A review by dolorsitamet
The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg
4.0
Quiet good (required reading for 8.286, The Early Universe, A. Guth)
It was somewhat technical, but also not so much that anything would go over one's head in a careful reading. The subject matter is perhaps not so interesting to the general public (the particles involved in the very early universe, and deriving in a broad sense how we know things about times so early in the universe's history) but it is presented in as engaging a manner as one could hope for, given the material. I was surprised to find, 8/9 through the book, that he cited himself as co-founder of the electroweak theory. I guess I don't expect those Nobel prize winners to write books for the general public, or be this welcoming to the (semi-)layperson when doing so. And I was pleased with the way the eighth chapter ended.
Probably won't be reading it again, or recommending it to anyone, but it was quite tolerable - even enjoyable - as a supplementary textbook.
It was somewhat technical, but also not so much that anything would go over one's head in a careful reading. The subject matter is perhaps not so interesting to the general public (the particles involved in the very early universe, and deriving in a broad sense how we know things about times so early in the universe's history) but it is presented in as engaging a manner as one could hope for, given the material. I was surprised to find, 8/9 through the book, that he cited himself as co-founder of the electroweak theory. I guess I don't expect those Nobel prize winners to write books for the general public, or be this welcoming to the (semi-)layperson when doing so. And I was pleased with the way the eighth chapter ended.
Probably won't be reading it again, or recommending it to anyone, but it was quite tolerable - even enjoyable - as a supplementary textbook.