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Cycles Of Time: An Extraordinary New View Of The Universe (2010)

by Roger Penrose(Favorite Author)

3.78 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0224080369 (ISBN13: 9780224080361)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Bodley Head

review 1: I am fascinated by Penrose's theory of a cyclic universe, but his writing style can be very difficult to sift through. The pacing of the book doesn't help with comprehension, with the beginning and introductory concepts given plenty of time and the latter, more difficult concepts given much less. I had to reread several passages in order to try to gain some semblance of understanding. And this is coming from a physicist in training.I wouldn't recommend this book to a person with a lack of scientific background. I gave it four stars mostly because I love the theory, and that carries the book for me.
review 2: A friend and I picked up this book in a hope that it will explain how the universe can shrink down to a singularity without breaking the second law of ther... moremodynamics, which states that the entropy never decreases. I am not sure if the book answers that question. But it comes close. I think. The initial part of the book is excellent. It clears up the vague notions most of us have about entropy. For example, oil separates from water on its own. Many will be inclined to call that creating order out of disorder. Penrose patiently explains why that is not the case, and how entropy, when properly defined, does increase in this case indeed. The later parts of the book are much more speculative and full of technical details. You have to be a physicist to really appreciate what Penrose has to say here. less

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