Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
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- Author：Brian Greene
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Summary
From the world-renowned physicist， co-founder of the World Science Festival， and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe comes this utterly captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose。
Brian Greene takes readers on a breathtaking journey from the big bang to the end of time and invites us to ponder meaning in the face of this unimaginable expanse。 He shows us how， from its original orderly state the universe has been moving inexorably toward chaos， and， still， remarkable structures have continually formed: the planets， stars， and galaxies that provide islands in a sea of disorder; biochemical mechanisms， including mutation and selection， animate life; neurons， information， and thought developed into complex consciousness which in turn gave rise to cultures and their timeless myths and creativity。 And he describes， as well， how， in the deep reaches of the future， the nature of the universe will threaten the existence of matter itself。 Through a series of nested stories Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be， a finer picture of where we are now， and a firmer understanding of where we are headed。 Taken together， it is a completely new perspective on our place in the universe and on what it means to be human。
Brian Greene takes readers on a breathtaking journey from the big bang to the end of time and invites us to ponder meaning in the face of this unimaginable expanse。 He shows us how， from its original orderly state the universe has been moving inexorably toward chaos， and， still， remarkable structures have continually formed: the planets， stars， and galaxies that provide islands in a sea of disorder; biochemical mechanisms， including mutation and selection， animate life; neurons， information， and thought developed into complex consciousness which in turn gave rise to cultures and their timeless myths and creativity。 And he describes， as well， how， in the deep reaches of the future， the nature of the universe will threaten the existence of matter itself。 Through a series of nested stories Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be， a finer picture of where we are now， and a firmer understanding of where we are headed。 Taken together， it is a completely new perspective on our place in the universe and on what it means to be human。
Reviews
Adam Cherson
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Haven't had time to review this yet。 Haven't had time to review this yet。 。。。more
J R
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Lots of interesting facts。 Not being a religious person， I found his take on religion interesting。 He wrote about how religion provides membership to unrelated individuals who thus feel part of a strongly bound group。 Even though our genetic overlap is minimal， we are primed to work together and protect one another because of our religious attachment。Also， his take on creativity and our sensitivity to pattern ranks among our most potent survival skills。 As we have seen repeatedly， we observe pat Lots of interesting facts。 Not being a religious person， I found his take on religion interesting。 He wrote about how religion provides membership to unrelated individuals who thus feel part of a strongly bound group。 Even though our genetic overlap is minimal， we are primed to work together and protect one another because of our religious attachment。Also， his take on creativity and our sensitivity to pattern ranks among our most potent survival skills。 As we have seen repeatedly， we observe patterns， we experience patterns， and， most importantly， we learn from patterns。 Fool me once， shame on you。 Fool me twice， and while it may be premature to declare shame on me， by the third or fourth time， such a shift of responsibility is justified。 To learn from pattern is an essential survival talent imprinted by evolution on our DNA。 Alien visitors dropping by earth may subsist on different biochemistry， but they will likely have no difficulty grasping the concept; almost certainly， pattern analysis is central to how they have prevailed too。Good Read Indeed 。。。more
Anand Sampat
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As someone with a background in physics I've always enjoyed authors like Roger Penrose， Neil deGrasse Tyson， and Brian Greene because they have a way of explaining fundamental laws in a way that's accessible yet also solidifies the concepts for myself。 Brian Greene in his previous books Elegant Universe and A Hidden Reality uses analogies brilliantly to help the reader grasp the complexity of string theory and quantum effects。 This book was no different in that regard。 The traversal from the beg As someone with a background in physics I've always enjoyed authors like Roger Penrose， Neil deGrasse Tyson， and Brian Greene because they have a way of explaining fundamental laws in a way that's accessible yet also solidifies the concepts for myself。 Brian Greene in his previous books Elegant Universe and A Hidden Reality uses analogies brilliantly to help the reader grasp the complexity of string theory and quantum effects。 This book was no different in that regard。 The traversal from the beginning of time to what could be a potential future and the various theories that encapsulate those was fascinating not merely for the physics and mathematics that underlie it， but because of it's fundamental tie to philosophy as well。 Just perusing the references， as a reader we find a health mix of philosophy， physics， and math indicating the breadth of topics we cover。 My favorite part however， was the conceptual thought experiment around what the definition （and the future） thinking and consciousness truly is。 What is life？ A simple question was unpacked from multiple dimensions， yet Greene doesn't prescribe any one theory， but rather allows the reader to decide for themselves the theory they believe providing all of the facts （in the text or in the notes） that give the reader enough to delve as deep as necessary。 I highly recommend this book for physics aficionados， philosophy buffs， or simply any lay person interested in asking the question: what is the meaning of life？ and where do we fit within it in the cosmos？ 。。。more
John Michael Strubhart
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When one takes a philosophical naturalistic view of the world， its reality， and our self-aware consciousness in it， one accepts that nothing lasts forever， but when confronted by death， one always wants one more day。 I don't know the future， and neither does Brian Greene。 Why worry about meaning and morality from the cosmic perspective？ Life has only the meaning that one gives it in each moment of living， and that will end for everyone。 So what？ I love all the physics and Brian is a master at ex When one takes a philosophical naturalistic view of the world， its reality， and our self-aware consciousness in it， one accepts that nothing lasts forever， but when confronted by death， one always wants one more day。 I don't know the future， and neither does Brian Greene。 Why worry about meaning and morality from the cosmic perspective？ Life has only the meaning that one gives it in each moment of living， and that will end for everyone。 So what？ I love all the physics and Brian is a master at explaining it， but I don't think he clearly makes the point he is trying to make， because there is point except that made by each individual in his or her own existence while he or she is alive。 There is no way to be cosmically immortal。 Get over it。 If you want your life to have meaning， do something meaningful and do it now。 。。。more
Lizzie
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A brilliant， if somewhat sad exploration of what it means to be human and our place in the universe。 His search for meaning is touching and terrifying in its realism （I would call him an optimistic nihilist）。 This is one of the only science books I have read that has managed to really explore how fundamental physics links to the human condition， and all the emotions it entails。
Markus
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I like Brian Greene's specials on TV and decided this would be my first foray into reading his work。 After the first hundred pages or so it is clear that Greene is more comfortable writing about his specialty of theoretical physics than cognition or religion， and it shows through the lack of insight and depth of conversation。 Overall I found this book hard to read and a disappointment。 I like Brian Greene's specials on TV and decided this would be my first foray into reading his work。 After the first hundred pages or so it is clear that Greene is more comfortable writing about his specialty of theoretical physics than cognition or religion， and it shows through the lack of insight and depth of conversation。 Overall I found this book hard to read and a disappointment。 。。。more
Fernando Dalisay
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Mostly it's not like Brian Greene's other works， he was probably discouraged from being awestriking and insightful due to academia's narrowmindedness on speculations and divergent publication。 This book is a bit redundant with evolutionary and nihilist topics， reflective of scientific philosophy and modern worshippers of truth。 However， the penultimate chapter strikes interest - a 10^1000 year time scale， proton decay and boltzmann brains。 Mostly it's not like Brian Greene's other works， he was probably discouraged from being awestriking and insightful due to academia's narrowmindedness on speculations and divergent publication。 This book is a bit redundant with evolutionary and nihilist topics， reflective of scientific philosophy and modern worshippers of truth。 However， the penultimate chapter strikes interest - a 10^1000 year time scale， proton decay and boltzmann brains。 。。。more
Haylee Jalyn
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I'm not sure exactly what I expected from this book， but the book I read was very different from my vague expectations。 There was far less actual physics than I anticipated， which isn't necessarily bad， but it was different。 I found it difficult to focus on the ebook as I was reading it， but found the audiobook a very helpful addition to my attempt to consume this very wide-reaching book。 The scope of what Greene discusses is huge。 Like， difficult to wrap one's mind around huge。 And while there I'm not sure exactly what I expected from this book， but the book I read was very different from my vague expectations。 There was far less actual physics than I anticipated， which isn't necessarily bad， but it was different。 I found it difficult to focus on the ebook as I was reading it， but found the audiobook a very helpful addition to my attempt to consume this very wide-reaching book。 The scope of what Greene discusses is huge。 Like， difficult to wrap one's mind around huge。 And while there was a lot of really interesting metaphors and discussions along the way， I felt rather underwhelmed。 I really enjoyed his book Fabric of the Cosmos and came away from that feeling like I'd learned and my brain was churning。 I didn't have that feeling from this book。 I'm still glad I read it， though， and once I switched to the audiobook for easier digestion， it went a lot more smoothly。 。。。more
Last Ranger
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A Clockwork Universe:The Universe， and everything in it， is like an immense time piece relentlessly ticking away as time flows ever forward to whatever fate awaits it in the future。 And Chaos rules！ From the beginning， if there was a beginning， there were little pockets of Order everywhere; like stars， planets， galaxies and， later， Life。 And Entropy， our name for Chaos， is constantly chipping away at all those “little pockets” to restore “disorder” and Chaos to its proper place。 That is why all A Clockwork Universe:The Universe， and everything in it， is like an immense time piece relentlessly ticking away as time flows ever forward to whatever fate awaits it in the future。 And Chaos rules！ From the beginning， if there was a beginning， there were little pockets of Order everywhere; like stars， planets， galaxies and， later， Life。 And Entropy， our name for Chaos， is constantly chipping away at all those “little pockets” to restore “disorder” and Chaos to its proper place。 That is why all things have a beginning， a middle and an end！ And that， in a nutshell， is the basic premise of Brian Greene’s amazing 2020 book “Until the End of Time”， a philosophical speculation of where the Universe， and life， came from and where they are going。 This book is not in any way an easy read。 Far ranging and complex， you may find parts of it hard to get through or understand but， for me， the end result was a rewarding and refreshing look into our cosmic origins and how we share many factors with the Universe itself。 How does Natural Selection play into the picture and provide us with a guiding image in our quest for understanding？ From where do things like religion and our inner-consciousness come from？ You will examine how stars， planets and life got started and how they might end。 And once started how they continued to change as time flows ever onward。 Evolution is nothing but change and how things change is influenced by their current environmental conditions。 From Black Holes to Proton， from the Big Bang till the Big Crunch and everything in between the Cosmos “Is all there is and all there ever will be”*。 “Until the End of Time” is definitely not a book for everybody but if your looking for a challenging read this may be a good book for you。 Just keep an open but skeptical mind and you should be OK。 （*） Carl Sagan If Greene’s book piques your interest you may also want to check out these related covers: Daniel C。 Dennett’s “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”， Pascal Boyer’s “Religion Explained” and Carl Sagan’s “The Demon Haunted World”。 Last Ranger 。。。more
Richard Seltzer
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At times poetic and inspiring， daring to range beyond the realm of physics， in which he is renowned， to speculate on mind， religion， all aspects of existence， in a noble attempt to put them together in a narrative about all that is known about the history of the universe from the beginning to the end。This book lacks the hard-science depth of his previous books， except in his treatment of entropy， which apparently is far more complex and important than I had ever imagined。 Lots and lots of sizzle At times poetic and inspiring， daring to range beyond the realm of physics， in which he is renowned， to speculate on mind， religion， all aspects of existence， in a noble attempt to put them together in a narrative about all that is known about the history of the universe from the beginning to the end。This book lacks the hard-science depth of his previous books， except in his treatment of entropy， which apparently is far more complex and important than I had ever imagined。 Lots and lots of sizzle。 Reading this book was an unforgettable experience that left me hungry， rather than satisfied， wanting a far more complete explanation of life， the universe and everything than is possible today。 。。。more
Bob Mustin
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Science existed under the radar for centuries until the advent of the Enlightenment， when a consensus overwhelmed that not every aspect of reality could be adequately explained by those in social or political power or by religious texts and entities。 And so the plethora of sciences burst forth with the brilliance of a supernova for almost 400 years， this luminescence dimmed only by the Twentieth Century's brace of world wars。 Philosophers post-WWI embraced something called anomie， a creeping une Science existed under the radar for centuries until the advent of the Enlightenment， when a consensus overwhelmed that not every aspect of reality could be adequately explained by those in social or political power or by religious texts and entities。 And so the plethora of sciences burst forth with the brilliance of a supernova for almost 400 years， this luminescence dimmed only by the Twentieth Century's brace of world wars。 Philosophers post-WWI embraced something called anomie， a creeping unease that reason， rationality and scientific deliberation had previously undiscovered flaws。Science's perhaps unwritten modus operandi has been to extend knowledge， thus wisdom， beyond the reach of political， social， and religious power， and for a long time， the sciences succeeded in this。 I have long believed that， as much as religious texts， for example， get it right regarding ethics and social cohesiveness， most of what they get right is "freeze-framed" in a temporal and cultural frame of reference， leaving too much room for bastardization， and leaving out entirely the onward march of social and cultural evolution。 Realizing this， mavens of science， decided， it seems， to take on all subjects， through experimentation， collected data， and due deliberation。 Once again， science succeeded in wresting reality from the hands of those in the different forms of power。But after some 400 years of scientific successes， science itself has become freeze-framed by the power its own success has brought about。 Human development and its consequent realizations continue to crash through barriers， these now including those erected by science itself。 And too many of us suffer a modern dose of anomie， wondering if science is still making wrong turns。 A couple of examples from this book might prove edifying。Philosophy of the last few decades has posited that， in jumping on science's bandwagon， all intelligence， all human consciousness， in fact， can be explained by the mechanics of the human vehicle。 This is tempting， because science eschews anything outside the realms of what can be measured， whether sensorially or by new-fangled equipment。 But centuries， perhaps millennia， of human delving into the nature of thought and mind place too much outside the scope of what can be measured that way。 Greene sees these efforts as erroneous， and offers validation of his view through the efforts of the very science-based philosophy that makes irrelevant Descartes， Kierkegaard， even Nietzsche。 He could be right， but what he hasn't done is categorically rule out centuries of written wisdom based on human subjective experience。Another， perhaps more to the point example is that of an astrophysics term， redshift。 For some decades， redshift has been accepted as a phenomenon indicating that galaxies are moving away from earth at a varyingly rapid pace。 Thus the pronouncement that redshift means moving away from earth， universe is perpetually expanding， this coupled with a phenomenon of supposed dark matter， that seems a reversal of gravity。 Now a small group of astrophysicists have discovered， put here in fairly simple language， that in certain types of galaxies， redshift occurs within the same galaxy for heavenly bodies that， when their redshift is measured， indicates that those bodies of such a galaxy should be many parsecs away， i。e。， far， far， far away。This， and much of what Greene posits in this book supports thinking much like that of the Catholic Church that declared Galileo a heretic for his position， supported previously by Copernicus， that the earth revolved around the sun。 Benignly， science mores on， but in doing so it butts its head against its own limitations， and Green makes no note of this is what could be a truly groundbreaking work。My rating 16 of 20 stars。 。。。more
John Lamiell
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D N F
Scott Holstad
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Wow。 Obviously I’m an idiot， because I should have spent more time reading ABOUT the book instead of reading the actual book。 It’s interesting， I suppose， but I’ve read some of the author’s work before and while I wouldn’t consider it sufficiently postgrad， generally not bad。 I guess I must have expected something similar but nope， it actually is as the title of the book implies: essentially philosophical meanderings of an isolated individual that in some ways felt like it nearly bordered on a r Wow。 Obviously I’m an idiot， because I should have spent more time reading ABOUT the book instead of reading the actual book。 It’s interesting， I suppose， but I’ve read some of the author’s work before and while I wouldn’t consider it sufficiently postgrad， generally not bad。 I guess I must have expected something similar but nope， it actually is as the title of the book implies: essentially philosophical meanderings of an isolated individual that in some ways felt like it nearly bordered on a religious slant。 In some ways。 If you’re after a hard science text， don’t go with this。 This is much more soft science and while there’s nothing wrong with that， on the particular subject at hand， I’d prefer to stick to hard science。 。。。more
Justin Harnish
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Professor Greene is a master at weaving the historic tales of scientific discovery with the theories on the nature of existence… which would be enough but he than contextualizes all of that to human meaning and the grandest questions of philosophy—what is the meaning of life in a universe that is likely to outlive us by many orders of magnitude？ Greene masterfully describe the Cartesian pit of skepticism brought about by a long-running universe that would at some point contain more Boltzmann bra Professor Greene is a master at weaving the historic tales of scientific discovery with the theories on the nature of existence… which would be enough but he than contextualizes all of that to human meaning and the grandest questions of philosophy—what is the meaning of life in a universe that is likely to outlive us by many orders of magnitude？ Greene masterfully describe the Cartesian pit of skepticism brought about by a long-running universe that would at some point contain more Boltzmann brains than regular ones; he describes how a "thinker" might continue on with cognition well into the heat death of the universe; and he declares our lives meaningful for having lived an existence filled w/ profundity during a window of universal grandeur and growth。 Greene's book is the best of the recent "physicist take on meaning" books， even if at times he can strike a slightly myopic tone as to how much is "known" already and a declared victory for materialism。 。。。more
Bryan
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Imagine being such a lunatic that you believe （wait， that you “know”） there is no such thing as free will because you view free will as needing to break the laws of physics。 He’s created a straw man argument to make some scientific points that don’t result in any meaning。 Unless there are people out there claiming to have free will because I can break the laws of physics and fly into space by myself simply because I’m free to do so”， he’s arguing against nobody on that point。His previous works s Imagine being such a lunatic that you believe （wait， that you “know”） there is no such thing as free will because you view free will as needing to break the laws of physics。 He’s created a straw man argument to make some scientific points that don’t result in any meaning。 Unless there are people out there claiming to have free will because I can break the laws of physics and fly into space by myself simply because I’m free to do so”， he’s arguing against nobody on that point。His previous works seem grounded in reality。 I honestly can’t tell if he’s lost his mind or simply needed to have a reason to cash a publisher’s check。 Either way， I must be done with him。 。。。more
Dave Clark
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Heavy！
Tucker
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Big book on a wide range of topics about the formation of the universe， the acceleration and the decay of everything， what sense one can make of believing in God， etc。 I was most drawn to the end of Chapter 7， "Brains and Belief: From Imagination to the Sacred" and Chapter 8， "Instinct and Creativity: From the Sacred to the Sublime。" Big book on a wide range of topics about the formation of the universe， the acceleration and the decay of everything， what sense one can make of believing in God， etc。 I was most drawn to the end of Chapter 7， "Brains and Belief: From Imagination to the Sacred" and Chapter 8， "Instinct and Creativity: From the Sacred to the Sublime。" 。。。more
Dkolacinski
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Well， it's Not Life， Death and the Universe or even close。 I've always enjoyed Brian Greene， but the plethora of names really gets in the way of his reasoning， which seems to be mostly by analogy， although I did like the comparison of the non-existence of free will in the individual to the choices an electron has in quantum physics。 Well， it's Not Life， Death and the Universe or even close。 I've always enjoyed Brian Greene， but the plethora of names really gets in the way of his reasoning， which seems to be mostly by analogy， although I did like the comparison of the non-existence of free will in the individual to the choices an electron has in quantum physics。 。。。more
DarkHeraldMage
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This was a funny buddy read in the book club and I really had a fun time learning a lot about our universe and how it has looked billions of years in the past as well as how it might look billions and trillions of years in the future。 Greene was really good at giving examples via metaphors that made things feel more easily grasped by a layperson， something I very much appreciated since I'm not a physics major。I did feel like a much larger than necessary amount of the book was spent quoting other This was a funny buddy read in the book club and I really had a fun time learning a lot about our universe and how it has looked billions of years in the past as well as how it might look billions and trillions of years in the future。 Greene was really good at giving examples via metaphors that made things feel more easily grasped by a layperson， something I very much appreciated since I'm not a physics major。I did feel like a much larger than necessary amount of the book was spent quoting other scientists and philosophers than was really warranted， but I also acknowledge that so much of science is built on the back of science that has come before， so it's important to credit that was which found out and detailed previously。This was one of the few non-fiction books I've read in the past couple years， and I'm glad I picked it up。 Will I be able to remember everything I just read in a month or even a week？ Probably not。 But I might remember tidbits conversationally， or understand a science themed joke if I hear one， and that's good enough for me。 。。。more
Casey （ish-i-ness）
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Meh。 So meh I might even downgrade to two stars （edit: I did）。 I mean there are some interesting things explained， but I don’t feel like Greene got anywhere close to the grand theory of physics and art he clearly wants to find。 He’s just not an art guy， and that’s all I get from his attempts to explore it。 There are many other books I would recommend reading about the topics he touches on， except maybe the physics。 Greene knows how to explain physics。 He doesn’t know how to explain the other dis Meh。 So meh I might even downgrade to two stars （edit: I did）。 I mean there are some interesting things explained， but I don’t feel like Greene got anywhere close to the grand theory of physics and art he clearly wants to find。 He’s just not an art guy， and that’s all I get from his attempts to explore it。 There are many other books I would recommend reading about the topics he touches on， except maybe the physics。 Greene knows how to explain physics。 He doesn’t know how to explain the other disciplines explored here。 So for now I would say， skip this book， read his other books， and read the books of the people he cites， who do a better job of explaining the ideas in their own areas of expertise。 。。。more
Carroll Nelson Davis
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The late Douglass Adams told us of beings creating a great computer （Deep Thought） to give the answer to Life， the Universe， and Everything， which in turn gave them an answer they couldn't understand and created another computer （Earth） to provide the question for which that answer could be followed。 One may wonder how the Earth might accomplish that， but now we know: it produced Brian Greene and he wrote Until the End of Time。In Until the End of Time， Greene leads the reader through questions a The late Douglass Adams told us of beings creating a great computer （Deep Thought） to give the answer to Life， the Universe， and Everything， which in turn gave them an answer they couldn't understand and created another computer （Earth） to provide the question for which that answer could be followed。 One may wonder how the Earth might accomplish that， but now we know: it produced Brian Greene and he wrote Until the End of Time。In Until the End of Time， Greene leads the reader through questions and firm or tentative answers about all aspects of unpermanent existence: entropy， evolution， thought， language and storytelling， society， belief， aesthetics， meaning。 He shares how it is to be Brian Greene contemplating the totality of related experience and learning。As a septuagenerian trying to develop some general and satisfying answer to "Why am I here？"， this reader comes up with nothing better than: "I am here because the universe exists， and my being here is one of the things that can happen when the universe exists as it does。" Greene's perspective seems consonant with that， but but he explores universal understanding with greater patience and eloquence and entertains readers in the process of doing so。 This book seems designed for conversion into another NOVA miniseries。 I can't wait; it will be on my must-watch list。 。。。more
Greg Latanick
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3。75/5
Mike Fehrenbacher
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This fascinating book attempts to recount a complete history of reality from the Big Bang through the emergence of intelligent beings to the potential future。 And it does a pretty great job of it！
Mandy Dimins
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"In the end， during our brief moment in the sun， we are tasked with the noble charge of finding our own meaning。"Brian Greene's central thesis to this book is that: everything in this universe （and in fact the universe itself） is transitory， so let's examine this somewhat miraculous phenomenon that is us， springing up for what would be less than a blink of an eye in the cosmic timeline， and examining ourselves， the universe around us， and then - most probably - to fade into oblivion once again。I "In the end， during our brief moment in the sun， we are tasked with the noble charge of finding our own meaning。"Brian Greene's central thesis to this book is that: everything in this universe （and in fact the universe itself） is transitory， so let's examine this somewhat miraculous phenomenon that is us， springing up for what would be less than a blink of an eye in the cosmic timeline， and examining ourselves， the universe around us， and then - most probably - to fade into oblivion once again。I love that。 Sure， it fills one with existential dread， but this is why I love reading astrophysics。 I love reading about our insignificance in the cosmic scale， not because I want to bask in how life is so meaningless， but because I like that recognition that we assign meaning to our lives because the universe is so completely apathetic and will rise and fall with or without us。Greene's writing can be a little heavy-going at times， but his analogies can be spot-on。 I thoroughly enjoyed the "drop a bag of pennies on a table" analogy in Ch 3 to explain entropy， as well as the "if every floor of the Empire State Building was an exponential increase in number of years since the Big Bang" analogy to really drive home the vastness of the cosmic timescale that we're looking at （the Sun would fizzle out by level 10）。The only thing that dropped this book down a star is probably the middle chapters， around Ch 4-8 where Greene delves more into anthropology and into subjects like language， story-telling， arts， religion， music， etc。 to think about how and why humans evolved in this way。 That's fine and all but I guess I wasn't here for subjects like that。 While I did eventually make it through those chapters， I wasn't really sure overall how it contributed to his thesis。Nevertheless， the first few and last few chapters centering on Greene's expertise of astrophysics were particularly stellar。 It introduced concepts to me that I had never know about， like Boltzmann brains， and the ever present possibility of complete annihilation of all matter by a shifting of the Higgs field。 It helped me get a better grasp on concepts I had heard of before but never quite understood， like Hawking radiation， the heat death of the universe， and even something fundamental like what entropy really is。 His "entropic two-step" really helped me understand just how stars form， and why their formation doesn't necessarily decrease overall entropy in the universe。Overall， this book was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to exploring some of his other more astrophysics-focused titles in the future。 。。。more
Fred Rose
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Greene is a brilliant writer。 He's one of the best at explaining complex and esoteric concepts like string theory， entropy， and time。 I have enjoyed several of his books。 This book however seemed at loose ends。 While the overall objective seemed to be to explain how the universe will eventually come to an end， at times it really veered off into lots of other things around evolution and religious philosophy （which are certainly related I guess）。 I skimmed through large parts of the book in the mi Greene is a brilliant writer。 He's one of the best at explaining complex and esoteric concepts like string theory， entropy， and time。 I have enjoyed several of his books。 This book however seemed at loose ends。 While the overall objective seemed to be to explain how the universe will eventually come to an end， at times it really veered off into lots of other things around evolution and religious philosophy （which are certainly related I guess）。 I skimmed through large parts of the book in the middle。 There's definitely good parts of this book， especially the last two chapters。 But I really struggled to find a narrative to get into。 Maybe I just haven’t been in the right mood。 。。。more
David Burns
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I can understand why some give this book a poor review。 I cannot do that， but I did find some of it to be a difficult read。 This man， Brian Greene， who I have viewed in discussion with other bright individuals， is very challenging to follow and to keep up with。 To denigrate him would be like me saying that Arnold Palmer is a terrible golfer because he will not allow me to come within ten strokes of him in any game。In fairness， I began to skim parts of the book， but even in so doing， Green often I can understand why some give this book a poor review。 I cannot do that， but I did find some of it to be a difficult read。 This man， Brian Greene， who I have viewed in discussion with other bright individuals， is very challenging to follow and to keep up with。 To denigrate him would be like me saying that Arnold Palmer is a terrible golfer because he will not allow me to come within ten strokes of him in any game。In fairness， I began to skim parts of the book， but even in so doing， Green often grabbed my feeble mind and brought back into the depths of this writing。 If you cannot keep up with an Olympic runner， do not disparage that person， look inward and look at your own preparation to enter the fray。Be assured， this is not an easy read， but it will challenge you and in that way， make you stronger and better prepared to understand who we are， how we became the person we have become and even shed some light on where we may be headed。 It may not be for everyone， but I firmly believe that everyone can gain much from it。 。。。more
Marie
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Black holes have a temperature and black holes glow。 They radiate。 They are black in name only。 More precisely， black holes are black only if you ignore quantum physics。Most of us deal quietly with the need to lift ourselves beyond the everyday。 We focus our energy on what we can control。 Through it all， we grow accustomed to looking out to the world to find something to excite， to soothe， to hold our attention or whisk us to someplace new。 Yet the universe does not exist to provide an arena for Black holes have a temperature and black holes glow。 They radiate。 They are black in name only。 More precisely， black holes are black only if you ignore quantum physics。Most of us deal quietly with the need to lift ourselves beyond the everyday。 We focus our energy on what we can control。 Through it all， we grow accustomed to looking out to the world to find something to excite， to soothe， to hold our attention or whisk us to someplace new。 Yet the universe does not exist to provide an arena for life and mind to flourish。 Life and mind is simply a couple of things that happen to happen。 Until they don’t。 Even so， to see our moment in context is to realize that our existence is astonishing。 This universe pretty much looks the same as the original。 For us， it is vastly different。 There is an “us” to notice。 We exist because our specific particulate arrangements won the battle against an astounding assortment of other arrangements all vying to be realized。 By the grace of random chance， funneled through nature’s laws， we are here。 And yet， with this astronomical number of possibilities， against astonishing odds， your molecular combinations now exist。 How spectacularly unlikely。 How thrillingly magnificent。 Most life， miraculous in its own right， is tethered to the immediate; we can step outside of time。 We can think about the past， we can imagine the future。 We must accept that there is no grand design。 Particles are not endowed with purpose。 There is no final answer hovering in the depths of space awaiting discovery。 In our quest to fathom the human condition， the only direction to look is inward。 That is a noble direction to look。 It is a direction that foregoes ready-made answers and turns to the highly personal journey of constructing our own meaning。 。。。more
Shaun
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My biggest complaint is when writing about complex topics， I feel it's best to make the language/vocabulary and examples as non-complex as the writer can。 Greene doesn't do that。 I feel I have a pretty good grasp of the English language and a rudimentary grasp of physics。 I felt lost throughout this book and it felt like Greene was taken to rambling to explain a point in convoluted examples， when a plain， straightforward statement would have been sufficient。 Or maybe this book was just too smart My biggest complaint is when writing about complex topics， I feel it's best to make the language/vocabulary and examples as non-complex as the writer can。 Greene doesn't do that。 I feel I have a pretty good grasp of the English language and a rudimentary grasp of physics。 I felt lost throughout this book and it felt like Greene was taken to rambling to explain a point in convoluted examples， when a plain， straightforward statement would have been sufficient。 Or maybe this book was just too smart for me and that's my own shortcoming。 Either way， I didn't enjoy it at all。 。。。more
Kristine Strautane
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Such a fantastic book。 I actually liked how Brian intertwined humanistic and spiritual realms with the scientific perspective and tried to do something a bit different with this book。
Matthew
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