Book ReviewThe author, Simon Singh, has written a wonderful history of the Big Bang theory, starting from its very beginnings. He leads up to the important discoveries by starting at the early history of Astronomy with ancient cultures and the Scientific Revolution. With this information explained, Singh provides a firm foundation to embark on to the Big Bang Theory.
Singh informs the reader about the theories of the universe through history, like the discovery of the Doppler Effect and Hubble's Law, gradually leading into the development of the Big Bang Theory. He also injects some common scientific practices, beliefs, and methods. Additionally, he talks about the competing Steady-State Universe Theory, and how it has developed, to give a sense of the strengths of the Big Bang model and why it has triumphed. Afterwards, Singh explains how the theory has evolved and developed due to new discoveries.
The thing that I most liked about the book was its format and Singh's style of writing. Simon Singh included numerous items to enhance the reader's understanding of the topic. He included charts, after he talked about new discoveries in Astronomy throughout history, to compare the competing Big Band and Steady-State models to show how they stacked up with each other. Pictures and helpful diagrams enhanced the information. There was also two page "Summary Notes" (Written like handwriting to imitate written notes) that summed up all the important information of every chapter, and provided a quick reference to look back to. Singh included human feelings and motivations as well to really give a "life" to the important characters throughout history, making them seem more realistic and human than just names and accomplishments.
Overall, this book is a great introduction to the Big Bang model of the universe, and to the methods of science as well. The Further Reading list in the back of the book is also a great collection of books that will provide additional information to the reader.
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(This is my first book review for this blog, and I am hoping to do more in the future.)
Hi Akhimat,
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Peter Blog*Star
Blogger Tips and Tricks
Hi Abhimat,
ReplyDeleteSorry I got your name spelled wrongly in the first comment. Any, I viewed page source and copied and modified something I found there, pasted it into my template a Guide to Canada. It worked, but the body of the post disappeared.
How exactly did you do yours?
Peter Blog*Star
Testing Blogger Beta (now New Blogger)