From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

The Grand Design

Stephen Hawking,

Leonard Mlodinow

Start date: January 1, 2011

Finish date: January 31, 2011

Discussion: Book Club 2011

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Book Club 2011

September, 2011: The Blind Watchmaker
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last updated Jun 21, 2018 05:08AM

April 2011 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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What Members Thought

Aug 07, 2010 David Rubenstein rated it liked it

Shelves: physics, philosophy, religion

This is a short, elegant, beautifully illustrated book. I read it in less than a day. The book gives a good answer to the so-called "anthropic principle"--namely, that the laws of physics and the fundamental constants appear to be perfectly tuned to allow our world, life, and humans to develop. If any of the laws or fundamental constants were to deviate even slightly, life might not be even possible.

The answer to this dilemma, the authors state, is not that God created the laws of physics, and t ...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Libyrinths rated it liked it · review of another edition

Hawking glosses M theory, the successor to superstring theory and quantum gravity (and others). More clearly written than most of his books, but only if you're familiar with most of what he's talking about (IMO). While he's at it, it seems he wants to weigh in on why we don't need God as an explanation for the beginning of the universe. That may be true, but the thing is, parts of M theory are testable -- by observation, by math, and in the future with the LHC -- but it's certainly not yet prove ...more

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Jul 28, 2010 bup rated it it was ok

Shelves: science, 2010, trying-to-get-theoretical-physics

I really looked forward to reading this, and I was really disappointed.

First of all, it's a very short 180 pages. Each new chapter gets a title on one page, then a blank page, then the chapter starts. There are several full page pictures with the backs blank. Even the number of words on a page seems small. They really stretched to make this thing a book. It's a long essay.

Second, having read The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, I can say t I really looked forward to reading this, and I was really disappointed.

First of all, it's a very short 180 pages. Each new chapter gets a title on one page, then a blank page, then the chapter starts. There are several full page pictures with the backs blank. Even the number of words on a page seems small. They really stretched to make this thing a book. It's a long essay.

Second, having read The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, I can say that that book explains things much better. I only have a layperson's understanding of anything physics, and the usual discussions of relativity (imagine someone shining a beam of light who's in a moving train or on a jet or whatever, and the perceived speed of light from an observer on the train or jet or whatever and a person on the ground, but now accept that the speed of light stays the same but that time must be different for the two observers) are done so casually here that the diagram of a photon bouncing between two plates shows it going vertically while moving laterally, while the discussion is of a beam of light going front to back on an airplane moving forward.

I also found the discussions on quantum theory wanting. Again, I'm comparing it to Greene's discussion, and some famous experiments shooting photons through one slit or two. I can't wrap my head around it entirely, but I still want more than this too-brief discussion that concludes that our universe has many histories. I mean, if you want me to accept that, sell me on it!

Finally, and I guess they were trying to make it 'friendly,' there are a lot of one-liners that aren't funny. They tip their hands, they try too hard, and there's exactly one per section.

I have to acknowledge one thing I liked - there was a short section explaining why we are lucky to exist in three dimensions, and not more, even if the universe itself has more dimensions. Apparently they're aren't simple stable orbits in four dimensions. Oops, I spoiled it.

I would have given this one star except that I realized I might have thought more of this book if I hadn't read Greene's first. ...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Patricrk patrick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science

nice humor at times. Very readable, no formulas or math understanding required. Since no one really understands the subject you will still come away confused about the universes when finished but I like to think I am now confused at a higher level.

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Oct 10, 2010 Ryan rated it it was amazing

The book is a good synopsis of modern science, it's foundations and philosophy. Hawking seems to have taken a liking to M-theory and proposes the notion of model-dependent realism. This is the provocative, dare I say Kantian-esque, view that reality, at least to us, depends on the model we use to describe it. ...more

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Mar 04, 2011 Timothy Finucane rated it really liked it

A big overview of the current thinking in modern physics with regard to the creation of the universe. A few sections required some concentration to understand the concepts, but overall I found it highly accessible. The book is also beautifully designed itself, with full color illustrations throughout.

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