5 comments about A Briefer History of Time.

1. This is an excellent book. It is easy to understand with good illustrations. I liked the first book, A Brief History of Time, and this one was even better with more illustrations and updated information including information on the string theory.



2. Of all of Hawking's books, and I believe I own and have read them all, this one is by far the easiest to read and understand. Difficult topics to comprehend are taken step by step, mostly in laymen's terms, from the beginnings of astronomy thru current efforts to find a unified theory for everything. If you really want to begin to understand our place in the universe this is a good place to start, followed by earlier books written by Dr. Hawking. You can knock this book out on a Saturday morning a dazzle your friends with your newfound knowledge on Saturday night.



3. I've heard it said that Stephen Hawking's 1988 bestseller A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME is the book everybody owns but hardly anyone has read. In this 2005 book Hawking adds an "er" to the title and makes the content much more accessible to a lay audience while bringing them up to date with the latest developments in string theory and the discovery of dark energy. In 150 pages everything important in the field is discussed from the work of early astronomers to the possibility of time travel. Helpful color pictures/diagrams are included as well as a glossary of terms related to the content. The writing may be a little dry in a few places but when the book is finished the reader will have a much better understanding of the difficult but fascinating concepts addressed.



4. Briefer isn't always better. While this treatment is much more accessible than the merely Brief version, it is disappointing by not exploring the more paradoxical and complex issues of quantum uncertainty and paired-particles.
   
   If you haven't read Hawkings before, read this book first. If you are still curious, then read the denser, "merely brief" version for a fuller treatment.



5. I purchased the audio version of the book; complex topic made amazingly simple in a superb narration.
   
   If all audiobooks are this good, I will look forward to my 27 mile commute to work!

5 comments about A Brief History of Time.

1. book that sold millions of copies and one wonders how many people read it and of those, how many actually understood it all. I have a scientific education (chemistry), but I frankly admit I did not get it all. It is difficult to explain what is in the book, but is in essence about where we came from and what we are heading to with regard to the universe, time, space and matter. The book is very well written, with a sense of humor and trying to explain the nearly inexplicable to the layman; I could follow large chunks of the text, but sometimes it is just too difficult to comprehend. This made me think: is Stephen Hawking's disadvantage (being locked up in his own body) also his disadvantage? He probably has more time than most people to turn into himself and contemplate on such extremely complex items as black holes, wormholes and the (in)finity of the universe. A book that leaves you in awe.



2. Recommend it to all those who want to have a better understanding of science especially physics and astro-physics.



3. just a great book, explain in a fun and easy way. I just love it



4. Hawking does a commendable job presenting some very detailed and complicated topics while simultaneously exhibiting them in a manner permitting the layman to fully comprehend the material. He accomplished both the simplification of complicated content as well as the presentation of subject matters that might normally be tedious yet are found to be quite appealing as a result of his demeanor and writing style.
   
   Hawking's use of analogies only makes the visualization of space and time all the more accessible to simpler minds such as myself. Frequently taking subjects that require intense imagination and focus and explaining them with everyday analogies perhaps speaks to Hawking's brilliance as much as his research. Never before have I been so easily able to comprehend the expansion of the universe until it was so eloquently equated with the spots on a balloon. This only represents a sampling of the useful correlations one will find in this work, as he scatters them throughout each chapter.
   
   For those seeking to explore the mindset of the most prominent men of science and to discover the questions they are asking in their quest for answers, this book will not disappoint. If you have even a basic interest in astronomy or physics, this book should be an essential part of your library.



5. Stephen W. Hawking is a theoretical physicist who has held the post at Cambridge University once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking writes of attending a conference on cosmology at the Vatican in 1981. At the end of the conference the pope cautioned that scientists should not examine the moment of the creation of the universe because that was the work of God. In his book Stephen Hawking has not heeded the pope's advice. One of his conclusions is that we now have a picture of developments "to about one second after the Big Bang" (p. 118). For Hawking, scientific inquiry has moved from "what" questions right on through to "how" and is at the point of answering "why." As soon as theorists succeed in incorporating the law of gravity into a properly developed and tested grand unification theory (GUT) we will then "know the mind of God" (p. 175).
   
   Hawking writes carefully for the non-specialist. He has taken the trouble to provide a glossary with page references. He has avoided mathematical formulas and has worked hard to find analogies for the abstractions of twentieth-century physics. The universe looks the same from all directions, "rather like a balloon with a number of spots painted on it, being steadily blown up. As the balloon expands, the distance between any two spots increases, but there is no spot that can be said to be the center of the expansion" (p. 42).
   
   Any careful reader can use Hawking's little book (198 pages including introduction, glossary, index, and three excursi on Einstein, Galileo, and Newton) to participate in ongoing discussions about a number of questions that are asked these days primarily by children and physicists. What is nature, and where did it come from? What is time? Is it possible to move backward in time? Is there a beginning or a boundary to the universe? Will the universe come to an end, and what kind of end will it be? What did God do in the beginning, and what role does God play now in the physical world?
   
   The answers to such questions, Hawking believes, are to be found in the inquiries of theoretical physicists. For Hawking, the core of modern physics is quantum mechanics, the development of theories having to do with the movement and the components of energy, as distinguished from classical physics, the study of the properties of matter. Hawking states that quantum physics underlies nearly all of modern science and development, including nuclear power and micro technology and asserts that quantum physics will eventually not only explain the origin of every thing but also predict the future.
   
   A number of ideas compressed into this small book warrant further examination. Hawking writes of a "survival advantage" (p. 12) scientific discovery has conveyed to humankind that can be canceled by further discoveries that "may destroy us all" (p. 12). Life in our sector of the galaxies developed because of disorder in matter that disrupted the generally smooth character of the universe. Hawking suggests that intelligent beings can exist only in an expanding universe. The idea here is that scientific laws are predictable in only one direction through time and that a collapsing universe would cause a reversal of the "arrows of time" (pp. 143 f.) and would thus invalidate human comprehensibility. Hawking speculates about a notion called "the anthropic principle" (p. 124), which appears to mean that the universe is as it is because, if it were not, we would not be around to observe it. But if the anthropic principle is the bottom line then scientific cosmology has become anthropology, and why waste any more time with telescopes or particle accelerators? Hawking suggests that the universe (time and space taken together) is "finite yet without boundary" (p. 136). This is the most arresting and, as yet unprovable of Stephen Hawking's proposals, but he is willing to wait for further observations that may move this idea to a higher degree of probability.
   
   In the midst of all this theorizing Hawking conveys something of the playfulness of many who are engaged in the quantum physics quest. There is mention of a now-discarded theory known as LGM 1-4, LGM standing for "little green men." The explosion that is supposed to have kicked off our expanding universe is commonly known as the Big Bang. The smallest known particles are called quarks and come in flavors; the uniform nature of collapsing stars goes by the maxim "black holes have no hair." (p. 92)
   
   Because theoretical physics has turned very precisely toward the whys of life, theology and ethics will have to pay closer attention. I will give two examples. When did time begin? Hawking offers the idea of a "singularity," a unique event in time at which the laws of science break down and predictability disappears. The Big Bang, therefore, is a singularity, and it may be said that time began with creation itself. From this it follows that time will come to an end when the universe ceases its expansion, collapses into itself, and perhaps sets off another Big Bang. The singularity idea has many implications for the theological dimensions of eschatology as well as for cosmology.
   
   An example of the importance of quantum physics for ethics might be the "uncertainty principle" of Werner Heisenberg (1926), which Hawking refers to as "a fundamental, inescapable property of the world" (p. 55). Briefly, the uncertainty principle asserts that the position and velocity of particles cannot be precisely predicted. Rather, particles exist in a quantum state, which is a combination of position and velocity and which suggests a range of possible locations where particles are likely to be found. This means that we do not live in a deterministic universe where definite results can be expected. This also suggests there is a limit to our capacity to know what is going on.
   
   If results in science are subject to randomness, ought not this principle of uncertainty be recognized when we speak of "good" and "bad" behavior? Isn't it less pretentious and more helpful to think in terms of quantum ethics, which would allow for a range of appropriate actions? I think this kind of approach is in harmony with Jesus' comments about ethical behavior. When asked about the greatest of God's commands he cited the Shemah (Deut. 6:4) and added that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-30). This admonition finds parallels in many traditions and leaves much room for intelligent, responsible reflection-action.
   
   Theoretical physics awaits and accepts the judgment of the future, whose discoveries and experiments either prove, or dismiss earlier claims. The author cites many instances of this: even the supernovas of physics, Newton and Einstein, admitted earlier mistakes or had their ideas corrected by others. Most theological reflection, on the other hand, lacks any sort of empirical reference. In other words, theological speculations, disconnected as they are from a close reading of "secular" history, normally make predictions that do not have to agree with observation.
   
   In the last ten years or so theoretical physics has turned cosmology into a subject for scientific discussion and discovery. Can theological speculation accept the challenge of quantum physics and adapt to the conceptual limits that are laid down? Are seminaries prepared to train pastors and teachers to pay attention to the quanta discussions? How might theocentric statements be tested and then sustained or discarded? These are a few of the questions that quantum physics has placed on the theological agenda.
   
   This review was first published in 1989 and has been republished in a collection of reviews and articles, That's What I'm Talking About (Nativa 2008). THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

5 comments about Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups.

1. I have read other books and articles by Stan and they're all very enlightening. Although some of the concepts in this book are geared more towards the real science behind how the UFOs might operate, etc... Stan does a good job keeping the layman engaged throughout.
   I have exchanged e-mails with Stan on several occassions and he's always consistent in his answers and very well informed.
   To me, Stan is the ultimate authority in Ufology.
   Buy this book!



2. Stanton Friedman does it again. From an in-depth look at how the world's governments and military can keep secrets from themselves and the rest of the world to the multitude of factual evidence supporting UFO sightings, landings and abductions; his latest book does not disappoint. Anyone who is famliar with him or his work should know that he has worked as a nuclear physicist for years, many of which were for classified government and private projects.
   
   In his latest book, he presents some of the most compelling evidence for the "Cosmic Watergate" surrounding UFOs, extraterrestrial life and their cover-up, which has been in effect for at least 60 years. From examining exotic propulstion systems, including nuclear fission and fusion powered rockets, to the reasons why such disclosure of ET life is the most important topic for us as a species, this book is simply a must read.



3. This book assumes the reader is already quite knowledgeable about Roswell/MJ-12 etc. It refers broadly to primary source material such as "project blue book special report #14" that purportedly describes many documented "physical trace" UFO sightings but does not provide specific examples therefrom, which would have been helpful.
   
   Deliciously enjoyed was Friedman's ruthless lampooning of the over-hyped "Cult of SETI" and his analysis of why major news outlets, such as the Washington Post, are content not to treat the UFO topic seriously.
   
   Crop circles and animal mutilation cases are specifically excluded from coverage in this book. While not for the novice, Flying Saucers and Science is a stimulating and informative read. The bibliography is a bit terse, however.



4. In a few words - a MUST book!!!
   
   Just get this book and study it. This is one of Friedmans most important books.
   
   Hannan Sabat
   Israeli Extraterrestrials & UFOs Research Association
   WWW.EURA.ORG.IL



5. I can tell you this book is a major publication.
   The author explained the subject with scientific authority.
   One of the best books in this area.
   
   S. Mahdi, Cairo, Egypt

5 comments about The Field Updated Ed: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe.

1. This book is full of interesting information, and cutting edge ideas based on new research into physics. However, I found it quite hard-going at times - the author's style isn't particularly readable. I often had to grit my teeth in determination just to make it to the end of a chapter - and unfortunately I gave up about two-thirds way through the book. I think this would be a great book in the hands of a more entertaining writer.



2. I found much of this book to be interesting. It attempts to collect data on the science behind energy physics. Many of the scientists that stumbled on discoveries were ostracized by their peers and their research funding withdrawn, because their discoveries flew in opposition with commonly held thought.
   
   That is still occurring today.
   
   The scientific equipment that was designed to measure each of these phenomena were facinating. The finding that everything, including humans, emits photons and that a diseased body emits photos at higher rates than healthy individuals was enlightening, as was the information on how DNA holds energy. It definitely made me want to learn more.
   
   Again this is hard science.
   
   However, the New Age portions added towards the end are not supported by science...which made them out of place in this book. Even The Secret DVD attempted to map those discoveries to New Age ideologies towards the end of the movie. Why can't the data speak for itself without someone trying to claim it as a datapoint for their belief agenda?
   
   I found the discription of each of these gentlemen a bit annoying. Who cares is they were attractive and women threw themselves at them? That was just weird bent to the authors writing...and I found myself routinely advancing past this dribble.
   
   All in all, a worthwhile book. It's still in my library.



3. Definitely NOT a book for science readers.
   This book has been written for the spiritual, for faithful believers in healing, clairvoyance, psychokinesis and other spiritual gifts; the reason is because the book says what these people would like to read: scientific evidence of what they believe in.
   
   Many times throughout the book, the author claims experiments' results as scientific proof for a given fact, when the truth is that the author doesn't have a clue on the meaning of scientific proof. She mentions tons of experiments supporting certain theories but there are no specific details to really grasp the reliability of those experiments, and they essentially reflect the experimenters tendency to interpret the results in a way that support their theories.
   Just to give you an exaggerated example of her style, she writes things like, "I won five times in a row in a dice game, much more that I could have by chance, so that's scientific evidence of the power of my conciousness and my special future-guessing talents".
   
   On the other hand the author talks about quantum physics throughout the book, as if she had a PhD on the subject, but no one that has spent less that 5 years studying physics full time can claim to really understand what all those quantum and relativistic theories really mean. This is very misleading because people usually think there's a link between quantum physics and conciousness, when all these links are just theories and, so far in history, none of them has proven a solid argument.
   
   A good thing about the book is the fact that it summarizes pretty well many areas of research of paranormal activities, and it provides accurate historical data about personalities that have been involved in such studies, furthermore it's an great start off for those who would like to find out more about specific topics.



4. Lynn McTaggart has managed to take a difficult subject and make it extremely interesting, as well as informative and educational. Physics is on the move, and discovery is coming fast. How does it affect us? Read this book, then make sure to get her next one, The Intention Experiment. How exciting to see the changes in the power of the mind knowledge. It's no longer hocus pocus, it's been proven.



5. It isn't very often a book or an author has an opportunity to change lives and yet Lynne has provoked her readers to embrace a new way of living in this world. It is beyond The Secret, it is about being aware of your thoughts and taking the positive action to correct what is not working - to know that you are in control.

5 comments about Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA.

1. If the reflection of the American flag in the astronaughts helmet on the cover of the book doesn't prove to you that it is a hoax, I don't know what will.



2. This is a very in depth book that goes in to triginometry and hyperdimensional physics. It is very thorough in backing up its claims with evidence and information. Good book but not a light quick read.



3. This is Richard Hoagland's best book ever and also confirms what I had suspected for many years. As a retired USAF Colonel, I have heard and seen many things of great "interest". As a pilot for 44 years, I have also heard and seen many things of even greater interest. This books gives me more solid evidence that I have not been a bit "crazy" over all of these years. The book lets us know that our tax dollars for NASA are going to "covert" and "black" ops programs and to keep the world ignorant of the truth of what has been found on the earth, the moon, and Mars.



4. I have been a fan of Richard Hoagland and his findings for some time now and this new book is just another example of his commitment to his work and humanity. The information contained within is essential for anyone who has a thirst for the truth. It reaches beyond the mere cover up that NASA (and others) have perpetuated for over 50 years, to the very core of existence. Who are we?; Where did we come from? and ultimately, where could we be going? A fascinating read, highly recommended!!



5. I heartily recommend this book. Good reading, although it bogs a little in the front part with a lot of technical jargon.
   
   Hoagland has done his research very well and exposes NASA as another of those wonderful government branches which will LIE to the American people to further it's hidden goals.
   
   I always wondered what the true reason was behind the sudden stoppage of the Apollo missions in the Mid-70s.
   
   I leave the verbosity to the other reviewers here... as they seem to enjoy that! ;-)

5 comments about Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel.

1. Most books that attempt to explain advanced topics in physics to laymen are worthy of the most profound contempt since, at best, they give only the illusion of understanding, which is worse than no understanding at all. Kaku reaches a new low in this genre with his latest effort - a tiresome, rambling, disconnected, childishly written discourse that has all the qualities of a last minute job. The only thing the reader learns is just how well informed Kaku is on current science fiction novels, films and television. To paraphrase him, writing a worse book would be a Class I impossibility.
   
   Again, the lesson is clear. If you want to understand physics, you have to do the work. That means learning some solid mathematics before you start designing warp drives and time machines.



2. Very well written and explains physics in non-mathematical terms and in a most entertaining manner.



3. So how long do we have to wait for Star Trek like teleporters, Back to the Future hover boards or giant Death Star like planet destroying lasers? How about Terminator type intelligent robots, reproducing nano-bots and trips to other star systems? Will we ever be able to go back in time or slip into an alternate universe? Michio Kaku combines popular science fiction and current theoretical physics to speculate on how, if and when we can expect to see these kinds of fantastic technologies. This book is a ton of fun. It's fascinating to read how future scientists might construct a working force field or a feasible starship. The author answers a few questions that I've long wondered about, for instance, how does one store anti-matter if it's annihilated the moment it comes into contact with matter.
   
   This is exactly the kind of book that got me back into reading several years ago, a pop science book on the future of technology. It's an easy read with no mind numbing formulas or diagram, written for the total layman. I have read literally dozens of popular science books in the last decade and this is one of the better ones. The big problem with these kinds of books is that physics hasn't had a major new breakthrough since well before I was born and these books can get rather repetitive Sure there have been lots of minor advancements but the main problem of physics, the elusive Grand Unifying Theory remains unsolved.
   
   One portion of the book that troubled me was a discussion on string theory as the most likely solution to the unification of relativity and the special model. Read `The Trouble with Physics' by Lee Smolin to see how shaky the foundation of string theory really is. Michio writes, `one major criticism of string theory is that it is untestable'. Actually the much bigger problem is that it's unfalsifiable which puts it dangerously close to pseudoscience. Another criticism he mentions is that by putting string theory at such a high priority in physics other avenues of thinking are squeezed out. To this Michio just smiles accepting this as a natural occurrence in research but I would argue that this kind of attitude may be one of the reasons physics has been practically paralyzed for decades.
   
   The author writes that, "The coming years of physics could be the most exciting of all, as we explore the universe with a new generation of particle accelerators, space based gravity detectors and new technologies" My suspicion is that the coming years of physics will generally be exciting only particle physicists and astronomers not the general public. Books like `The Physics of Impossible' are enjoyable to read but if you peruse one every couple of years you can probably keep up with advancements in the latest massive science experiments and particle discoveries.



4. Ok, I will admit it: I'm no Einstein; not even close. And while I am fascinated about the arcane science of quantum physics, I still get puzzled by concepts such as Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal and all its implications. Michio Kaku does better than most in trying to explain such weird things to idiots like me (although I haven't checked out Physics for Dummies yet). And when as a physicist he applies what he knows to the various impossibilities he covers in his book, it seems clear that there is far more that we don't know. When he talks in the timeframe of centuries and millennia before we might be able to do some of these physically not impossible things, given how much we don't know, I am left wondering just how much theoretical physics in it's infancy really differs from religion (even magic) in defining epistemology.
   
   I thought this a fun and exciting read given that it gives hope to a lot of us SF nerds that one day everything in Star Trek will come true. I would have liked to see some drawings to help better visualize some of the concepts, but for the most part I could follow his verbal explanations. I did feel that on some things in which Mr. Kaku was not a subject matter expert (mainly some of the paranormal stuff) he did not do justice to the scientific body of research out there on the subject, often resorting to the Amazing Randi and Skeptical Inquirer folks to back up claims of phenomenon disproved. Aside from that, it was a quick and enjoyable read.



5. Somewhat interesting for the average reader. However, truly educated guesswork, and not typical of Michio Kaku's ability of explaining difficult subject matter. I was disappointed in his many "Star Trek" examples, and it seems obvious this book was written for some unimportant spur of the moment personal itch. Although Mr. Kaku is a favorite author of mine, I really can't recommend this book.

5 comments about This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

1. Like many of the negative reviewers, I found that *This Is Your Brain on Music* didn't enhance either my knowledge of music or of cognitive science. It's not without any substance, but that substance has been spread pretty thinly, and it offers one of the weakest evolutionary explanations for music as a human phenomenon: it demonstrates fitness because it indicates abundant amounts of free time. Perhaps this is true of the drive to perform, but what about the millions of people addicted to listening to music? Isn't music in some way *special* ? No one gets a painting "stuck in their head" for days as happens with music, and there doesn't seem to be a visual corollary to those stroke victims who can no longer speak--but who can still sing. To be sure, Levitin doesn't seem particularly interested in this, but this is part of the problem with the book. I also have to agree with reviewers that felt the book was disorganized and not compellingly written, but I never found Levitin to be particularly egocentric--I think he's making the case that he's well-qualified to discuss both the brain and music. Unfortunately, he doesn't convincingly do either, and the book's most memorable element is probably the title.



2. The author is very experienced in both the relevant science, and the real music industry. I have a strong sense that he knows what he's talking about and is highly credible. The writing style is excellent. There were all kinds of facts in here that ranged from novel to amazing. This really does tell you important things about how psychoacoustics works, and has a lot of ideas and speculations (it's hard to prove) about the meaning and function of music in the human experience. I've been recommending this one to lots of my friends.



3. As a professional musician and a medical doctor, I must say it is the best book on music - in all its facets - that I've ever read.



4. I, too, found the endless name-dropping endlessly irritating. As to the rest - I leave it to the more knowledgeable among us. However, I do recommend reading ALL the reviews before reading the book.



5. One can't expect a thorough look into the interplay of phychology, mind-body mechanics, and music in a shory popular book. That being said, this was an entertaining romp through the field.
   
   The first seventy or so pages was essentially an introduction to music theory and how the mind can proces music as, well, music. For those with a music background it will be tedious and won't tell you much that you don't already know, but for someone who has only touched on it it will be like drinking from a firehose with all the information in the pages.
   
   The rest of the book deals more directly with why certain music is liked, how it most likely evolfved, and the practical utility of music in society and individual survival. If you're ever wondering why there are still oldies stations around, it's because of all the boomers who have an emotional attachment to music of their youth, the time when music tastes are most aggressively defined.
   
   One annoyance was the infantile critique of mind-body interplay, where he ascribes to the opinion of Dennitt that the brain creates the mind. There's not enough room in the review to state why that is incorrect, but it shouldn't have even delved on this weighty topic. Overall though, there wasn't much blanket overgeneralization that plagues many popular science books, though the meanderings of the authors was at times tiring.
   
   Overall, pretty good, and a quick read for someone interested in the topic.

5 comments about Einstein: His Life and Universe.

1. What a superb job Issacson has done with this truely great man. Somehow the author has been able to give us a glimse at the Einstein sole and I loved what I saw. Every American should read this book especialy at this time in their history. Get a picture at what sort of society true intellegence can envisage before you let it slip further away.



2. This is hands down the best Einstein book available today. The author goes above and beyond any expectations i had. He some of the best research i have ever seen in a book. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
   
   I have read several Einstein books and this is the absolute best. It covered everything i have read in the other books and went far beyond that.
   
   The author (Isaacson) makes this book very easy to read and follow (although he does use a lot of scientific terms, which he has to). I really couldnt put the book down.
   
   If you're looking for an excellent book about the life of Einstein from first-hand research this is your book. And the price can't be beat. I thought i would be spending 30+ but its less than 20 anywhere. ENJOY!



3. It seems that the other reviewers have exhausted all superlatives in describing this book. I feel that this volume far more than any other I have read is an extremely enjoyable read, fairly represents Einsteins world views and gives you a great perspective on the life and times of this great man.
   
   Some of the science discussions in the book will leave you wanting but this is an biography and not a text book. All in all a very enjoyable read filled with new insights on one of the most creative mind in history.



4. Writing about Einstein's standing in the history of modern science requires wide and deep knowledge of diverse disciplines of knowledge, let alone the highly demanded writer's discretion in filtering out public propaganda from objective factual information. This author earns an "A" in his objective analysis of how Albert Einstein, the man, has demonstrated his genius in answering the pressing questions of the twentieth century's modern science.
   
   The book describes in vivid details the timeframe when Einstein engaged in academic research. The genius of the Einstein was not born in vacuum. Einstein's generation was confronted with the new findings of subatomic particles, artificial radiation, and electromagnetism. Einstein's first defined mission was to tackle the puzzle of ether as a medium for propagating radiation. Einstein brilliantly capitalized on the experiment of the constancy of the speed of light, regardless of the Earth's rotation, and devised the theory of relativity with the conservative restraint that Newton's classical mechanics remains a valid subset of relativistic mechanics.
   
   Adhering to Newton's doctrine, Einstein again reconciled Plank's quanta with Newton's postulate that light was both corpuscular and particulate. Thus, Einstein hit two birds with one stone: the quanta. Einstein defended the Maxwellian wave theory of electromagnetism as a time-averaged interpretation of Newtonian particulate nature of radiation. With both Plank's quanta, Kirchhoff's blackbody radiation, and Lernard's photoelectric effect, Einstein was able to seal his genius in the history of modern science as the discoverer of the law of quantization of radiation.
   
   As the previous greater theoreticians; Newton and Maxwell had proven their genius by relying on the experimental works of Copernicus and Faraday, Einstein followed the same path by capitalizing on Kirchhoff's and Lenard's experimental findings of the nature of interaction of radiation and matter. The book demonstrates the atmosphere of sharing knowledge in Europe in the early 1900's that engaged Einstein to the earnest interactions of the greatest scientific minds of his time.
   
   The First World War signaled the end of Einstein's greatest contribution to science. With the defeat of Germany, Einstein was on the run for safe haven. Though America offered Einstein such sanctuary, the American nuclear and atomic research was government-run and excluded the non-conformist scientists such as Einstein. Einstein's genius dried up by the indiscriminate governmental exclusion of his new homeland. Immigration to the new land, offered Einstein the financial security and the public fame minus the scientific prosperity. Einstein ran away from Nazism and Fascism yet to confront McCarthyism and racial tension in America.
   
   The book sheds light of the personal limitations that hindered Albert Einstein in maintaining healthy family relation. Einstein's entanglements in international and local politics at the expense of catching up with modern advances in nuclear physics was paralleled by his alienation of his ex-wife and ill son and his stubborn adherence to unify gravitation and electromagnetism despite his lack of follow up of any new experimental breakthroughs. For twenty years after arriving in America, Einstein never traveled overseas except to get a visa from Bermuda.
   
   The book clearly rebuts the aura that Einstein was the greatest mathematicians and explains how Einstein relied on his colleagues to devise the theory of General relativity. The book sheds light on Einstein's struggles with endless errors and miscalculation that squandered many decades of his old age in seeking a unified field theory that reconciles the particulate nature of radiation with gravitation. Furthermore, the writer did not shy away from the controversy of awarding Einstein the Nobel Prize for the work pioneered by Philipp Lenard, while the theory of relativity remained a philosophical puzzle. Even Einstein had poked holes in his own theory while attacking Quantum mechanics for spooky actions at distances. Niels Bohr's explanation that objects entangled in actions serve a defined quantum function explains how all objects in the universe serve specific quantum function by lieu of their entanglement in gravitational actions. An explanation that defeats the main argument about the relativistic nature of time postulated by Einstein.
   
   Finally, the book leaves the objective reader with many questions: whether or not Einstein's neglect of his personal appearance, his content with marrying his cousin, refusing to see his own ill son Edwards and his estranged ex-wife, refraining from travel, shutting off his mind to new developments in science, indulging in smoking despites his doctor's advice, and sticking to his guns on relying solely on mathematics to solve physical puzzles; were in any way signs of his overall detachment both from science and life? Whether or not the public reverence of Einstein falls within the realm of glorifying superstars, elevating them to superhuman status, and has contributed to Einstein's mental freezing? Whether of not spoiling scientist with extravagant privileges undermine their ability to excel in their field of search for knowledge?
   
   Though Einstein lived long enough enjoy the demise of Nazism and Fascism, the success of tapping into the nuclear energy, he died few years before the invasion of space became reality, the wide proliferation of the solid-state computers, laser applications, particle accelerators, discovery of the genetic codes, the end of McCarthyism and the triumph of the civil rights movement.
   
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5. One of the biggest problems with this biography is its length. I agree that 550 pages isn't excessive for the most iconic intellectual of the 20th century, but the book is plagued by the constant repetition of information that was already given, presumably for emphasis. This wouldn't be a problem if there were an enormous number of characters, or if the facts were of special interest, but often the information has already been clearly articulated and was of obvious importance when it was first mentioned. Thus a book about one of the most important men in 20th century science becomes about 75 pages too long at a paltry 550 pages. By comparison Martin Gilbert's biography of Winston Churchill is over 1000 pages long (the short version) and every page is captivating and relevant. Nevertheless, the book does provide a serviceable account of Einstein's life, despite a few flaws that only become onerous as one slogs towards the conclusion.
   
   Another irritating habit of the author's is the repeated interludes where he ruminates on the qualities which contributed to Einstein's revolutionary achievements in theoretical physics, which serve mainly to disrupt the narrative flow and are for the most part uninteresting. Many of these could be summed up if the author just wrote 'Remember, he's a rebel!' every fifty pages or so. Isaacson also seems to glide through the second world war, only giving the most cursory attention to Einstein's opinions on the bloodiest conflict of the century and the near extermination of Einstein's European brethren. I don't think it's overly presumptuous to expect that Einstein's reaction to the most infamous atrocity in modern history might merit a few more pages.
   
   I think I'll stop here before I make this book sound worse than it actually is. As mentioned before it is for the most part interesting, despite bloating. Three and a half stars, rounded down to 3 for spite.

4 comments about The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics.

1. highly recommended. very interesting read, even for those not familiar with the underlying physics. suskind is a talent writer, able to make esoteric concepts accessible to the lay-reader. he is also one of the vanguards of later 20th century physics. there is an on-going, vigorous debate swirling around the dark corners of our universe. for anyone with an interest in that debate, this is a must read.



2. Leonard Susskind is not only a co-father of string theory, the holographic principle, and many other key concepts of physics but also one of the most original physicists of our era.
   
   He's been fighting against some superficially plausible but fundamentally wrong ideas for decades. During this ferocious fight, he had to discover many fascinating things about quantum gravity.
   
   The battle was about the preservation of the information by black holes. Using revolutionary but approximate results, Stephen Hawking has argued since the 1970s that the information is lost after a black hole evaporates. Leonard Susskind claimed that it was preserved: this preservation, also called unitarity, is one of the postulates of quantum mechanics and these postulates are and have to be completely universal.
   
   Susskind was right. We know many reasons why it is so, including recent results in string theory, and many of them are explained in the book. We also know loopholes that show that Hawking's old qualitative arguments are not quite correct even though his numerical results are numerically almost accurate.
   
   It took many years for Hawking to understand and admit that the information was preserved in the full theory and that physics makes sense. During those years, Susskind was a new "Ahab" waiting for Hawking's elusive concession. However, the book offers a lot of personal stories and emotions, too. Susskind talks about several well-known names of science such as Stephen Hawking, Gerard 't Hooft, Roger Penrose, and Richard Feynman. All of them, and others, have been players in this fascinating story.
   
   Although Susskind is arguably the least known to the general public among these fives names, every real physicist would tell you that he is indisputably the most qualified person to explain how black holes actually work in this quantum world.
   
   Because as an outspoken son of a plumber, he is also close to the middle and working class and an articulate peer of Brian Greene and other great and charismatic science communicators, everyone who is interested in black holes, gravity, and quantum mechanics should read this book.
   
   The physics book market was recently flooded by a lot of trash written by crackpots similar to Peter Woit and Lee Smolin and it is time for the most intelligent readers to pull their heads out of the sand and see one of the great things that cutting-edge theoretical physics has actually achieved by 2008.



3. This is absolutely the greatest example of what popular science book about theoretical physics/cosmology should be !! Writing is so brilliant, witty, straightforward, direct and succinct, that regardless of education level, anybody can enjoy interesting content (history of science as well as author's personal story) of "The Black Hole War". Author uses analogies in the best possible way, comparable only to Brian Greene and Michio Kaku. Drawings are frequent, well selected, informative and easy to understand. He writes: "The real tools for understanding the quantum universe are abstract mathematics: infinite dimensional Hilbert spaces, projection operators, unitary matrices and a lot of other advanced principles that take a few years to learn. But let's see how we do in just a few pages". AND HE DELIVERES !! While this book could be a starter for anybody, I recommend it to all who know Kip Thorne's famous work. For reason unknown to me, important black hole "war" is not mentioned in "Black Holes & Time Warps" at all. Professor Susskind created a true masterpiece where he even accepts coexistence of science and faith by writing: "The British intellectual world seems to be big enough for both Dawkins and Polkinghorne". Nothing but big applaud for the author and his effort !!



4. Susskind describes the decades-long battle between the quantum mechanics community and the general relativists as to whether information is lost when objects pass through the event horizon of a black hole and the hole eventually evaporates. According to Prof. Hawking and the GR community, as nothing can ever reappear from inside an event horizon, the information is indeed totally lost.
   
   Susskind and Gerard 't Hooft begged to differ. Loss of information would violate the basic time-reversibility of QM: Hawking's ideas would lead to universe-destroying phenomena (p. 23). Somehow, the information locked the wrong side of the event horizon must leak out via Hawking radiation. But how?
   
   The resolution of this dilemma took many years of conjectures and refutations. Susskind takes us on a tour of entropy, holographic principles and physics at the Planck scale. And the adversarial plot keeps the reader turning the pages.
   
   I am normally very dubious about popularisations. They proceed by raking up endless analogies which never quite fit together, so that by the end of the book, your mind is like that jig-saw puzzle you bought and could never fit together.
   
   This book was never going to be the exception - the mathematics of quantum field theory, general relativity and string theory are just too arcane for popular culture concepts to cohere around. However, there are wonderful insights all the way through this book and we do end up learning something about the large scale map of the territory. Apparently even the experts find it hard to get the whole thing into one focus.

5 comments about The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives.

1. An intriguing book with fresh perspectives. While being entertaining to read, it is simultaneously very thought-provoking and informative with fascinating "historical background side trips" that add color, depth, and interest to the chapters.
   
   I personally found it extremely insightful. It offers more than a simple explanation of probability and how randomness can affect our lives. It is so thought-provoking as to inspire (me anyway) to review fundamental assumptions about the world and my place in it.
   
   It is not for those who are unprepared to examine personal assumptions about how life works-- some grounding in the statistical sciences would probably be a good background as well. Nevertheless, I would encourage any thoughtful, inquisitive person to read this book. Easily one of my favorites of all time.



2. this is a great book, but it made my brain hurt.
   
   basically, the drunkard's walk is a history of the mathematical study of randomness, including physics, probability, normal distribution, and other concepts. but, really, it's a look at the role that randomness plays in our lives, and how most things are quantifiably less random than they may seem.
   
   there were dozens of times, while reading, that i thought, that makes complete sense, but i can't imagine that i'm going to remember it. this was often because the proof of the theory made sense at an objective level when explained, but was counter-intuitive to real life and regular ol' human thinking. a great example of this is the author's extended explanation of the marilyn vos savant "let's make a deal" problem. marilyn vos savant writes a column in parade magazine where she answers questions from readers, using her "world's record highest iq". she famously responded to a question, years ago, that posed this problem:
   if a contestant on "let's make a deal" (the 70s game show) were given three doors to choose from, and told that a new car was behind one of them, and lousy prizes behind the other two; then, after choosing a door, and having monty hall reveal one of the remaining doors as a loser prize and given the opportunity to shift choice on the remaining two, should the contestant make the change? her response was that, statistically -- yes, the odds are better if the contestant changes her answer.
   
   people freaked at her response, including lots of professional mathematicians, who (wrongly) argued that, with two remaining choices, the chances are still 50/50 that the car is behind the door of the contestant's original choosing.
   
   the proof of this fallacy is all based on probability computations. the contestant's original choice had a 33% chance of being correct -- or 1 in 3. but monty hall removed one of those three (knowing which doors had the good and loser prizes). so, sticking with the original choice still leaves the original probability of 1 in 3. but changing choices raises the probability to 1 in 2 -- better odds.
   
   the author acknowledges that while this kind of proof is true, and mathematically observable, it's contrary to how our brains are wired to consider options.
   
   that said, it was this kind of story - the book has hundreds of them -- and the author's wittiness, that kept me reading through the brain strain.
   
   oh, btw, the title refers to the term scientists use to describe the path of atoms and sub-atomic particles -- seemingly random as they carom off each other in a willy-nilly path. ultimately, this path is not actually random, but is merely beyond our ability to compute, based on the absurd quantity of possibilities rising from interactions with other moving particles.



3. First, if you are bad at math,like me, most of this book is beyond reach or can at best be half understood. While he writes well, and makes a great effort to be clear, his talents can't overcome my brain wiring.(I have read over the Monty Hall deal three times and still don't get it). But when my knowledge and his explanations sync, there are great insights : regression to the mean(in any series of random events an exrtraordinary one is most likely to be followed by an ordinary one by chance; the insight is used in explaining how we confuse cause and effect); good thoughts on availability and confirmation bias; thoughts on why some businesses do well and others do not(same territory as "The Halo Effect"). But the gem is the last chapter, its title the same as the book's, where he says:give yourself a break, stuff happens both bad and good for no reason other than it does, but never forget that success may come your way if you are open to the universe and keep swinging away. "What I've learned , above all, is to keep marching forward because the best news is that since chance does play a role, one important factor in success is under our control: the number of at bats, the number of chances taken, the number of opportunities seized...or as IBM pioneer Thomas Watson said,"If you want to succeed, double your failure rate." The chapter is worth the price of the book.



4. Here's a curious focus on how the cards are dealt, rather than who the dealer is. Despite all the erudite reviews, I believe there is an unfortunate omission of the factors resulting from crazy behavior. When the drunk drinks, he gets drunk. He KNOWS he'll reap disaster. But exercising his own willpower, he drinks anyway; he gets drunk anyway; and he reaps disaster any way.Cured! Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts. Then the drunk returns again to repeat the march back to the vomit and the mire. Mathematics may look on all this as random. But there is a completely different approach. Early AAs favored the Book of James and considered it absolutely essential to their program.The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials. Why? For one thing, its very first chapter presents the compelling choice. One can choose, with unwavering belief, to seek God's wisdom, strength, and guidance. Or he can choose to pursue temptation, enticement, disaster and death. The answer is still part of the first chapter. "Do not err, my beloved brethren." "Be ye doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Self-deception is not random. It's nuts. Yielding to temptation is not random. It's nuts. Dying at the end of the process is not random. It's assured. And it's nuts too. Well, that's the choice - God or transgression of God's rules. Drunkenness is a no no. The drinker pursues it at his peril if he is an alcoholic.God and Alcoholism: Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century. And even alcoholism is not random. It may come from genes. It may come from bad friends and bad behavior. It may come from stress and distress. Or it may come from chemical imbalance. The scientists like to experiment with controlled conditions. The alcoholics like to drink in uncontrolled conditions. And it's crazy. So then comes the Book of James again with the early A.A. solution: James 4:7 says: "Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you." In other words, if you can't hack it yourself, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up (James 4:10).When Early AAs Were Cured and Why, Third Edition. If all this seems too "spiritual" or too "religious," that's OK with me. But he who overlooks the wiles of the Adversary and the very present availability of the Creator's help is nut making a random choice in a random situation. He's just failing to put on the whole armor of God in recognition of the slings and arrows of the Adversary. So I'd add some other factors to this picture: temptation, the devil, and God. And their contrasting roles were well laid out in John 10:10.Why Early A.A. Succeeded: The Good Book in Alcoholics Anonymous Yesterday and Today God Bless, Dick B.



5. The author is clearly knowledgeable and tries to explain probability and other mathematical theories clearly with good examples. He also includes a basic history of mathematical thought which I found fascinating. Chapters 9 and 10 depart from the theory-discussion and talk about how randomness impacts our lives and was much easier to understand. I liked Mlodinow's writing style and found his approach very warm and friendly - even if some of the concepts are difficult to understand.