And another half star. The content was good and the explanations were very good but all this 'mini-me' stuff and sitting on a beach turns me off. ( )

I'm a bit uncertain on how to rate, or even review, this book. On the one hand, the explanations of physics, quantum mechanics, general relativity, astrophysics, cosmology, gravity, etc are pretty good and, most importantly, understandable without requiring a physics degree.* On the other hand, the imaginary adventurous travels (i.e. thought experiments) to such things as the inside of atoms and the cosmos in general just didn't really work for me, though I did eventually get used to it. Maybe this sort of thing works better for people who have pictures and movies pop up in their heads when they read books, but that simply isn't me. Otherwise, an interesting introductiory book that makes mind-bending subjects not so complicated, while managing to be entertaining at the same time.


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*Except String Theory. I think you need to have ingested a substantial quantity of magic mushrooms for that to make any sense. ( )

Using the magical power of imagination the author takes us on a rollicking tour of the cosmos, from the very large to the extremely small. Along the way, our narrator is subjected to a number of strange circumstances that confuse and befuddle his friends(and amuse us). We find out about the limit that we can see to because the universe wasn't transparent, we find out about quantum effects of things, and a number of other pieces of information all in a charming and enjoyable manner. The only equation to be found in this book is E=mc squared, which is an equation that a child can understand. So you don't need to brush up on your Quantum Field Theory equations or whatever, since that doesn't enter into this book at all.

So this pretty much is what we currently know about theoretical physics in a really understandable package. It includes some other stuff too, like about things we can't possibly know. Since this edition was printed sometime in early 2016, it is also pretty current as far as I am writing this now. ( )

Theoretical physics, cosmology, quantum mechanics - they are all complex non-intuitive areas of science that are very difficult for the layman to grasp. There are any number of books attempting, with varying degrees of success, to explain these concepts to a wider non-technical audience.

Galfard describes a number of very hard technical concepts and I learnt about how the universe works at both the largest and smallest scales imaginable. Unfortunately, like most technical authors in these fields, Galfard assumes that people without PhD's in theoretical physics will be terrified by this knowledge and must be prevented from either hurling themselves off a cliff in despair or reaching for the nearest pitchfork in angry confusion. The book is stuffed with strange stories about great aunts, beaches and ugly pottery that I suppose are meant to be comforting, or, perhaps worse, keeps telling us to calm down and take a deep breath like some patronising mindfulness procedure from a health and safety specialist.

I do not doubt that Galfard and colleagues are very clever people, but they are not the only clever people around and may not even be the cleverest around.

The area where Galfard fails is in explaining how we are so confident that this theoretical house of cards is the best description of the universe we have, where the gaps are, what the alternatives are (if any) and where the thinking is going next. ( )

A pop science book detailing the development but mainly, current understanding of the Universe, where it has come from, it's structures, and its origin, at the present time and the present understanding. At times difficult to follow but in main, readable. I found it, as a novice, reasonable to follow but got lost certainly towards the end in certain places. Would I read this again? Probably not, and actual,y I think it's the second book you buy on these topics. Not so comprehensive as to be a text book and a reasonable introduction, it would still benefit, in my mind, with being pared down again. ( )