Astronomy

History of Science, sure, but that certainly is not all by any means. It is the history of the remarkable men and women who contributed to a knowledge about ourselves, our planet and our place in time and space. It is a story about some of the greatest minds, their thinking, treachery, genius and stupidity. Never does the book seem like a lecture though at nearly every turn there is something to learn and fairly easily understand. The subjects are serious though Bryson's wit and humor should keep everyone smiling and chuckling all the way through. The content is great; the narration superb.

Sometimes I get stuck on an author and compare everything else I read in that genre to that author. Such is the case with Michio Kaku. I read Parallel Universes when it first came out and was blown away. As I wrote in my review, most of the book was way over my head but somehow I got a feel and glimmer of understanding for even those parts of the book that were. Kaku has a genius that makes the almost incomprehensible concepts in physics sometimes seem simple and obvious. The 4 Percent Universe did not leave me feeling that way.

I would not say that Panek was unclear in the 4 Percent Universe. Actually, I had the feel that it was more a flat lesson in the history of science. It was a book that just had fewer revelations for me. With Kaku there were just so many "Ah Ha" moments. Hopefully, without sounding too hokey, when reading Kaku, there were moments of what felt like transcendence, an altered state of consciousness. Pretty high bar to set huh? Yeah, I know. Sorry, Richard Panek. You were just fine... just not Michio Kaku.