Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

Big Bang is a very comprehensive summary of Physical Sciences, leading to Astronomy and eventually to Cosmology. This is by far the best book from Simon Singh. A well articulated story starting from Ancient Greeks to the modern Nobel prize winners. He describes in detail the Greeks assumptions of a round and spinning earth. And their measurements of Earth's circumference (Eratosthenes), relative sizes of moon and earth (Anaxagoras), and the distance to Sun (Aristarchus). Moving to the middle ages, the story of Tyco Brahe who took observational astronomy to an entirely new level of accuracy. Tyco's experimental data was interpreted correctly by Kepler who was myopic and suffered multiple visions from birth. Experiments of Galileo with pendulum, falling bodies, his observation of planets with the newly invented telescope and his ultimate friction with the Church. He mentions how Galileo could uniquely maintain religious beliefs and scientific dogmas in his mind at the same time, without any conflicts. On how Newton stood on the shoulders of the Giants and built on the planetary model to explain Gravity. William Herschel used telescope to discover the distant planets and their satellites. He came up with a rough size of the Milky Way Galaxy. His son John started recording the celestial pictures on newly invented medium-photography. With this technique, Astronomy entered a new phase. Beyond the Renaissance, how Einstein comes up with his thought experiments leading to theories of relativity (Special and General). For the first time I could understand that Special theory of relativity applied to bodies moving at constant speeds while General theory applied to accelerating or decelerating bodies. Time dilation and length contraction occur in fast moving bodies. How his theories lead to Alexander Friedman's prediction of an evolving Universe. How George Lemaitre's concluded that General theory of relativity implied a moment of creation, and hence Big Bang. And Einstein ended up denouncing both of them and came up with a Cosmological constant, which proves to be the biggest blunder of his life. George Lemaitre is a Belgian monk, who like Galielo, had a good balance between Science and Religion. Letting neither interfere with the other, but at the same time being deeply involved with both. John Goodricke discovered that the Cepheid stars have variable brightness. Because, unlike our Sun, they are not in a state of equilibrium. They go thru cycles of contraction and expansion. Henrietta Leavitt found a relationship between the period of fluctuation and apparent brightness by collecting data from a group of Cepheids in the Magellanic cloud. A team of astronomers found the distance to one Cepheid. Henrietta's theory was used to calculate distances of other Cepheids. Hale's efforts to build bigger and bigger telescopes. Edwin Hubble's greatest contribution by using these telescopes to prove that Andromeda is a separate Galaxy and that the Universe is undoubtedly expanding. Hubble's law vindicated George Lemaitre and Alexander Friedman. Ralph Alpher and George Gamow predicted that in the early Universe, after the Big Bang, matter existed as plasma, which cooled to 3000 degree centigrade and condensed to atoms, as the cosmic fog lifted, and Cosmic background radiation was emitted in all directions. This red shifted light in the microwave region was discovered by Penzias and Wilson of AT&T. Fred Hoyle, in spite of his adherence to the loosing Steady State theory, made a significant contribution to the explanation of the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements from dying stars. Final chapters on the COBE's (Cosmic Background Explorer) precise measurements of Cosmic background radiation and subtle temperature differences in radiation of early Universe, leading to creation of Stars and Galaxies. This was the climatic moment for the Big Bang theory. This book is a must read for anyone interested in Cosmology.

Big Bang is in essence a history of astronomy, or more precisely, cosmology, the study of the universe. Obviously, this is quite a large field of study, but one that Simon Singh accomplishes beautifully. Despite his education, Simon Singh can write, and write well. He can explain difficult, mind-bending concepts and vast measurements of scale better than probably anyone alive. And what do I mean by 'despite his education', for Simon Singh is really Simon Singh, Ph.D., with a degree in particle physics from Cambridge University, the school that gave us such scientists as Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Rutherford, and Alan Turing. After working at CERN in Switzerland for a while after graduation, he decided to become an author, journalist, and TV producer, with the goal of bringing science to the everyday man (and woman). The problem is, of course, that most scientists cannot write, at least stuff that you and I can understand. Well, Dr. Singh can do that. The Big Bang traces the history of the theory of the Earth and the universe from the ancient Egyptians calculating, with remarkable accuracy, of the size of the Earth, to experiments requiring sophisticated satellites that must orbit the earth for years, making measurements that are impossible to make from earth, before useful data can be collected from them. Dr. Singh talks about how astronomers calculate the distance to planets, other stars, and even other galaxies. He talks about telescopes, compasses, and radio telescopes. He talks about gravity, spacetime, and relativity. He talks about measurements being taken that must be accurate to four or more decimal places to be useful. This really is a superb book, and very well written. I have just read it, but plan on reading it again within a few months, to help cement some of the knowledge into my brain. Highly recommended.

This is one of the best books I've ever read describing the history of astronomy as it pertains to the development and eventual acceptance of the Big Bang Theory. Although the first several pages seemed awkward in that the author spent time describing Chinese, Icelandic, and African mythology as it relates to the universe the theme turns quickly to focusing on what science is and early scientific achievements relating to astronomy. One thing that stands out about this book which I found fascinating was that the author often gives details about the personalities of the people who made the important discoveries along the way and what the people who held competing theories thought of each other. Chapter 1 covers among other things: Early astronomical achievements such as determining the size of the earth, distance to the sun, development of the Copernican world view, Keplarian planetary orbits, and the work of Galileo. Chapter 2 beautifully describes and contrasts early theories of the universe, and the story of how Galilean Relativity gave way to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity along with Newton's theory of gravity being replaced with Einstein's theory of gravity and its verification. The chapter concludes with Einstein's view of a static, eternal universe with Friedmann and Lemaitre's hypothesis of a universe that expands and had a beginning. Chapter 3 deals with how it was determined the universe contained island galaxies great distances apart instead of just one galaxy containing everything and also how Hubble showed a relationship between a galaxy's distance and recessional velocity. Chapter 4 shows how theory and observations came together to form the Big Bang model. Details on how Einstein came to favor the Big Bang model rather than a static universe are given. The work of cosmologists George Gamow favoring the Big Bang and Fred Hoyle favoring the Steady State model are presented. Chapter 5 shows why Gamow's Big Bang Theory came to be accepted rather than Hoyle's Steady State Theory. The history of how the overwhelming evidence from Radio Astronomy's discovery of the Cosmic Background Radiation is beautifully presented and how many other observations now support the Big Bang. A short Epilogue is also given exploring the philosophical and religious implications of the Big Bang. Although the book's beginning downplayed belief in a Deity the author admits (p 492) that the scientific community has not yet "properly addressed the ultimate question of where the universe came from" and that the answer might indeed be outside the realm of science.

If you're a relative beginner who wants to know the whole sweep of the Big Bang story in one big bite, this book is for you. Well written, easy to follow, lots of illuminating examples, hits all the highlights. Singh is a very good teacher. I'm no novice, and I learned quite a bit myself. There are, however, a few minor errors. For example, on p. 171, Singh notes that in 1789 William Herschel constructed a 1.2 meter telescope, the world's largest in aperture at the time, but that it was so unwieldy he abandoned it in 1815 "and thereafter used a more moderate telescope for most of his observing, with a 0.475-metere aperture." Actually, the smaller scope was built in 1783, and it was always the one that Herschel used for most of his observing, even after the larger one was built. On the next page is an illustration of Herschel's favorite scope, the 0.475-meter, but Singh labels it the 1.2 meter. Again, a minor mix-up, which detracts little from the book's overall worth. Well worth the read.

When I bought this book, I imagined it would begin with the discoveries of Mr. Hubble, but I was wrong again! In fact, this book is a history of the entire science of cosmology, and so it begins with tribal myths, and the first struggles of the pre-Socratics --- and then on to the bean-eater, Pythagoras! (Actually, I'm not sure right now, whether Pythagoras required the eating of beans, or forbade it. Religious nuttery, in either case.) Since I've just been reading William Dunham's Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics , I was a little surprised to be encountering the same cast of characters all over again, but let me say that Singh's account is much, much better for the general reader. Dunham has no problem covering 2-3 pages with calculus formulas, and Singh wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Nevertheless, for the very first time in my life, I have a clear understanding of how the Copernican Revolution occurred. I used to have a mish-mash of Tyco Brahe, Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo which was not clearly understood. but Simon Singh explained it to me. In brief: Copernicus was the first to revive the thoughts of an ancient Greek "heretic" who believed in a sun-centered universe. But Copernicus wrote very badly, and his book was sabotaged at the printers literally as Copernicus lay dying. Enter, stage left, Tyco Brahe, an eccentric nobleman who made the most exact astronomical observations in history, and drank too much. (He also had a metal nose...) The humble Lutheran "peasant" Kepler was the man who did all the hard math work, using Brahe's observations and Copernicus's theory, and he published the definitive work which explained that the planets did NOT have circular orbits, but elliptical orbits --- an idea which made "Aristotelians" foam at the mouth. Finally, enter Galileo (stage right) bearing a weapon of great power --- the telescope. The telescope eventually proved Kepler right in just about every detail. This is a very enjoyable and educational book, which reminds me of that great TV series, "Connections." Very highly recommended!

This book is not only about the physics behind or under the Big Bang theory but mainly about its ascension from the lower plains of initial and tenuous discussions up to the pinnacle of science. This is basic to understand what are you going to read before deciding to buy the book. First of all you need to know that Simon Singh also wrote "Fermat's enigma," which is as good and well written as this one. I read both and it is hard for me to say which one is better, but what I did know is that both books are mandatory readings for anyone interested in science and how it explains everything we know for certain. In this vein, Big Bang is the history of a competition between ideas that followed the Einstein's theory of gravity, ideas brought with the equations or that were implicit in them. What Alexander Friedman, Georges Lemaître and others did, was to make them explicit, to show their implications in terms of an (in some sense unexpected) origin to the universe. Einstein wasn't convinced from the very beginning and in so doing and furthermore being the prevailing idea of a static universe so strongly rooted in the zeitgeist of the times (1920s), the war was declared among contradictory positions. Subsequent observations and a vast amount of measurements and discussion made that Big Bang theory began to gain adherents and supporters. This is what Simon Singh tells us in a very funny and highly explanatory style: in fact, every time we need a drawing he puts it, and when (or if) we need a metaphor he gives us a very good one. He is not a journalist but a physicist who knows how to explain very difficult things. In fact, I gave the book to my wife promising her that she would understand everything about the Big Bang theory. At first she didn't believe me (she is a psychologist so she shouldn't) but after reading the book she gave me five stars for the recommendation, the same stars I give to the work of Mr. Singh. Highly recommended.

Physically, good quality. Regarding the content, easily the most accessible, engaging, and informative science-history books I've read. Such interesting topics covered with enough detail to be amazed without needing to be an expert going in.

The book arrived on time and in good condition. It is very long (500+ pages) and covers a great deal of history, theology/mythology, philosophy and cosmology. And if there is one author who can tell the story correctly, it's Simon. History is occupied by many good and bad ideas. But of course, people had their reasons for believing what they did. Simon reveals the good and bad ideas, and he shows us how common sense thinking is, in many cases, conducive to the wrong answer. There is some math and several thought experiments. This is nothing to fear. The math really helps bring clarity to the situation, especially when discussing time dilation (a concept I've had trouble wrapping my head around). Overall a great book. The author's ability for teaching is next to none. A much more insightful book than Hawking's a Brief History of Time and Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. I don't mean that in a critical way. Those books were great and neither of them were meant to be as detailed as this one. But for those of you who read those or were thinking about reading those, I would consider this instead. It's approximately the length of both of those books combined, and it encompasses all of what those books talk about and more. Five stars.

Segundo livro que leio do Simon Singh (o primeiro foi O ÚLTIMO TEOREMA DE FERMAT). O autor aborda as questões mais relevantes da ciência e trata com muita naturalidade, bom humor e faz com que qualquer pessoa entenda todos os conceitos mencionados no livro, através de exemplos cotidianos. Sem dúvida uma excelente leitura para quem é apaixonado pelos mistérios do COSMOS e fascinado pelas suas belezas matemáticas. O autor termina o livro com uma frase bem humorada. Com toda certeza é um investimento com um grande retorno intelectual. Boa leitura à quem decidir mergulhar nos mares de conhecimento que esse autor nos dá com essa obra :)

This brilliant book by Simon Singh, first published in 2004, seeks to explain the theories that have existed since ancient times until the modern day concerning the structure, age and creation of the universe. Singh has an easygoing style of writing and having said what he wants to say he will often summarise the remarks he has made, thus making sure he has been fully understood and that the reader is keeping up to speed. Also, rather than just discuss the cold scientific facts, he brings the subject to life by describing the personalities involved, and the challenges they faced in their attempts to solve the mysteries of the cosmos. Each chapter also ends with a helpful two page "handwritten" summary covering the salient points. He starts the book by addressing the place of the earth in the big scheme of things, going through the various early theories where the earth was at the centre of everything. Interestingly, in the third century BC the ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus had worked out that it was the earth that moved around the sun and not the other way around, but he lost out to the views of heavyweights Aristotle and Ptolemy who had both favoured a geocentric model. In fact, logic and common sense seemed to rule out the idea of the earth orbiting the sun, for reasons such as if the earth was travelling through space at great speed we would feel a tremendous wind and would be knocked off our feet as the ground moved under us. Not to mention that placing the earth at the centre of the universe was a useful way of explaining gravity in that everything was attracted to this centre point. The geocentric view prevailed for many centuries, this position also suiting the early church who stood steadfast against anyone proposing something different. But, eventually, through the determined efforts of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Galileo in the 16th century, science won through and the church was forced to accept the heliocentric layout of the solar system. Singh discusses the speed of light and the postulated existence, or otherwise, of the ether. I was surprised to read that it was as early as 1670 when the Danish astronomer, Ole Rømer, first recognised that light had a finite speed and he made a not unreasonable estimate of this speed based on calculations of apparent anomalies in the orbit of one of the moons of Jupiter. Of course, of critical importance in understanding light was Einstein's contribution, which led to the development of his special theory of relativity. Singh's account naturally progresses to Einstein's general theory of relativity and to his view that the universe was static, although he did need to add a cosmological constant to his general relativity theory to support this conjecture. But shortly afterwards saw the (then) unpopular, and independently developed, theories of Friedman and Lemaître which proposed an expanding universe, with Lemaître being the first to recognise that if the universe was expanding then it must once have been smaller, and once probably minute - hence he was the first to hint at a big bang theory although he called it the primaeval atom. Lemaître also had the distinction of being both a physicist and an ordained priest, so he can be thought of as having hedged his bet when it came to theories of creation. Next, Singh discusses the discovery in the early 20th century that many of the so-called nebulae that were visible through telescopes were actually far away galaxies, and not, as some thought, merely objects within our own Milky Way galaxy. Further research, notably by Hubble, showed that most of these galaxies were moving away from earth, and the further they were away, the faster they were moving. Experimental evidence had thus been found for the expansion of the universe and therefore, as a corollary, an initiation in a big bang, thus opening the way to a proper Big Bang theory. But, moving on, Singh notes that this incipient Big Bang theory had problems. For example, it couldn't account for how the heavy chemical elements had formed. George Gamow had led efforts that succeeded in explaining how the heat of the big bang would have led to the fusion of proton and neutrons, leading to the formation of helium in the proportion that it is present in the universe today. But he couldn't explain the formation of the heavier elements. Another issue was the age of the universe, because using the estimated speeds and distances of far away galaxies, it seemed that the universe was younger than the age of the earth, as calculated from radioactivity measurements. In the 1940s, Fred Hoyle, along with others, proposed an alternative to the Big Bang theory by suggesting a Steady State model in which the universe was expanding but where new matter was continually being created in the gaps between the old galaxies. The discrepancies in the age of the earth and the universe were less of a problem for this theory but it still had its own difficulties. It couldn't, for instance, account for the formation of any of the elements, not even helium. Throughout his life, Hoyle remained very critical of the Big Bang Theory and ironically it was he who coined the term "Big Bang", although it was intended to be derogatory. The battle between the Big Bang and Steady State theories continued but slowly the ground moved in favour of the former. Successive discoveries uncovered errors in estimates of the size of the universe, and hence its age, and it was shown that the universe was indeed older than the earth, which was a welcome boost for the Big Bangers. Then, by calculating the pressures and temperatures expected to be found in stars during their life cycles, Hoyle was successful in theorising how the heavier elements could have formed from helium. Although Hoyle was a Steady Stater, his research had helped both camps. Then radio astronomy was successful in finding younger galaxies at the far reaches of the universe - their absence in the closer parts of the universe contradicted the predictions of the Steady State model, adding further weight to the Big Bang theory. The final nail in the coffin for the Steady State argument was the accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation by Penzias and Wilson. Big Bang theorists had predicted the presence of this radiation, which dates back to about 300,000 years after the initiation of the universe, and they had been proved right. In the 1990s, equipment on the COBE satellite detected minor variations in the background radiation, which are thought to reflect minor variations in the density of the early universe, which in turn provided the seeds for the growth of the galaxies. Curiously, it's only at the end of the book, in an epilogue, that Singh talks about more contentious issues, including inflation, dark matter and dark energy. I was a little puzzled as to why this wasn't incorporated into main text but this is only a minor issue and it doesn't detract from the general flow. Much of the scientific information in the book I knew already but it was still refreshing and entertaining to see it presented in its historical context, and to read of the struggles by those involved in formulating and then attempting to prove the various theories. For a simple, non-mathematical introduction to cosmology, I think this book is difficult to beat.

If you want an excellent summary of the evolution of the universe and of the science that got us there, then this is the read. Its a must read ! Simon has also written The Code Book and Fermats Last Theorem - READ THESE TOO ! Simon Singh is one of those few who can make clear his own brilliant grasp of the subject and the need to make it cogent to those with an interest.

2,300年前の初期天文学から最新の宇宙論までーーーっ！！ これは、、、おもろい！抜群！ その言葉どおり、宇宙ジャンル本の中で群を抜いてます（個人比）。 この本、天文学の進展にあわせて、様々な天文学者の背景なんかにもせまっちゃったりするんですが、アインシュタインさん のとこだけでもその価値十分。すげー面白いですから。 宇宙物理学ではあたりまえのメンドクセー公式とかを最小限におさえて、算数が出来ない読者の好奇心を最後までがっちり掴み 続けて離しませんから。 個人的感想ですが、初期天文学でなんとも驚きなのは、なんと2,300年も前に、地球が球体であるだけではなく、地球の大きさ、 月の大きさ、月までの距離、果ては、太陽の大きさ、太陽までの距離を科学的手法で調査し、かなり正確に理解していた人が いたのだと。 いやはや、まじで？？となります。コロンブス（1490年代）以前の連中、どいつもこいつも総ボンクラです。 宇宙は大好きだけど物理や数学は大嫌いだという人生これ手抜きなあなたにわたしに抜群におすすめの一冊。 ちなみに、シンさんの本は他のもまんべんなく面白いです。暗号の本もモチロン抜群に面白かったのでおすすめ。 ちなみに、英語のお勉強にソートーがんばりましたが、英語版より日本語版の方が読みやすいかったです。当然です。

Good book