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How It Began: A Time-Traveler's Guide To The Universe (2012)

by Chris Impey(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0393080021 (ISBN13: 9780393080025)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: How it began is a good summary of where cosmology is as of now. It does not try to provide new information or perspective. Rather, the biggest utility of the book is in its structure, coherence and simplicity.The book starts somewhat weak by spending time on earth and solar systems, The real science (howsoever speculative or deductive) comes in as the book moves to stars and galaxies. For any avid reader of cosmology, there is little that will be new. However, the way the book navigates through pulsars, supernovae, background radiation, black holes etc is impressive.Author's attempts at flowery, personalistic descriptions at the end and the beginning of each chapter reads quite artificial and not just distracting but almost wrong or at least needless at least to this reade... morer. I am sure there would be many who will love such tales in books of this kind.Overall, a neat summary for someone who has read on the subject before and possibly more useful introduction to the first timers.
review 2: This is the second book by Impey I have read, and they both left me with a feeling of 'it was ok, nothing special.' I have seen Impey give talks and I have always enjoyed them; he has a way with speaking to an audience. For me, it just doesn't translate into the written word.There is lots of good information in this book, so perhaps I just don't like his writing style. He explains the beginnings of the Earth, the Solar System, Stars, and the Universe, among other things. There wasn't a lot of new information for me personally, but if you haven't read a lot of science books this book has the potential to teach you a lot. And though Impey has written textbooks, this book definitely doesn't have the feel of one. He has an intro and exit section to each chapter where he is an observer for whatever that chapter is about (for example, what it would be like to view the galaxy from outside it). I found these to be a bit distracting and not all that interesting.Overrall, if you are just getting started reading about astronomy/science, you could pick up this book. If you have been reading these topics for awhile, you can probably skip it. less

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