Dark Matter and Dark Energy

The Hidden 95% of the Universe

By: Brian Clegg

Narrated by: Mark Cameron

Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial five per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced. 

Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should fly apart, but something concealed holds them together. 

That ’something' is dark matter - invisible material in five times the quantity of the familiar stuff of stars and planets. By the 1990s we also knew that the expansion of the universe was accelerating. Something, named dark energy, is pushing it to expand faster and faster. 

Across the universe, this requires enough energy that the equivalent mass would be nearly 14 times greater than all the visible material in existence. Brian Clegg explains this major conundrum in modern science and looks at how scientists are beginning to find solutions to it.

©2019 Brian Clegg (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

“'Clear and compact. It's hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe.” (Giles Sparrow) 

Awesome and cool!

It really goes into depth about dark matter and dark energy and I recommend it.

thought provoking .

The book is an honest attempt to present is known and what is unknown. Many books on contemporary physics present the authors point of view , followed by intense lobbying for that point of view.
This book simply presents the most contemporary theories. It asks the reader to decide for themselves.

Rethinking and Introduction

Fantastic introduction to the topic. Keeps it simple enough and introduces everything in a fashion that anyone will be able to pick this up and finish without needing to no more. Doesn't get too deep into the maths but enough to understand the topic.

The final chapter in the book was amazing, I was so happy to see the author calling out the ignorant side of science. Stating how it is normal for us to get caught up in a theory was very humanizing. To say that we don't would be disingenuous. I think stating this in the way the author did is so beneficial for both the science world and general public. Realizing that this can happen will help us to become aware when we are doing it and cultivate our curiosity. I think this alone makes the book worth a read but there is so many more interesting topics like this in the book!

Breezy style, but some painful pronunciation

I enjoyed the content - a fairly up to date run through of the current theories relating to dark matter and dark energy together with the evidence for them. Written in a breezy and approachable writing style - albeit with a sense of cheerleading for the MOND theory in places that felt a little out of place given the generally neutral tone of the rest of the book.

My main issue was the narration. Mr. Cameron has a lovely speaking voice and was a good fit for the material, but somebody could have given him a pronunciation guide. “New-clear” not “Nucular”, “electromagnetism” not “electro-magnetisism” and “Magellanic cloud” not <whatever it was that the narrator said >. It might sound picky, but the mispronunciations really stick out like a bum note in a piano recital.

Disappointing

The narrator did a good job with this book coming but the content was disappointing. I hoped to come away with a good understanding of dark matter and dark energy, but this book failed to provide that

excellent 👍

great up to date explanation of dark matter and dark energy. just the narration could be a bit more accent free.

Worth a Re-listen

Dense material presented in a way that is interesting & compelling! I’m going to re-listen to really absorb the content.

A+ Help understand there meaning

A great explanation of both "matter" and what they are (or think what they are as we still have no proof of evidence) but also explained the difference and why it's a big deal (or not?)
definitely give it a try as it might help most people to answer some of their own misunderstanding...
Gilles

The Egregious Errors Were Avoidable

Let me say right away that this is a fascinating, beautifully written and engaging book, offering an in-depth, comprehensive survey of the cutting edge of physics, astrophysics and quantum cosmology, to date. It avoids the common pitfalls of being a book on, “science history,” filled with the tedious biographies that we’ve all heard a thousand times before and, instead, cuts to the heart of what is going on in physics/astronomy right now and the wonders of the science that makes all of this possible. The cool, mind-blowing physics that we all hope for.

And it’s well read for the most part, by the narrator who’s accent (speaking as a northern Englishman myself) is refreshing to hear. HOWEVER! I’m no grammar Nazi, but for crying out loud! You would think that for a book which uses words like, “nucleon,” “nuclear,” and, “nucleus,” with such frequency throughout its entirety, the producer might have taken the time to teach the narrator how to SAY the damned words!?

At first you ignore it, but it happens so often that it starts to grate, until it becomes a continual distraction. For a scientist’s published book on physics, it’s unacceptable to allow the narrator to teach younger listeners to say words wrongly, isn’t it? Especially over and over again. If you can say, “new,” and, “clear,” you can say, “nuclear!” Not, “new-killer.” It’s not an accent thing, nor a speech impediment. It’s simply a lazy mistake that should never have been put out as a final recording with the errors repeatedly annoying the listener and teaching countless people to mispronounce scientific terms! . . . Any more than a printed version of this book would never have been published with the words misspelled in that way!

So, this dreadful oversight, rendered egregious by the sheer number and variety of its repetitions, sadly mars an otherwise well narrated book. I can’t understand how it was allowed to get past basic quality control, let alone any producer, who seems not to have been asleep at the wheel?

This is certainly NOT the level of quality I have come to expect from Audible. And it’s such a shame, as I imagine the author must feel rather aggrieved, or would if he’s heard the whole recording? It’s not like this book was free either! I payed money to have my intelligence insulted! Come on Audible? Check your products BEFORE we pay for them?

kort men informativt

för den som vill förstå varför och hur begreppet mörk materia och energi uppstod och var forskningen står idag.

good book

A perfect length and nice insight into the current non-understanding of what the universe is made of, doesnt slow down to explain the history of every single idea which as a reader of science books is very welcome.