• The Universe in Your Hand

  • A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond
  • By: Christophe Galfard
  • Narrated by: Ray Chase
  • Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (160 ratings)

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The Universe in Your Hand  By  cover art

The Universe in Your Hand

By: Christophe Galfard
Narrated by: Ray Chase
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Publisher's summary

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.

What listeners say about The Universe in Your Hand

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  • AJ
  • 02-28-17

Awesome

Just awesome he covers every scientific topic in a stupid easy understandable way and he really doesn't limit it to basic science he gets technical

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Read this , listened again, will re-listen

Beauty of this is an amazing simplicity that explains known advances in theoretical physics through a personal voyage in imagination.

Gives me an idea that I can probably read it to my 8 year old in a slightly changed and shortened narratives .

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3 people found this helpful

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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.

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

childs play

maybe ok for a child aspiring to be an astronomer or physicists but i found it hard to stay with.

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3 people found this helpful

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Horrible

Childish bad silly jokes stunk lousy mix of humor with science bad should not have even reviewed !

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2 people found this helpful

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shweeet

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

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Great Audiobook!

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

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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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.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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the robot

great book but I think that robot was a little shady. How can you push someone into a black hole?

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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