The Universe in Your Hand

A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond

By: Christophe Galfard

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Stephen Hawking's protégé and cowriter lifts the veil on the mysteries of our universe in a style that is wonderfully direct. Quantum physics, black holes, string theory, the big bang, dark matter, dark energy, parallel universes: Even if we are interested in these fundamental concepts of our world, their language is the language of math. Which means that despite our best intentions of finally grasping, say, Einstein's theory of general relativity, most of us are quickly brought up short by a snarl of nasty equations or an incomprehensible graph.

Christophe Galfard's mission in life is to spread modern scientific ideas to the general public in entertaining ways. Using his considerable skills as a brilliant theoretical physicist and successful young-adult author, The Universe in Your Hand employs the immediacy of simple, direct language to show us, not explain to us, the theories that underpin everything we know about our universe. To understand what happens to a dying star, we are asked to picture ourselves floating in space in front of it. To get acquainted with the quantum world, we are shrunk to the size of an atom and then taken on a journey. Employing everyday similes and metaphors, addressing the listener directly, and writing stories rather than equations renders these astoundingly complex ideas in an immediate and visceral way.

Utterly captivating and entirely unique, The Universe in Your Hand will find its place among other classics in the field.

©2015, 2016 Christophe Galfard (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

shweeet

way cool super awesome wild ride into the deepest depths of your imagination. well worth the read

Yes, mind-stretching—but also cutesy and annoying

Galfard is beyond doubt brilliant (Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cambridge, worked with Stephen Hawking), but this book could have been shorter and far less annoying if he’d trimmed the cutesy, rather condescending filler material that demands we imagine ourselves on a tropical beach looking up at the stars, or floating in spirit around the galaxy, or dozing on a time-traveling jet plane complete with airport and stewardesses, or conversing with a little yellow particle-throwing robot, or corresponding by postcard with a great aunt in Australia who likes crystalware, etc. etc. — all embellished with far too much detail that tries too hard to be amusing. This sort of thing makes me impatient. I don’t pretend that the concepts themselves are easy to understand — far from it; they are, as you’d expect, mind-stretching, certainly beyond the limits of my understanding — but Galfard has apparently written children’s books, and something of the hand-holding tone, the sense that he’s talking down to us, remains from those books.

Constantly, as I listened, I kept thinking that the concepts described would be considerably easier to follow in an animated movie.

In one of the later chapters, the narrator assures us: “So far you have been traveling through the best theories mankind has ever built to describe the world that surrounds us. In practice, it means you now know as much about our universe as a good graduate student from any of the best universities on earth. Not in technical terms, obviously, but certainly in terms of ideas. It should already be enough for you to shine at any dinner party.” What an absurdly self-serving claim! Utter horse manure!

For better or worse, Ray Chase’s narration, while clearly enthusiastic, only tends to magnify the condescending tone. (But I don’t think it’s his fault.)

Great Audiobook!

Fantastic presentation of material, different then any other cosmology or quantum theory book I've ever read. Performance was great! Highly recommended!

Excellent, comprehensible review of challenging concepts

Well written, frequently funny and exceptionally educational. The author takes you on a journey through the cosmos from wherever you are to explore the depths and Beginnings of the universe and space-time itself.

Amazingly clear. Riveting

Puts complex ideas in graspable terms. I want an updated edition! I can't wait to learn what scientists discover next.

What a Story, Big and Small

Seriously, what a trip, from the edge of the universe to quarks. The writing is far more understandable than many of the principles, so it’s a good read. Another example of how science has changed and continues to change.

Math free and utterly charming

If you find math to be the stumbling block that prevents your full appreciation of cutting edge cosmology, look no further. Enter Galfard's universe (or multiverse) and be charmed. In a series of dream-like sequences you find yourself transported, shrunk, and given a ringside seat to everything from gravity fields, to quantum phenomena to, yup--those hard-to-imagine strings from string theory. Some of it is still inconceivable (and utterly counterintuitive) but you won't find another book about modern physics that accomplishes so much, with so little math--and ALL in the second person.

Fun and illuminating

lots of interesting perspective on a wild ride from macro to subatomic unification of sorts!

Great Read/Listen

If you are looking for a book that has the right mix of science and delivery this is the book for you! As an audible book, I knew I couldn't follow many formulas, and this fit the bill. Interestingly delivered and masterfully explained are the superficial-surface concepts of our universe. The author summarizes and explains the most basic concepts by taking the reader through the universe. This book is a MUST read for anyone interested in space.

Non-Scientists CAN Understand our World

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love, love, love this book and review chapters when I think I might be forgetting a subject area. Its funny, smart and just plain awesome as far as making the cool things we think we know about our universe available to your average non-scientist.

What did you like best about this story?

Galfard's use of second person narrative is a highly effective teaching strategy!!!! And makes the lessons memorable.

What three words best describe Ray Chase’s voice?

Too Fast.

Any additional comments?

I love science, but haven't ever been able to retain it. I think Galfard has broken through the barrier- if you want to know what happens around us I think this book is it !!!!

That said, the narration, given the complexity of the subject matter, is WAY TOO FAST. One can switch the speed of audible to a slower one, but this is very difficult to understand because the cadence of the voice becomes unnatural.