The Universe

Leading Scientists Explore the Origin, Mysteries, and Future of the Cosmos

By: John Brockman

Narrated by: Antony Ferguson, Danny Campbell, Jo Anna Perrin

In The Universe, today's most influential science writers explain the science behind our evolving understanding of The Universe and everything in it, including the cutting-edge research and discoveries that are shaping our knowledge.

Lee Smolin reveals how math and cosmology are helping us create a theory of the whole universe. Neil Turok analyzes the fundamental laws of nature, what came before the big bang, and the possibility of a unified theory. Seth Lloyd investigates the impact of computational revolutions and the informational revolution. Lawrence Krauss provides fresh insight into gravity, dark matter, and the energy of empty space. Brian Greene and Walter Isaacson discuss Albert Einstein.

And much more. Explore The Universe with some of today's greatest minds: what it is, how it came into being, and what may happen next.

©2014 The Edge Foundation (P)2014 Tantor

Excellent broad view

Science and the nature of reality gets a wide examination from the point of view of physicists from competing theories. Narration is good, and ideas are bizarre, but what can be proven always guides the discussion.

Excellent recopilation of scientific information

I really enjoyed the book all chapters are good and provide valuable information some of them gave me recommendations for further reading because they were truly interesting

TmBridge between physics and philosophy made clear

The compilation of ideas in this book definitely made the clearest bridge between philosophy and theoretical physics that I've known to date.

Equivalant to reading 25 books

Who would have thought a series of essays written by multiple scientific experts could have been as spell tingling as this book was? I know I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Part of the reason this book works so well is because none of the essays are that recent. We've learned a lot in the past two years for which the authors with their wild speculations at the time were not aware of.

Two things the current reader should be aware of before listening to these essays. 1) The Higgs Boson is real and is at 125 Giga Electron Volts which is half way between the string theorist wanted (115 GeV) and what the multi-universe supporters expected (144 GeV), and 2) Gravitational waves have probably been found and if that is true Inflation Theory has more support than the authors of the essays realized at the time.

For most of the essayists, I've read their books for which they are going to write or have written at the time they wrote the essays. The essays cover the subject matter of their books fairly well, and you can save yourself from reading 25 or so books by listening to these essays. (The one exception is the essay by David Deutsch. He's talking about something beyond anything in his books).

Amazing authors, good essays

These are essays from the biggest names in physics. Very worthwhile listen, enjoyed it a lot

Physics in flux

Not written for laymen, but as physicist to physicist, this book outlines the future direction of physics—on both the subatomic and cosmological scales.
This is the kind of book that makes you want to live long enough to find out the answers to the fundamental questions that contemporary physicists are asking right now.
There's nothing "dumbed-down" about this book, and the topics are wide-ranging and fascinating. I won't claim to understand all of it, but that doesn't matter—it's really, really interesting, and well put together. We owe John Brockman a debt of gratitude for compiling this wonderful collection of perspectives on modern physics.

Example Of Time Changing Understanding

Any additional comments?

These essays were published in 2014. Some were written before that however. It's a bit dated. The primary focus seems to be string the theory. That's all fine and a good review. What I kind of found interesting is the personal interactions between the physicists. How the internal workings of the science plays out. Some work gets recognized and others don't. It's an example of, 'it's not what you know but who you know'. The good news, the truth bubbles to the top no matter who presented it. It just might take longer.

A peek behind the scenes of great science

I would have liked more of the original authors to have read their papers or studies. The narrator does a good job with the story lines though. It was definitely worth the purchase and I recommend it to all of you.

Really great, no fluff, to the point

I really enjoyed this book and will gladly need to listen to it again. The book delves right into the meaty topics of quantum gravity, the multiverse, and the origins of the universe. It presents a variety of competing theories as presented by the creators and their detractors. It's like a prolonged duel of minds and it's fascinating and very well put together. Highly recommended.

Pronunciation Can Distract from Topic

This is a marvellous collection of thoughts and debates by the top minds in Physics. Superb. However one of the readers has an irritating way of pronouncing various key scientific words. I wonder if he was expeerimenting with the audience. Spearmint is a flavour- not a scientific paradigm.