Scan barcode
suebrownreads's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I actually only got through half of this book. The description says "clearly and accessibly written," But not for me. The math and science,/physics is beyond me.
buttcord's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
tofugitive's review against another edition
2.0
About halfway through it got a little too complicated for the every man, but it was still interesting
ladywren890's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
I am not the target audience but I dis still find it quite interesting even though I didn't understand all of it.
andrea_author's review against another edition
3.0
This book was originally published in 1977 and updated ~2004. Unfortunately the update consists of a brief chapter at the end. So there are still references to the universe being ~10 billion years old when we now know it's closer to 14, etc. Unless you're already an expert on the subject matter, it's impossible to know what's still accurate and what's out of date. So while the book is fascinating, it's not very illuminating. There are many more current books on the subject.
maximz's review against another edition
3.0
While interesting and full of knowledge nuggets.. I'm pretty sure it failed to accomplish its primary goal of explaining complicated topics in a way everyday people could appreciate.
clarks_dad's review against another edition
3.0
Weinberg's classic of cosmology still reads well, even if it is a bit dated. This is not a book for the lay person, though. The book is filled with complicated and rigorous mathematical formalisms and has an appendix that doesn't' shy away from the quantitative work that went into reconstructing the universe in the minutes that followed the Big Bang itself.
The First Three Minutes is still an enjoyable read, even after over thirty years since the original date of publication. Newer editions have an updated afterword by Weinberg that discusses "recent" developments on cosmology and astrophysics that updates the picture he painted so many decades ago, but even this afterword falls short. It fails, for example, to take into account the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe or the updated evolutionary models for the universe's development through the introduction of newer concepts like dark matter and dark energy. (In fact the second chapter on still suggests that the expansion of the universe should be slowing down due to gravity.) These shortcoming don't' really detract from the overall purpose of the book. The fact is, the universe is expanding and the logic that you should be able to rewind the expansion to infer a big bang and a time when the universe was hot and dense, still holds true as do most of the scientific facts and inductions Weinberg presents for the nature of the universe in its earliest configurations.
In short, the book is well organized and a popular reader with a little background in physics will find it enjoyable. Weinberg lays the foundation for his speculations and reasoning in the first and second chapter where he examines the tools and clues that he'll use to paint his picture of the early universe - namely observations of its rate of expansion and the leftover cosmic microwave background. Readers of popular science books should be familiar with these stories and concepts. The book then proceeds to examine the evolution of the universe in the first fractions of a second and first few minutes followed by a chapter on speculations for the future development of the universe. This latter chapter suffers from the same deficit of understanding as the first chapter and Weinberg's cool confidence in the future contraction of the universe and an ultimate Big Crunch scenario seems naive by today's standards and in light of the knowledge of universal acceleration.
My advice: read this book. It was a landmark for its time, but pay more attention to the middle chapters than the end or the beginning. If you're uncertain in your basic understanding of physical principles or cosmology, you might try reading [b:A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition|3869|A Brief History of Time The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition|Stephen Hawking|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255568961s/3869.jpg|2192250] first or even Sean Carroll's [b:From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time|6371455|From Eternity to Here The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time|Sean Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266663670s/6371455.jpg|6559050] first. If you're a student of physics or astronomy, or even slightly more than a lay person, Weinbergs more rigorous mathematical treatment can seem like a treasure trove that further enlightens basic concepts introduced in more casual works.
The First Three Minutes is still an enjoyable read, even after over thirty years since the original date of publication. Newer editions have an updated afterword by Weinberg that discusses "recent" developments on cosmology and astrophysics that updates the picture he painted so many decades ago, but even this afterword falls short. It fails, for example, to take into account the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe or the updated evolutionary models for the universe's development through the introduction of newer concepts like dark matter and dark energy. (In fact the second chapter on still suggests that the expansion of the universe should be slowing down due to gravity.) These shortcoming don't' really detract from the overall purpose of the book. The fact is, the universe is expanding and the logic that you should be able to rewind the expansion to infer a big bang and a time when the universe was hot and dense, still holds true as do most of the scientific facts and inductions Weinberg presents for the nature of the universe in its earliest configurations.
In short, the book is well organized and a popular reader with a little background in physics will find it enjoyable. Weinberg lays the foundation for his speculations and reasoning in the first and second chapter where he examines the tools and clues that he'll use to paint his picture of the early universe - namely observations of its rate of expansion and the leftover cosmic microwave background. Readers of popular science books should be familiar with these stories and concepts. The book then proceeds to examine the evolution of the universe in the first fractions of a second and first few minutes followed by a chapter on speculations for the future development of the universe. This latter chapter suffers from the same deficit of understanding as the first chapter and Weinberg's cool confidence in the future contraction of the universe and an ultimate Big Crunch scenario seems naive by today's standards and in light of the knowledge of universal acceleration.
My advice: read this book. It was a landmark for its time, but pay more attention to the middle chapters than the end or the beginning. If you're uncertain in your basic understanding of physical principles or cosmology, you might try reading [b:A Brief History of Time: The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition|3869|A Brief History of Time The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition|Stephen Hawking|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255568961s/3869.jpg|2192250] first or even Sean Carroll's [b:From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time|6371455|From Eternity to Here The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time|Sean Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266663670s/6371455.jpg|6559050] first. If you're a student of physics or astronomy, or even slightly more than a lay person, Weinbergs more rigorous mathematical treatment can seem like a treasure trove that further enlightens basic concepts introduced in more casual works.
karp76's review against another edition
3.0
“The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy." There can be no doubt that Weinberg knows this subject, that he is intimately familiar and dedicated to the pursuit and understanding of physics not only for those of that are dedicated to this pursuit but for the general public as well. Weinberg states in his introduction, "I had better say for what reader this book is intended. I have written for one who is willing to puzzle through some detailed arguments, but who is not at home in either mathematics or physics. Although I must introduce some fairly complicated scientific ideas, no mathematics is used in the body of the book beyond arithmetic, and little knowledge of physics or astronomy is assumed in advanced." Is it? The execution does not match the intention. The arguments are detailed, the scientific ideas are complicated and if you don't have some familiarity with physics or astronomy, you will be lost. And that is the stinging caveat of the book: you will learn and be immersed, perhaps even thrilled, but you may not know how or even why.