Science

What's Eating the Universe?: And Other Cosmic Questions

What's Eating the Universe?: And Other Cosmic Questions

  • Downloads：7494
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-09-01 09:19:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Paul C.W. Davies
  • ISBN：022681629X
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

J Earl ，

What's Eating the Universe？ by Paul C W Davies is a fun and informative look at the history and contemporary understanding of cosmological issues。 While this is not my area of study I have taken a few courses on the topic as well as other reading and found this to be a great read whether covering something I already （sorta） knew or something completely new to me。 It is scientific without being bogged down in the minutiae that is more important to researchers than lay people。 Davies also connects What's Eating the Universe？ by Paul C W Davies is a fun and informative look at the history and contemporary understanding of cosmological issues。 While this is not my area of study I have taken a few courses on the topic as well as other reading and found this to be a great read whether covering something I already （sorta） knew or something completely new to me。 It is scientific without being bogged down in the minutiae that is more important to researchers than lay people。 Davies also connects the science to the world at large， the thoughts and ideas within which discoveries have been made。I think one of the strong points is the use of relatively short chapters that each cover a specific point。 While the book is certainly coherent as a whole work I think it could also serve very well for a reader who wants to approach it as a collection of essays。 By that I mean a reader could read several chapters but not feel like they will lose the thread of the book if they don't get back to it for a few days。 Or， as I often do with collections of essays or short stories， read a chapter when I have a limited amount of time and want something self contained。I would recommend this to any reader interested in the topic。 It would make a nice introduction for someone or， if they already have some background， a nice overview to put everything in perspective。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more

Geoff ，

Although it veers into some odd spiritualist territory at the end， most of this book is an interesting survey of recent advances in cosmology and physics。 Really clear descriptions of dark energy， dark mater， Hawking's advances with black holes， and current attempts to unify physics。 Really enjoyed how well the author explained these complex and mind bending concepts。 **Thanks to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review。 Although it veers into some odd spiritualist territory at the end， most of this book is an interesting survey of recent advances in cosmology and physics。 Really clear descriptions of dark energy， dark mater， Hawking's advances with black holes， and current attempts to unify physics。 Really enjoyed how well the author explained these complex and mind bending concepts。 **Thanks to the author， publisher， and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Elisa ，

A truly original book， this short volume examines philosophical and even religious concepts using pure science。 The author answers a series of questions， from basic physics to extraterrestrial life and even why we’re here。 He explains some of the leading theories about black holes and the end of the universe。 I’ve read a few books about similar subjects and some of the theses here were familiar， but examined in a totally new light。 Paul Davies explains it all in easy-to-follow language。 Many of A truly original book， this short volume examines philosophical and even religious concepts using pure science。 The author answers a series of questions， from basic physics to extraterrestrial life and even why we’re here。 He explains some of the leading theories about black holes and the end of the universe。 I’ve read a few books about similar subjects and some of the theses here were familiar， but examined in a totally new light。 Paul Davies explains it all in easy-to-follow language。 Many of the concepts sailed high above my head， but the examples he uses are relatable。 I also enjoyed the illustrations， some of which made me understand parts that I hadn’t grasped just by reading。 I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased。 Thank you， NetGalley/University of Chicago Press！ 。。。more

Books and margaritas ，

This is an amazing “beginner friendly” book on astrophysics。 The author provides a quick overview on the history of cosmology， it’s historical developments as well as the current unresolved scientific mysteries。 It’s an interesting and engaging read。 Even the most difficult concepts are explained in the accessible manner， and I recommend this book to anyone who always wanted to learn more about our universe and its secrets， but was intimidated by the heavy maths and science aspect of it。 This is This is an amazing “beginner friendly” book on astrophysics。 The author provides a quick overview on the history of cosmology， it’s historical developments as well as the current unresolved scientific mysteries。 It’s an interesting and engaging read。 Even the most difficult concepts are explained in the accessible manner， and I recommend this book to anyone who always wanted to learn more about our universe and its secrets， but was intimidated by the heavy maths and science aspect of it。 This is a perfect book to start you off。 I read several of Hawkins’ books， as well as those of deGrasse Tyson， and， personally， I found this book to be the most “digestible” to me as a layperson。 For those who are familiar with the popular concepts in astrophysics， this may be a good refresher。 However， if you are looking for a deeper dive into quantum mechanics， string theory and cosmology， this may not be the right book for you。 。。。more

Angela McCollister ，

I really enjoyed this book about cosmology and all the big ideas we still don't have an answer to。 The writing was very accessible for the layman and done in an easy， conversational style。 I liked that the chapters were short as it kept each topic from feeling like it was bogged down in detail。 This is a good book for any who have an interest in cosmology and astrophysics。 I really enjoyed this book about cosmology and all the big ideas we still don't have an answer to。 The writing was very accessible for the layman and done in an easy， conversational style。 I liked that the chapters were short as it kept each topic from feeling like it was bogged down in detail。 This is a good book for any who have an interest in cosmology and astrophysics。 。。。more

Elmira ，

I am grateful to have received an advance copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in return for an honest review。The author did a fantastic job of transforming intensely difficult concepts in theoretical physics into an easily understood popular science book。 And yet， while this book is a great overview for a non-physicist of the discoveries in theoretical physics to date and the current debates that have not yet been resolved， it is also a smooth-flowing overview of the current state I am grateful to have received an advance copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in return for an honest review。The author did a fantastic job of transforming intensely difficult concepts in theoretical physics into an easily understood popular science book。 And yet， while this book is a great overview for a non-physicist of the discoveries in theoretical physics to date and the current debates that have not yet been resolved， it is also a smooth-flowing overview of the current state of discovery/theory for someone like myself who has a graduate degree in applied physics but has been out of the field for a couple of decades。I would enthusiastically recommend this to anyone with an interest in physics！ 。。。more

Bandit ，

If you’re at all interested in the universe around you and all the important questions you can ask and have answered about it and would like this to be done by a renown physicist， cosmologist， astrobiologist， this is a book for you。 If not…well， that’s just sad。 This was an excellent primer on all things pertaining to our cosmos。 The author essentially brings you up to speed on all the things that matters including dark matter， so that you can be well versed in the science of cosmos as it is kno If you’re at all interested in the universe around you and all the important questions you can ask and have answered about it and would like this to be done by a renown physicist， cosmologist， astrobiologist， this is a book for you。 If not…well， that’s just sad。 This was an excellent primer on all things pertaining to our cosmos。 The author essentially brings you up to speed on all the things that matters including dark matter， so that you can be well versed in the science of cosmos as it is known now。 Is it likely to change in the future？ Probably。 The more you learn about science the more you learn about how it only takes one genius to revolutionize our perception of it。 Once there was a world before Euclidian geometry。， Newtonian physics， Einsteinian theory of relativity。 We now know more than we have at any previous time， but technically that is true of most times。 I’m fascinated by all of this， not just the epistemology aspect。 The universe and we do and don’t know it boggles my mind。 So I’ve read and studied this quite a lot over the years and thus this book hasn’t really told be a lot of new things， but it did an excellent job of covering and refreshing previously acquired knowledge， so it was like a finetuning。 A fine fineturning indeed。 And whether you’re looking for that or just expanding your knowledge （which should be limitless whether the universe around us is or isn’t） this smart， accessibly written， edifying book should make it on your reading list。 Recommended。 Thanks Netgalley。This and more at https://advancetheplot。weebly。com/ 。。。more

Paul ，

I liked this。 Just don't expect to do a deep dive on any of the wide variety of topics， which also makes it a pretty quick and easy read。 Davies writes clearly and interestingly。 A lot of curious people will like this one。 Recommended。Thanks very much for the ARC for review！！ I liked this。 Just don't expect to do a deep dive on any of the wide variety of topics， which also makes it a pretty quick and easy read。 Davies writes clearly and interestingly。 A lot of curious people will like this one。 Recommended。Thanks very much for the ARC for review！！ 。。。more

Jeremy ，

Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley。I liked this book。 It was short， explained a lot of cosmology， and was fun to read。 It covered territory I was already familiar with， but was still a fun read。