Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.)
by Simon Singh
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Book Summary Information
Author: Simon SinghEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-11-01
ISBN: 0007162219
Number of pages: 560
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.)
Book Review: On the history of astronomy...
Summary: 5 Stars
I put off reading this book for a while because I looked at the contents and did not feel like reading about the triumphs of the Ancient Greeks, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Einstein and company for what felt like the umpteenth time. That said, I picked it up a few days ago at the bookstore, genuinely wanting to get a better understanding of why the big bang is true, and have been unduly impressed...
Singh does a terrific job relaying the science without sacrificing too much. There is not much math, but the little math that is present is very straight forward. The diagrams are superb both in their imagery and in their words. For the first time I feel like I can really appreciate why the ancients believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth from a scientific perspective. It actually provided better planetary predictions with the Ptolemaic model at the time. Singh uses a table that he revisits several times that looks at about ten different factors comparing the Earth and Sun-centered models.
Also, I am learning new things that I did not fully grasp before. Like how we can figure out the diameter of the moon, and the sun, after simply getting that of the Earth and using a little geometry (you need a mind and a stick). I had never heard of a particular Einstein thought experiment before: one when he imagined himself moving at the speed of light with a mirror (it appeared to violate the Galilean principle of relativity.) Also, I now understand how the theory of relativity supplanted Newtonian Mechanics, not just the why.
From my perspective, Singh presents the history of astronomy better than I have read from anyone else. It's very clear, cuts to the point, and relates some very entertaining quotes, stories and experiments throughout. It would be a fabulous place to start for novices. Non-specialists with a background in this area will likely enjoy the way that he puts it all together. He's got a great vocabulary ("blinkered"), understands how the progress of science works, and adds fresh insight to most of the historical discussion along with the latest evidence that has been left out of some earlier works.
UPDATE: I finished everything but the epilogue. Wow. I had read about the big bang before and thought, "That makes sense." With this book, I really feel like I understand why we accept the truth of the big bang. Singh continues to unwrap the story of the big bang as it was unwrapped by the scientists discovery after discovery. If someone asks me in the future why we believe the big bang is true, I can honestly tell them (the red shifts of galaxies, the variation of elements, the microwave cosmic background radiation, the observed differences in that radiation). Like in most cases of major scientific theories, it's not just one thing, but a series of observations that have shown the theory to ring true. The contrast with the Steady State theory throughout is especially insightful. One of the best non-fiction books I have ever read.
If you want to know if the big bang is really true, or why the scientific community contends that it is true, this is the book. It's such an important theory that it doesn't make sense not to read it. (Final confirmation did not come until 1992.)
Summary of Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.)
A half century ago, a shocking Washington Post headline claimed that the world began in five cataclysmic minutes rather than having existed for all time; a skeptical scientist dubbed the maverick theory the Big Bang. In this amazingly comprehensible history of the universe, Simon Singh decodes the mystery behind the Big Bang theory, lading us through the development of one of the most extraordinary, important, and awe-inspiring theories in science.
A baffling array of science books claim to reveal how the mysteries of the universe have been discovered, but Simon Singh's Big Bang actually delivers on that promise. General readers will find it to be among the very best books dealing with cosmology, because Singh follows the same plan he used in his brilliant Code Book: he puts people--not equations--first in the story. By linking the progression of the Big Bang theory with the scientists who built it up bit by bit, Singh also uncovers an important truth about how such ideas grow.
Death is an essential element in the progress of science, since it takes care of conservative scientists of a previous generation reluctant to let go of an old, fallacious theory and embrace a new and accurate one.As harsh as this statement seems, even Einstein defended an outmoded idea about the universe when an unknown interloper published equations challenging the great man. Einstein didn't have to die for cosmology to move forward (he reluctantly apologized for being wrong), but stories like this one show how difficult it can sometimes be for new theories to take root. Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "big bang" as a way to ridicule the idea of a universe expanding from some tiny origin point, strongly believed that the cosmos was in a steady state. But Singh shows how Hoyle's research, meant to prove the contrary, added evidence to the expansion model. Big Bang is also a history of astronomical observation, describing the development of new telescopes that were crucial to the development of cosmology. Handwritten summary notes at the end of each long chapter add a charming, classroom feel to this revealing and very readable book. --Therese Littleton
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