marvellous (0/0 people found this helpful)

How do you give an account of Science's greatest mystery in a simple(!) style?

Well, you read this from Simon Singh! I simply could not put this book down!

Thoroughly engrossing, it delves into mind-blowing topics, but gently eases you through the tricky bits...and there's plenty of those for mere mortals like myself!

In a nutshell? Fantastic reading for inquisitive minds! Easily 5 stars!

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