kilkilshah's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating. I hope he is right about the future of humanity. Also a nice overview of the various science disciplines (physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, etc) for a science amatuer like me.
elentikvah's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Yet another book that would have been excellent during the early steps of deconstructing Young Earth Creationism (YEC), because it gives such a readable, delightful overview of EVERYTHING! While I think that there are books that cover many of the various subjects within these pages in far more detail - this book is for the 30,000 ft view, it in that it does a fantastic job! Well worth the read!
Rating: 4/5 stars "really liked it"
12 hrs and 23 mins
Audiobook
Rating: 4/5 stars "really liked it"
12 hrs and 23 mins
Audiobook
rhyslindmark's review against another edition
2.0
This book tackles the history of our universe through the energetic lens of complexity—that entities are becoming more complex as measured by the amount of energy running through them per atom (their energy density).
In this way, it reminds me of Energy & Civilization. Though that book is more detailed and has a smaller scope (just humanity's time, while Origin Story goes from 14B years ago and has more of an astrophysicist lens).
This "energy as complexity" lens is a good foil to the "information as complexity" lens in books like The Origins of Life. They go well together, just as Energy & Civilization goes well with The Information.
Though I love the subject matter of Origin Story, I was left a bit disappointed. It felt like it was written for high schoolers, and had too much generalization without enough striking claims.
In this way, it reminds me of Energy & Civilization. Though that book is more detailed and has a smaller scope (just humanity's time, while Origin Story goes from 14B years ago and has more of an astrophysicist lens).
This "energy as complexity" lens is a good foil to the "information as complexity" lens in books like The Origins of Life. They go well together, just as Energy & Civilization goes well with The Information.
Though I love the subject matter of Origin Story, I was left a bit disappointed. It felt like it was written for high schoolers, and had too much generalization without enough striking claims.
henrik_w's review against another edition
5.0
Very interesting. About the birth of the universe, how life started, and the evolution of humans. Extraordinary how the many necessary Goldilock conditions and energy flows got us to today. At least as good and interesting as Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (and covers the whole period from The Big Bang until today).
christinavdvelde's review against another edition
4.0
The book had ambitious aims, but the comparison in my mind is Sapiens, which I much preferred. This book had a much more heavily physics and chemistry lean, which if that is your inclination too, this would be a great read. But if you are more humanities inclined, I'd recommend Sapiens.
agruenbaum's review against another edition
3.0
I have different beliefs about how the world was created. I enjoyed the story as he told it. At the end of the book, his future projections are from a very left-leaning side of the facts. (I listened to this on Audible.)