»Big Bang

Simon Singh presents an eminently readable history of cosmology, the search for order and explanation of the universe.

His narrative, filled with anecdotes and adventures, enthalled me. I carried the book around for days, savouring it. The story pulls in the snipes Newton took at Hooke, the poor hunchback; the salacious details of Brahe's life; the disappointment of duplication that Alpher and Gammow felt (and Gammow's delightful doggerel, often at Fred Hoyle's expense), and many more. All of these personal details add colour and depth to the already-thrilling story that unfolds as scientists attempt to explain through reason and deduction what they observe. Never before have I grasped so clearly the achievements of observational astronomers, whose painstaking and beautiful work has led us to so detailed an understanding of the beginnings of time and space.

Singh puts forth the story clearly and at a very moderate pace. He explains scientific theories brilliantly, simplifying as necessary and carefully relating each new theory to the others. He also uses math effectively, presenting constants in clear narrative context; the end of each chapter also has a two-page summary, which gave me an excellent opportunity to review what he had explained and to make sure I got it.

Big Bang is one of the best books I have ever read. Had I read it fifteen years ago, I probably would have my head in the stars at this very minute.