Average customer rating:
- Classic.....
- Good Book, but more to do with other Various Scientists
- A basic primer, well presented
- Best book describing the best cosmological principles
- Beware! You will be dumber after reading this!
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Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained
David Filkin
Manufacturer: Basic Books
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A Brief History of Time
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Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays
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The Universe in a Nutshell
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The Nature of Space and Time
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A Briefer History of Time
ASIN: 0465081983 |
Customer Reviews:
Classic............2006-11-18
This is a classic book. And it looks great on a coffee table. Everyone will think you're smart.
A great book to have and read, and to tell people that you read it.
Good Book, but more to do with other Various Scientists.......2005-04-01
Stephen Hawking's Universe is a book that attempts to explain Stephen Hawking's theories of how the universe was created. Under Stephen's theories he supports the Big Bang. In the Big Bang theory it states that the universe was created by a big explosion. Aside from explaining the Big Bang theory, the book also talks a little about Hawking's personal life before he developed Lou Gehrig’s syndrome which has paralyzed him for life.
Although the book talks about Stephen Hawking's Work, it mentions
very little. The book focuses mostly on the history of cosmology and various other cosmologists who have attempted to find the beginnings to the universe. If you are looking for a book that describes in depth Hawking's work and his theories, then this is not the right book.
A basic primer, well presented.......2004-11-16
Stephen Hawking is widely acknowledged as one of the most intelligent persons on the planet, often seen as the intellectual successor to Einstein in reputation if not in actual adherence to theories. This book by David Filkin is a companion to book to a BBC/PBS series by the same name, highlighting different aspects and ideas that came from the television production.
Stephen Hawking's own book, `A Brief History of Time', is a very popular and accessible account of modern theoretical physics - it is somewhat astonishing that a book on this topic should have sold well over 10 million copies worldwide, being translated into many languages. Filkin's book looks not only at the theories (many of which can be found in Hawking's book), but also at the personality of the man behind the ideas. Hawking describes himself as a boy who liked to take things apart to see what made them tick - this is a rather difficult enterprise to undertake when dealing with the universe as a whole.
David Filkin and Stephen Hawking were at Oxford together. Filkin was on the crew team, and Hawking was the cox for the team of eight. Filkin writes of knowing Hawking only peripherally then, but being impressed with his determination, something that has continued to show through in Hawking's life, as he battles debilitating illness. However, as Filkin states, it is easy to get lost in thinking of Hawking in those terms. Hawking is worthy of recognition for his academic achievements in their own right - he holds the mathematics chair at Cambridge that Sir Isaac Newton held (and, as testament to its importance, one of the `future scenes' of Star Trek shows the android Data also hold the same chair, mentioning into the futuristic narrative both Newton and Hawking in the same breath).
Despite this brilliance, Hawking readily admits that much of his model of the universe is not his own. Standing on the shoulders of giants, he sees further, but acknowledges his debts to past scientific research. Filking introduces theories of the universe by looking at past models, everything from `turtles all the way down' to Ptolemaic, Copernican, and more modern ideas. Filkin draws in the major scientists of the progress of science - Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, Doppler, and Hubble - and shows a steady progress of science against a backdrop of political, religious and social concerns. The early days of the Hubble discovery of red-shifted light from stars and Einstein's change of view from an eternal, infinite universe to one that had an origin is presented in context of Lemaitre, a cosmologist for the Vatican, who tried to reconcile modern scientific theories with the idea that the universe did have a point or moment of origin; this was not universally accepted (no pun intended), however, as some scientists such as Fred Hoyle continued to argue for an eternal, infinite universe with the Steady State theory.
Beginning with chapter five, and continuing throughout the rest of the text, the real heart of the matter of modern theoretical physics, astronomy and cosmology is presented. Filkin uses both the progress of ideas of Hawking, the progress of technology, and the various personalities involved in the scientific community (most of whom who are presented are still alive and at work) to develop the narrative of understanding the universe. Big Bang theory presented in great detail, including some of the more philosophical/theological concerns involved (while some churches applauded the Big Bang theory because it provided evidence for a moment of creation, others decried it as being contrary to a strict, literal six-day creation interpretation). One of the most intriguing ideas to arise in physics as a part of these developments was the proposition of the black hole, a gravitational oddity that occurs when a supermassive object cannot support its own weight, and the effects on the space-time continuum are so severe that not even light can escape its grasp.
Along the way, Filkin describes in historical and scientific ways the development of ideas of matter (atoms, from ancient Greek thought to modern times), light and energy, dark matter, and more. We learn about WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), MACHO men (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects observers), SETI research (Search for Extraterrestrial Life), and doing the impossible - locating the elusive black hole. How can you see something no one can see?
The limits of observation also play into the limit of the partnership between theory and observation for cosmology. Filkin writes that, through history, there have been historic pairings (Kepler's theories and Brahe's observations make a classic example), but the limits of nature are bumping up against observational ability, and the theoretical limits of such observatories is being reached - nothing at absolute zero can be detected in and of itself, as absolute zero is the lower limit; similarly, very high temperatures render everything opaque and fuzzy. None of this even begins to deal with the observational issue of the observer changing the status (the uncertainty principle).
There is an interesting duality that arises in cosmology - those who think that our understanding of the universe and its principles is nearly complete (Ed Witten, one of the present-day physicists highlighted, speculates in this direction) and those who think that there is still a vast body of unknown information to be discovered. One cannot help but think of the speculation around the turn of the last century, as nineteenth-century science triumphed in its understanding of various things in the world, and intellectual hubris was so high as to make some consider that patent offices would soon be closing, as everything that would ever be invented already had been. The early twentieth century in science destroyed both the intellectual arrogance and the stability of our understanding of the world, and things have continued at a quickening pace for decades. Have we reached the limits? Time will tell.
Of course, that might be imaginary time (thanks to Richard Feynman).
Best book describing the best cosmological principles.......2002-08-26
Stephen Hawking's universe is one of the very few books of its kind. It describes the complex and beautiful picture of our cosmos as presented by the most famous living scientist of the world. This book will prove helpful and informative for all those who are concerned with the universe and also with Professor Hawking.
Stephen Hawking's universe is such a book which tends to describe a difficult subject with simplicity and ace. Thus any one out there who is intrested in cosmology and is waiting for a new arrival the please do have a look at this one.
Beware! You will be dumber after reading this!.......2002-07-25
I've always enjoyed Stephen Hawking's writings, as in them he clearly explains things without condescendingly simplifying them, mixes humor with science, and conveys the awe and thrill of scientific discovery. However, once I got past the forward of this book (the only part written my Hawking), I could see that this book was a complete failure. I should have known when someone got me the book; Filkin is a total non-scientist and I now know is scientifically illiterite.
I was first confronted with horrid and sometimes malicious (or at least maddeningly stupid) terminology errors. For example, throughout the book, a brown dwarf is said to be a cooled-down white dwarf. WRONG! A brown dwarf is a starlike object too small to start thermonuclear fusion, so it produces heat and light by contracting; this is the definition according to the International Astronomical Union, the body which defines all astronomical, astrophysical, and cosmological terminology. This is just one of many such errors.
The terminology I had the biggest problem with was the wrongful (indeed, gratuitous) use of the word "creationism." It is relatively apparent that Filkin means the idea that the universe was created at some time, but it is still the wrong word. Either it was placed in there by Filkin (I think unlikely) or the publishers (more likely) to cave to the 45% of this backwards country which seriously believes creationism (in the sense of what the word really means), or (maybe a little more likely)used without thinking. This leads to my next big problem with the book.
Rather than sticking to the science, or at least pointing out how science sharply contrasts with "faith," Filkin spends a large amount of time talking about how science and religion (specifically Christianity) go hand-in-hand. He even makes up malicious falsities, frequently claiming that science at least partially supports Christianity (actually, he said it supporst "creationism"), and that important discoveries were held up by the dogma of "atheist scientists." One particularly despicable example is his claim that after Hubble discovered the Hubble flow, its reality and logical conclusions were denied and held back by "atheist scientists," being unwilling to accept the idea that the universe began (and hence doesn't violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics). Nothing could be further from the truth! The Hubble flow was looked upon very skeptically for over a decade because the original measurements put the age of the universe as less than the then-known age of the Earth.
Lastly, there are the contradictory statements. Filkin often makes statements contrary to the 'evidence' he supports it with, if there is any. One example is as follows: "churchgoing" scientist were shunned and forced to hide their beliefs from the 18th to the 20th centuries because (a) they believed in a moment of creation despite the official church policy that the universe was infinite, (b) the "atheist scientists" believed, like Newton, that the universe was infinite, and (c) these two beliefs (the church's and the atheist concepts) are different. If you were paying attention, you'd know these beliefs are NOT different, and hence not in conflict.
I put the book down after a few chapters of being frustrated not learning anything, frequently needing to correct Filkin, and seeing a creationist-propagandist's dream come true (regardless of what Filkin meant, I've seen quotes from this book paraded around by creationists). Finally, I would like to point out my disgust with Hawking for having a book like this sold with his stamp of approval.
Book Description
Mars, like planet Earth, is a complex and vast world with a long history. The authors of this book give a new insight of Mars by adopting an original outline based on history rather than on subtopic (atmosphere, surface, interior). They focus on the past and present evolution of Mars and also incorporate all the recent results from the space missions of Mars Express, Spirit and Opportunity.
This book goes to the heart of current planetological research, and illustrates it with many beautiful images. The authors describe the magnificent scenery on Mars including Olympus Mons, more than 20,000 metres high and the solar system’s biggest volcano. At Mars’ poles, glaciers, formed from thousands of fine strata, are evidence of past climatic fluctuations. Drs Forget and Costard and Professor Lognonné introduce a new world and reveal the workings of the planet Mars. They answer the questions: How was Mars formed? Why has its evolution followed a different path to that of Earth? What do its river beds, volcanoes and glaciers tell us about its past? Could life have existed there? Does it exist there now? What processes ‘drive’ Mars today?
The five parts of the book trace the history of Mars. Part 1 examines its formation from the ashes of dead stars, more than 4·5 billion years ago. Part 2 travels through its early and turbulent youth and gradual, 3·5-billion-year long metamorphosis. Part 3 traces the creation of great planetary structures while Part 4 explores this active planet as it is today, with its dust storms, water features and atmosphere, and shows that Mars is subject to continual climatic change. Finally in Part 5, the story of the recent exploration of Mars and current research in laboratories and space agencies in preparation for the missions of the next twenty years is recounted.
Book Description
Astronomers' Universe Series
The aim of this book is to provide an up-to-date account of active galaxies that is appropriate to the background knowledge of amateur astronomers, but might also be picked-up and read for interest by any reader with a scientific bent.
Active galaxies (including Quasars, QSOs, Radio galaxies, BL Lacs, Blazars, LINERS, ULIRGS, Seyfert galaxies, Starburst galaxies, N galaxies, etc.) are a major field of current astronomical research. Up to a fifth of all research astronomers are working on active galaxies. Huge amounts of time on major telescopes are devoted to their study. In almost all cases the galaxies are thought to be powered by 100 million solar mass black holes at their centres.
Some of the objects are bright enough to be seen in small telescopes, and an amateur astronomer with a 20 cm telescope and a CCD detector could obtain images of many more. Lists of such objects, and their visual and imaged appearance in commercially available telescopes are an important component of this book. This detailed but accessible work will be the only coherent and complete source of information for non-technical readers on an area of astronomy that fascinates many people and whose spectacular images from the Hubble space telescope, Gemini, VLT and other major telescopes frequently make the pages of the quality newspapers and occasionally appear on TV.
It also has the potential to be chosen as a set text or background reading for university courses on the subject, althought he writing style is such that it will appeal to all readers.
Book Description
Calibrating the Cosmos describes hard science, but is gently written. It explains in clear, non-mathematical language the measurements and the interpretation of the resulting data that have led to the current understanding of the origin, evolution and properties of our expanding Big Bang universe.
Many people have a sketchy idea of the work of cosmologists, but Professor Levin’s experience in teaching both scientific and liberal arts students has enabled him to impart much of our current thinking without resorting to difficult mathematics. Theoretical concepts are emphasized, in particular the symmetries of homogeneity and isotropy enjoyed by our universe on the largest scales, how these symmetries lead to only one quantity being needed to describe the growth of the universe from its infancy to the present time, and how the so-called parameters of the universe are the ingredients used to construct the model universes to which ours – the real thing – is compared.
Levin includes the 2003 results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the 2003 and 2004 results of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to ensure that the book is up to date. He explains the relevance of the discoveries done by the new physics Nobel laureates Smoot and Mather!
Background material is provided in the first four chapters; the current picture and how it was attained are discussed in the next four chapters; and some unsolved problems and conjectured solutions are explored in the final chapter.
Customer Reviews:
Great for laypersons and scientists (non-astronomers) alike.......2007-06-21
Frank Levin's new book on Cosmology is a wonderful introduction to the subject for anyone who has read the words "black hole", "inflation", "Big Bang", "omega zero" and wants to know what they are about and how they connect to each other. I am an experimental physicist doing 25% of my work in nuclear astrophysics, i.e. laboratory measurements on what happens inside stars. At conferences, I would hear talks using these words, but only had a vague idea what some of them meant. Dr. Levin's book gave me a coherent explanation of what they mean, using simple models and pictures, and how they could be used to understand the current picture that cosmologists have about the history of your universe. He explains how many of the results are arrived at, in terms that any person, with or without a scientific background, can understand. And he tells what is still not understood. Levin has a great talent for making a complex subject understandable for the average, interested layperson. He uses simple words and pictures, and no equations. I recommend the book highly to all who are interested in modern science, but are not scientists. And even the scientists can learn a lot from his book if cosmology is not their specialty.
Customer Reviews:
Somebody please get a proofreader and a dictionary!.......1998-07-01
I looked forward to reading this book after hearing a great interview with Ellis on NPR. But getting passed the first few pages was simply too distracting to go on much further. This book is absolutely shot through with gramatical errors, typos and simple spelling inconsistencies. Please,at this point I don't even care how you spell the term "worldview". Just please spell it the same way consistently. And while we're at it, I might also mention that the letter spacing in this book is awful. Some lines appear to be one long word. Does the publisher, Boyers/Bowerdean even care about this? Or did they just drop Ellis' essays between two covers? Somebody get on the blower to London and let 'em know.
A brillant book about the implications of cosmology........1997-04-10
I came upon this book a year and a half ago; never have I seen such a logical presentation of the implications of cosmology, and the possible reasons for us existing, presented so well, and so eloquently. Dr. Ellis (G.F.R. Ellis) is a noted cosmologist who has cowritten with Hawking. And he delves into the possible implications of the "anthropic principle" as few scientsts have the courage or knowledge to do. A MUST read, especially if one wonders about the possibility of a purpose in Creation
Book Description
This little wok is designed to instruct the mind as yet unacquainted with the phenomena of eclipses, and to counteract the prejudice which affirms without examination that these phenomena are in no way connected with mundane events. In dealing with this subject, the author shall have occasion to speak of eclipses of the Sun and Moon not only in their physical causative relations, but also in their symbolic and prognostic relations. Contents: natural causes of an eclipse; eclipses of the sun and moon; historical eclipses; calculate an eclipse of the sun and moon; eclipse signs and indications; the decanates; transits over eclipse points; individuals and eclipses.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting concepts.......2006-01-25
This book is the only one I could find that attempts to explore the gravitational mystery spots by scientific experiments. It is good in that it gives a list of similar places in the US, and in that it makes an attempt at some demonstration of the anomaly by quartz crystal frequencies, weight scale and other measurements. But the Theory of Multidimensional Reality is rather a shot from 'Men in Black'! Also some common sense experiments such as those using a bubble level, laser, pendulum and compass are just not done. However, since it is the only thesis I could find on such anomalies, I think it is worth it.
A MUST Have Book.......2003-11-28
This book gives an excellent introduction into one of the MOST profound NATURAL mysteries on the earth today. A MUST read for ZPE and GRAVITY researchers and experimeters.
The book explores what is called "shrink-grow" phenomena and what I call "mass fluctuations".
Vogt uses Special Relativity (SR) as a mathematical bases for his theory.
If I had seen it in a book store, I wouldn't have bought it.......2002-01-02
Overall it was just a book written by a wacky author. While I do generally believe alternative ideas, this author was ineffective in leading the reader to his conclusion. It took 81 pages to come to a two paragraph conclusion which didn't match the arguments. I'm sorry I wasted my time and money on this junk.
Average customer rating:
- Well-organised, thorough, readable introduction to astronomy
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Astronomy Explained
Gerald North
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3540761365 |
Book Description
Every year large numbers of people take up the study of astronomy, mostly at amateur level. There are plenty of elementary books on the market, full of colourful photographs, but lacking in proper explanations of how and why things are as they are. Many people eventually wish to go beyond the 'coffee-table book' stage and study this fascinating subject in greater depth. This book is written for them. In addition, many people sit for public examinations in this subject each year and this book is also intended to be of use to them. All the topics from the GCSE syllabus are covered here, with sample questions at the end of each chapter.
Astronomy
Explained provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject in more depth than is usually found in elementary works, and will be of interest to both amateur astronomers and students of astronomy.
Customer Reviews:
Well-organised, thorough, readable introduction to astronomy.......1998-03-01
This introduction to astronomy is a little more thorough than the average introductory text, and therefore more satisfying than most for those who would like a deeper understanding of the subject. But it is quite readable for all its thoroughness and depth, and requires only very basic algebra on the readers' part. Highly recommended book!!
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