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yates9's review against another edition
5.0
The briefest and most complete dive into the nutty world of the physics of the universe and how it just doesn’t quite add up and needs patches that scientists are arguing about today.
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
4.0
This is a short, fascinating, and very readable account of two of the major puzzles in science. The first puzzle the book delves into is dark matter. Data on the rotation of galaxies indicates that either there's a lot of matter that we haven't spotted (dark matter), or that our theory of gravitation needs modification, or that there are errors in our modeling of galactic motion. The latter two possibilities were new to me and are clearly described. Indeed, I found this book among the clearest science books I've read. For instance, in chapter three Clegg very briefly but lucidly explains why the universe became transparent around 13.5 billion years ago. I can't remember where I first read about this, but I can remember that my initial introduction to it was distinctly befuddling (one might say opaque).
The second puzzle the book tackles is dark energy, a term which, in chapter five, Clegg says "tells us no more than calling it 'fluffy bunnikins'." In any event, dark energy is the term given to whatever it is that causes the accelerating expansion of the universe. While astronomers are in general agreement that this accelerating expansion is real, there is no consensus about what causes it.
If you have any interest in astronomy or in current open questions in science, I highly recommend this book.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
The second puzzle the book tackles is dark energy, a term which, in chapter five, Clegg says "tells us no more than calling it 'fluffy bunnikins'." In any event, dark energy is the term given to whatever it is that causes the accelerating expansion of the universe. While astronomers are in general agreement that this accelerating expansion is real, there is no consensus about what causes it.
If you have any interest in astronomy or in current open questions in science, I highly recommend this book.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
lucindashirreffs's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Me when I’m in a shitty terrible theory contest but I’m up against MOND
johnnynolen's review against another edition
4.0
Fun and accessible high level overview of the mysterious dark matter and energy conundra. Note that dark physics is a field on active discovery and even this book as published in 2019 will become progressively out of date with each passing day,l. Still, very interesting and fun read for anyone interested in dipping their toes in the vcold, unexplored end of reality.
billblume's review
4.0
This is not as easy a read as some of the more popular works by astrophysicists out there, but Brian Clegg does provide something for those left wanting to learn more about the mysterious topics of Dark Matter and Dark Energy. He does inject some humor into his writing, and while the technical parts are challenging for me, I enjoyed some of the insight he provides into some of the competition between scientists within astrophysics. He also makes it clear why the ideas of dark matter and dark energy are anything but certain at this point, emphasizing that neither of them are proven, only that there’s a lot of reason to believe they might exist.