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Telegraph.co.uk

Simon Singh

Big Bang

The big bang is well known as the consensus view of the beginning of the universe, but the history of how it achieved this position may be less well known. In Big bang : the most important scientific discovery of all time and why you need to know about it Simon Singh gives the reader a gentle introduction to this history.

The first chapter of the book starts with the early ideas of the cosmos, moving on to scientist such as Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. The second chapter gets on to the revolution in cosmology at the beginning of the twentieth century, with Einstein's relativity and Hubble's discovery of the red shift of distant galaxies. The third chapter 'Mavericks of the cosmos' shows that there was a long way to go before consensus could be reached. Singh explains how calculations of nucleosynthesis played a vital part in our understanding of the universe, and how Fred Hoyle gained support for his 'Steady State' alternative (and in fact coined the term 'Big Bang' as something of an insult).

The book is well written and gives plenty of simple explanations of the concepts involved, making it accessible to a large number of readers. However, I felt it was a bit long for the novice reader, and didn't include enough recent cosmology to serve as an introduction to the subject. Those with more experience of the subject would probably not want to plough through a large amount of material which they were already familiar with. It may well suit you if you've learned a bit of cosmology and want to find out more of the background to the subject, as its strong point is the detail it gives of the disputes in cosmology of the early and mid 20^th century.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 560 pages
ISBN: 0007162219
Salesrank: 28047
Weight:0.75 lbs

Published: 2005 Harper Perennial

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Paperback 544 pages
ISBN: 0007152523
Salesrank: 12108
Weight:0.84 lbs

Published: 2005 HarperPerennial

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Paperback 560 pages
ISBN: 0007162219
Salesrank: 63382
Weight:0.75 lbs

Published: 2004 HarperCollins Canada / Harper Trade

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Product Description
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.

Product Description

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.

Exceptional book! *****
I read so many books to put together the same facts I just found in one book: Big Bang by Simon Singh. I savored every single word. The way the book is written makes it easy to grasp the concepts, which were given an equal amount of thought and consideration. The summaries at the end of each chapter, as well as the tables of comparison, constitute an efficient way of serving the objectivity with which these topics are discussed throughout the book. Loved it, loved it! I highly recommend it to everyone who loves science in general, this including old and new theories alike.

Exceptional book! *****

I read so many books to put together the same facts I just found in one book: Big Bang by Simon Singh. I savored every single word. The way the book is written makes it easy to grasp the concepts, which were given an equal amount of thought and consideration. The summaries at the end of each chapter, as well as the tables of comparison, constitute an efficient way of serving the objectivity with which these topics are discussed throughout the book. Loved it, loved it! I highly recommend it to everyone who loves science in general, this including old and new theories alike.

Another great book from Simon Singh *****
Another excellent book from Dr. Singh I could not put down. This book has increased my interest in the cosmos; I will now search for a book to fill in the gaps mentioned by other researchers in the hope of understanding the concepts behind the search for dark matter in the CERN laboratories. I will also buy a telescope and teach my son some of the concepts contained in this book.

Another great book from Simon Singh *****

Another excellent book from Dr. Singh I could not put down. This book has increased my interest in the cosmos; I will now search for a book to fill in the gaps mentioned by other researchers in the hope of understanding the concepts behind the search for dark matter in the CERN laboratories. I will also buy a telescope and teach my son some of the concepts contained in this book.

A Bigger Bang: A Fantastic Trip into the Unknown *****
This time, in his 3rd book with the similar approach, Simon Singh dwelves into the world of Cosmology (leaving Fermat's Theorem and Coding Theory behind) with the intension of popularizing this field, making it approachable for a broader audience. Does he succeed? Yes, he does (as always this far). Starting out with the presentation of thoughts on the universe by Greek philosophers, continuing with outlining the ideas (and personalities) of, for instance, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galilei & Einstein, and in the final run describing the back-and-forth battle between the believers of a stationary in contrast to a expanding universe (assuming an infinitely old universe in contrast to creation through a 'Big bang') he takes us on a long, but both fascinating and inspirational journey. Throughout this trip, we are exposed to a rich amount of facts corresponding to thoughts and derivations based on scientific logic and brilliance from such diverse fields as atomic theory, general physics, chemistry, mathematics and (of course) astronomy. Though the mathematics are kept to a minimum, it might help the reader to be to some extent acquainted with scientifc reasoning based on logical arguments and to hold some tiny insight into the world of academics. You will meet a set of truly outstanding personalities and make your way through the accumulation of knowledge (in the paradigm-sense) through brilliant theories and observations, all presented in a logically, lively, well-structured and exciting way. You will most likely learn exlicitly by absorbing the actual content, and implicitly through kick-starting your knowledge-searching inherent ability, ending up a brighter and/or better person so to speak. A must read! [Note: The Swedish-version contains some extra material through comments by the translator Margareta Brogren (for example putting some things into a Swedish context) and the expert reader Hans-Uno Bengtsson (for example making some concepts up-to-date or extending them). Impressive!]

A Bigger Bang: A Fantastic Trip into the Unknown *****

This time, in his 3rd book with the similar approach, Simon Singh dwelves into the world of Cosmology (leaving Fermat's Theorem and Coding Theory behind) with the intension of popularizing this field, making it approachable for a broader audience. Does he succeed? Yes, he does (as always this far).

Starting out with the presentation of thoughts on the universe by Greek philosophers, continuing with outlining the ideas (and personalities) of, for instance, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galilei & Einstein, and in the final run describing the back-and-forth battle between the believers of a stationary in contrast to a expanding universe (assuming an infinitely old universe in contrast to creation through a 'Big bang') he takes us on a long, but both fascinating and inspirational journey.

Throughout this trip, we are exposed to a rich amount of facts corresponding to thoughts and derivations based on scientific logic and brilliance from such diverse fields as atomic theory, general physics, chemistry, mathematics and (of course) astronomy. Though the mathematics are kept to a minimum, it might help the reader to be to some extent acquainted with scientifc reasoning based on logical arguments and to hold some tiny insight into the world of academics.

You will meet a set of truly outstanding personalities and make your way through the accumulation of knowledge (in the paradigm-sense) through brilliant theories and observations, all presented in a logically, lively, well-structured and exciting way. You will most likely learn exlicitly by absorbing the actual content, and implicitly through kick-starting your knowledge-searching inherent ability, ending up a brighter and/or better person so to speak. A must read!

[Note: The Swedish-version contains some extra material through comments by the translator Margareta Brogren (for example putting some things into a Swedish context) and the expert reader Hans-Uno Bengtsson (for example making some concepts up-to-date or extending them). Impressive!]

A Good Start, but a Truly Useful History of How this Important Scientific Theory Developed is Still Needed ****
What is the origin of the universe? What does the nighttime sky say about the manner in which this universe has evolved? How have astronomers sought to learn the answer to these and other fundamental questions? "Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe," by physicist turned journalist Simon Singh, seeks to provide answers to these questions. It is a broad, useful overview that serves well as an introductory text for neophytes and students, but it will be disappointing to scholars of all stripes. For example, its title may mislead too many readers. Anyone seeking a cosmological discussion of the origins and evolution of the universe--and there are many very good books on this subject and a broad audience reading them--they will be disappointed with Singh's work. Instead of cosmology of the type offered by such popular science writers as James S. Trefil, John Gribbin, Brian Greene, or Paul Davies, this is a history--and a singularly linear one at that--of how the theory of the Big Bang emerged in the science community in the early part of the twentieth century and eventually came to be accepted as the standard method of explaining the origins of the universe. After two introductory chapters that lay out a generalized version of cosmology from the ancients to the beginning of the twentieth century and a discussion of Einstein and his place in astrophysics Singh relates how the notion of a Big Bang gained a foothold in the scientific discipline. He emphasizes how hotly disputed this prospect was at first, suggesting as it does that all of the matter of the universe might have been rolled into a infinitesimally small point that exploded with such force that matter moved outward, setting in motion the forces that create stars, galaxies, planets, and eventually life. Offered first by the Belgian priest and scientist, Georges Lemaitre, this concept of an explosive beginning to the universe found few adherents because of a dearth of supporting evidence. For many scientists, such a "creation" also smacked of religious ideology. The observations of Edwin Hubble on the expanding universe in the 1920s provided some of the first undisputable evidence that something violent had taken place at some point in the history of the universe. Over time, as scientific data mounted, the Big Bang gradually gained support in key scientific communities and eventually became the standard explanation of how the universe has evolved. Most of this change came in the heady years following World War II when new technologies offered startling new scientific understandings. Among the most important of these capabilities involved the radio telescope and advances in spectroscopy, employed by a myriad of researchers to collect data about the universe, to explore the chemistry of stars. They discovered that the uneven distribution of galaxies in the universe called into question other modes of explanation. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson proved to be the critical scientists in collecting and interpreting this data, finding that background radiation existed in the cosmos and gaining the Nobel Prize in 1978 for this discovery. Others followed. NASA's COBE satellite in the early 1990s discovered background radiation of varying densities clumped in various parts of the universe that could have fostered the formation of galaxies. NASA scientist John Mather received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his path breaking work with COBE. Others dated the origins of the universe to 13.7 billion years ago, with a margin of error of +/- 200 million years. A central actor in this story was the eminent British astronomer Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "Big Bang" as a derisive label for the theory. Hoyle became the theory's most vocal and obvious critic, and offered an alternative theory labeled the "Steady State" universe that sought to counteract the "Big Bang" model. Central to his theory was a timeless universe in which matter was continuously being created and annihilated. For more than two decades his theory garnered the lion's share of support from cosmologists, but over time the weight of countervailing evidence swung against the "Steady State" model. Hoyle refused to give up on his theory despite mounting evidence supporting the "Big Bang," however, and Singh makes much of his intransigence. One of Singh's major conclusions is explained thus: "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" (p. 75). In Singh's estimation, Hoyle and his theory died together. This is an unfortunate conclusion on many levels. While there are always diehard advocates of any theory, scientific or other, in most instances scientists are persuaded by compelling evidence and that is what happened in the case of the "Big Bang." The process of scientific advancement is much more complex than waiting for the advocates of an alternative explanation to die off. It involves alteration of models over time to take into account new data and understandings. It may, but does not always, involve the overthrow of a dominant paradigm after the facts no longer support it as Thomas S. Kuhn famously analyzed in "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (University of Chicago Press, 1962). There are also many instances of how scientists were more open-minded than Hoyle. For one, Harold Urey abandoned his model for the capture theory to explain the origins of the Moon when evidence went against him during the Apollo era, as historian of science Stephen G. Brush noted in "Fruitful Encounters: The Origin of the Solar System and of the Moon from Chamberlin to Apollo" (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Singh's facile explanation is both less illuminating than the complex processes of scientific discovery and incorporation of it into the body of knowledge. He does a disservice to scientists and their scientific pursuits with such easy explanations. While "Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe" is an entertaining and sometimes enlightening work, it could have been so much more. A sophisticated history of how scientists formulated, evolved, and adopted the "Big Bang" model of the universe is a noble endeavor deserving of serious scholarly attention. We have the beginnings of it in Singh's book, but historians of science have yet to tackle this important subject in their research. Potentially, the history of how the Big Bang gained primacy as a scientific explanation of the universe's origins could be a study as significant of the replacement of the Ptolemaic with the Copernican model of the solar system as explained by Kuhn. I await such a path-breaking study.

A Good Start, but a Truly Useful History of How this Important Scientific Theory Developed is Still Needed ****

What is the origin of the universe? What does the nighttime sky say about the manner in which this universe has evolved? How have astronomers sought to learn the answer to these and other fundamental questions? "Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe," by physicist turned journalist Simon Singh, seeks to provide answers to these questions. It is a broad, useful overview that serves well as an introductory text for neophytes and students, but it will be disappointing to scholars of all stripes. For example, its title may mislead too many readers. Anyone seeking a cosmological discussion of the origins and evolution of the universe--and there are many very good books on this subject and a broad audience reading them--they will be disappointed with Singh's work. Instead of cosmology of the type offered by such popular science writers as James S. Trefil, John Gribbin, Brian Greene, or Paul Davies, this is a history--and a singularly linear one at that--of how the theory of the Big Bang emerged in the science community in the early part of the twentieth century and eventually came to be accepted as the standard method of explaining the origins of the universe.

After two introductory chapters that lay out a generalized version of cosmology from the ancients to the beginning of the twentieth century and a discussion of Einstein and his place in astrophysics Singh relates how the notion of a Big Bang gained a foothold in the scientific discipline. He emphasizes how hotly disputed this prospect was at first, suggesting as it does that all of the matter of the universe might have been rolled into a infinitesimally small point that exploded with such force that matter moved outward, setting in motion the forces that create stars, galaxies, planets, and eventually life. Offered first by the Belgian priest and scientist, Georges Lemaitre, this concept of an explosive beginning to the universe found few adherents because of a dearth of supporting evidence. For many scientists, such a "creation" also smacked of religious ideology. The observations of Edwin Hubble on the expanding universe in the 1920s provided some of the first undisputable evidence that something violent had taken place at some point in the history of the universe.

Over time, as scientific data mounted, the Big Bang gradually gained support in key scientific communities and eventually became the standard explanation of how the universe has evolved. Most of this change came in the heady years following World War II when new technologies offered startling new scientific understandings. Among the most important of these capabilities involved the radio telescope and advances in spectroscopy, employed by a myriad of researchers to collect data about the universe, to explore the chemistry of stars. They discovered that the uneven distribution of galaxies in the universe called into question other modes of explanation. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson proved to be the critical scientists in collecting and interpreting this data, finding that background radiation existed in the cosmos and gaining the Nobel Prize in 1978 for this discovery. Others followed. NASA's COBE satellite in the early 1990s discovered background radiation of varying densities clumped in various parts of the universe that could have fostered the formation of galaxies. NASA scientist John Mather received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his path breaking work with COBE. Others dated the origins of the universe to 13.7 billion years ago, with a margin of error of +/- 200 million years.

A central actor in this story was the eminent British astronomer Fred Hoyle, who coined the term "Big Bang" as a derisive label for the theory. Hoyle became the theory's most vocal and obvious critic, and offered an alternative theory labeled the "Steady State" universe that sought to counteract the "Big Bang" model. Central to his theory was a timeless universe in which matter was continuously being created and annihilated. For more than two decades his theory garnered the lion's share of support from cosmologists, but over time the weight of countervailing evidence swung against the "Steady State" model.

Hoyle refused to give up on his theory despite mounting evidence supporting the "Big Bang," however, and Singh makes much of his intransigence. One of Singh's major conclusions is explained thus: "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" (p. 75). In Singh's estimation, Hoyle and his theory died together. This is an unfortunate conclusion on many levels. While there are always diehard advocates of any theory, scientific or other, in most instances scientists are persuaded by compelling evidence and that is what happened in the case of the "Big Bang." The process of scientific advancement is much more complex than waiting for the advocates of an alternative explanation to die off. It involves alteration of models over time to take into account new data and understandings. It may, but does not always, involve the overthrow of a dominant paradigm after the facts no longer support it as Thomas S. Kuhn famously analyzed in "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (University of Chicago Press, 1962). There are also many instances of how scientists were more open-minded than Hoyle. For one, Harold Urey abandoned his model for the capture theory to explain the origins of the Moon when evidence went against him during the Apollo era, as historian of science Stephen G. Brush noted in "Fruitful Encounters: The Origin of the Solar System and of the Moon from Chamberlin to Apollo" (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Singh's facile explanation is both less illuminating than the complex processes of scientific discovery and incorporation of it into the body of knowledge. He does a disservice to scientists and their scientific pursuits with such easy explanations.

While "Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe" is an entertaining and sometimes enlightening work, it could have been so much more. A sophisticated history of how scientists formulated, evolved, and adopted the "Big Bang" model of the universe is a noble endeavor deserving of serious scholarly attention. We have the beginnings of it in Singh's book, but historians of science have yet to tackle this important subject in their research. Potentially, the history of how the Big Bang gained primacy as a scientific explanation of the universe's origins could be a study as significant of the replacement of the Ptolemaic with the Copernican model of the solar system as explained by Kuhn. I await such a path-breaking study.

Another great read from Singh! *****
I had read the first two books by Simon Singh, Fermat's Enigma and The Code Book, a I was very pleased with them. However, I'm not very interested in astronomy and the big bang, so I didn't want to read this book at first. However, when I finally decided to give it a go, it turned out to be just as good as the first books! From now on, I'll read everything Simon Singh writes, no matter how boring they may sound!

Another great read from Singh! *****

I had read the first two books by Simon Singh, Fermat's Enigma and The Code Book, a I was very pleased with them. However, I'm not very interested in astronomy and the big bang, so I didn't want to read this book at first. However, when I finally decided to give it a go, it turned out to be just as good as the first books! From now on, I'll read everything Simon Singh writes, no matter how boring they may sound!

A Good Starting Point!!! *****
This book is a must-read for anyone who wishes not only to broaden their knowledge on this subject but to start from complete scratch. It reads easy, but as some of the other reviews have stated, an understanding of fundamental Physics is certainly going to help. The well ordered, well written text, with a few bits of humor dotted around explain the subject in a manner as easy to understand as could possibly be! You can download a lecture by Simon Singh, promoting the book. It's on itunes under "Perimeter Institute Lecture Series". It only covers a small amount of the books content - but it's worth a listen.

A Good Starting Point!!! *****

This book is a must-read for anyone who wishes not only to broaden their knowledge on this subject but to start from complete scratch.

It reads easy, but as some of the other reviews have stated, an understanding of fundamental Physics is certainly going to help. The well ordered, well written text, with a few bits of humor dotted around explain the subject in a manner as easy to understand as could possibly be!

You can download a lecture by Simon Singh, promoting the book. It's on itunes under "Perimeter Institute Lecture Series". It only covers a small amount of the books content - but it's worth a listen.

The Great Odyssey through Time and Space *****
This book is an odyssey. It starts from our early human mythologies about the place of our world in the cosmos and takes us through some of the great moments in history when men and women have broken or shattered established beliefs regarding our place in the cosmos. For me, part of the joy of this book was the way in which Simon Singh engages the reader with the characters of the past and highlights the personal struggles that many overcame to bring the world true original new scientific knowledge. Singh's scientific training allows him to translate the more complex scientific issues into meaningful and interesting prose for the lay reader. Singh manages to deftly weave the various strands of personalities and ideas which make up the path of scientific development into a rich tapestry. At the same time, he is at pains to emphasise that such discoveries come at a price for many involved in the process and that scientific progress is not an incremental linear path, but rather as a journey punctuated with great moments of serendipidy and paradigm shifts. This is a veritable 'tour de force' and a really enjoyable read.

The Great Odyssey through Time and Space *****

This book is an odyssey. It starts from our early human mythologies about the place of our world in the cosmos and takes us through some of the great moments in history when men and women have broken or shattered established beliefs regarding our place in the cosmos. For me, part of the joy of this book was the way in which Simon Singh engages the reader with the characters of the past and highlights the personal struggles that many overcame to bring the world true original new scientific knowledge. Singh's scientific training allows him to translate the more complex scientific issues into meaningful and interesting prose for the lay reader. Singh manages to deftly weave the various strands of personalities and ideas which make up the path of scientific development into a rich tapestry. At the same time, he is at pains to emphasise that such discoveries come at a price for many involved in the process and that scientific progress is not an incremental linear path, but rather as a journey punctuated with great moments of serendipidy and paradigm shifts. This is a veritable 'tour de force' and a really enjoyable read.

The best Science book ever! *****
This is by far the best book on science I have ever read. Singh weaves a character led history of the most important aspects of modern science and the many different characters that went into telling this beautiful story. My particular favorite is the way Singh decribes the characters personality - such as the humour of the scientist George Gamow. He, along with two other scientists Ralph Alpher and Hans Bethe produced an article so, you may have guessed it, it could have the authors titled as Alpher, Bethe and Gamow! It is the way that Singh brings the human side to it - so refreshing especially in the light of scientists being criticized for being too 'materialistic' by certain vested interests recently!

The best Science book ever! *****

This is by far the best book on science I have ever read.

Singh weaves a character led history of the most important aspects of modern science and the many different characters that went into telling this beautiful story.

My particular favorite is the way Singh decribes the characters personality - such as the humour of the scientist George Gamow. He, along with two other scientists Ralph Alpher and Hans Bethe produced an article so, you may have guessed it, it could have the authors titled as Alpher, Bethe and Gamow!

It is the way that Singh brings the human side to it - so refreshing especially in the light of scientists being criticized for being too 'materialistic' by certain vested interests recently!

Big Bang *****
I LOVE this book! Never have I started a review like this, but boy do I love this book. I read a LOT of books and this one had me gripped from the first page and kept me engrossed and stimulated the whole way through. Singh manages to explain complex ideas and theories in such a way that they are rendered clear and coherent and allow you to understand the difficult themes surrounding cosmology and the big bang theory. This book starts by looking at Copernicus, Galileo, Newton etc and showing how their ideas lead to modern cosmology research and development, it explores the development of telescopes and other measuring apparatus (more interesting than it sounds!) and how discoveries were made about galaxies millions of km's away from earth. It looks at opposing theories and the controversies surrounding them and how each theory gained ground and was either disproved or confirmed. This book is littered with anecdotes and humorous asides that add to the enjoyment of reading, as well as increasing your understanding. You also get a real feel for the excitement of discovery and of the various protagonists of the various theories and debates. At the end of each chapter you get a wonderfully illustrated and condensed summary that allows you to solidify the knowledge gained before going on to the next chapter, as well as allowing you to go back to this book and refreshing your memory. It has loads of clear tables and illustrations to explain particular points and various photos to compliment the text. Rarely have I enjoyed a book as much as this in the past few years and i've loved the sense of wonder and trains of thought it has lead me on. I could gush about this book for ages (as you may be able to tell!) but needless to say it comes HIGHLY recommended indeed.

Big Bang *****

I LOVE this book! Never have I started a review like this, but boy do I love this book. I read a LOT of books and this one had me gripped from the first page and kept me engrossed and stimulated the whole way through. Singh manages to explain complex ideas and theories in such a way that they are rendered clear and coherent and allow you to understand the difficult themes surrounding cosmology and the big bang theory. This book starts by looking at Copernicus, Galileo, Newton etc and showing how their ideas lead to modern cosmology research and development, it explores the development of telescopes and other measuring apparatus (more interesting than it sounds!) and how discoveries were made about galaxies millions of km's away from earth. It looks at opposing theories and the controversies surrounding them and how each theory gained ground and was either disproved or confirmed. This book is littered with anecdotes and humorous asides that add to the enjoyment of reading, as well as increasing your understanding. You also get a real feel for the excitement of discovery and of the various protagonists of the various theories and debates. At the end of each chapter you get a wonderfully illustrated and condensed summary that allows you to solidify the knowledge gained before going on to the next chapter, as well as allowing you to go back to this book and refreshing your memory. It has loads of clear tables and illustrations to explain particular points and various photos to compliment the text. Rarely have I enjoyed a book as much as this in the past few years and i've loved the sense of wonder and trains of thought it has lead me on. I could gush about this book for ages (as you may be able to tell!) but needless to say it comes HIGHLY recommended indeed.

Great pop Science book. *****
Simon Singh details the Scientific journey which produced the discovery and acceptance of the Big Bang. The book is a chronological story. Singh begins with the foundations. He gives a clear overview of the early Aristotelian view of celestial bodies, followed by Copernicus' and Gallieo's Sun centered view and then Einstein's relativity. After this Le Maitre comes along, who showed the universe was expanding. This really is a critical stage as once its understood the universe is expanding, its more intuitive it had small beginnings. One senses the imminent Eureka! But there's more! Hubble's discovery of other galaxys, the increased atomic understanding and the manifestation of reliable nuclear fusion theories. Singh ties them all together and explains how the Gaman, Alpher and Herman came upon their Big Bang Hypotheisis. However, things are never simple in such a ground breaking Scientific discovery. The theory wasn't complete and competiting with it was the Steady State Model. The cosmological community was divided. Piece by the piece, step by step the Big Bang clawed it's way ahead of the Steady State model and eventually became widely accepted. Some key moments: 1. The age of the universe was recalibrated - Baade and Sandage 2. Hoyle explained how heavier elements were formed upon the death of stars. 3. Radio Astromoney showed far galaxies and an uneven nature to the universe. 4. Penzias and Wilson discovered the CMB radiation predicted by Gaman, Alpher and Herman. 5. In 1992, the Cobe Satellite indicated variations in CMB radiation which indicated variations in densitiy in the early universe which would have created the early galaxies in the Big Bang Model. The writing style is clear, concise and passionate. Got an interest in pop Science books? Put this on your shelf.

Great pop Science book. *****

Simon Singh details the Scientific journey which produced the discovery and acceptance of the Big Bang.
The book is a chronological story. Singh begins with the foundations. He gives a clear overview of the early Aristotelian view of celestial bodies, followed by Copernicus' and Gallieo's Sun centered view and then Einstein's relativity. After this Le Maitre comes along, who showed the universe was expanding. This really is a critical stage as once its understood the universe is expanding, its more intuitive it had small beginnings. One senses the imminent Eureka!

But there's more! Hubble's discovery of other galaxys, the increased atomic understanding and the manifestation of reliable nuclear fusion theories. Singh ties them all together and explains how the Gaman, Alpher
and Herman came upon their Big Bang Hypotheisis.

However, things are never simple in such a ground breaking Scientific discovery. The theory wasn't complete and competiting with it was the Steady State Model. The cosmological community was divided.

Piece by the piece, step by step the Big Bang clawed it's way ahead of the Steady State model and eventually became widely accepted.
Some key moments:

1. The age of the universe was recalibrated - Baade and Sandage
2. Hoyle explained how heavier elements were formed upon the death of stars.
3. Radio Astromoney showed far galaxies and an uneven nature to the universe.
4. Penzias and Wilson discovered the CMB radiation predicted by Gaman, Alpher and Herman.
5. In 1992, the Cobe Satellite indicated variations in CMB radiation which indicated variations in densitiy in the early universe which would have created the early galaxies in the Big Bang Model.

The writing style is clear, concise and passionate. Got an interest in pop Science books? Put this on your shelf.