Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
.
.

Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Brian Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos with its questions about the limits of space and time and the texture of reality certainly looks a bit daunting to the uninitiated. Cosmic ripples, 11 dimensions to the universe and string theory that is somehow connected to a "Theory of Everything" are all a bit alien if you never really got to grips with Newton, let alone Einstein. It might look very heavyweight, but Greene is an excellent communicator and what he's writing about is perhaps the greatest intellectual challenge we face.

There is no doubt that speculation about the nature of the heavens is very ancient. After centuries of thought "we still can only portray space and time as the most familiar of strangers". But enormous advances in understanding have been made especially over the last few decades. Whether we are high-flying city slickers or impoverished cattle-herders in the third world, speculation about space-time "takes on an almost mystical quality: we're considering the fate of the very things that dominate our sense of reality" according to Greene.

Over the last century we have become much better acquainted with previously hidden features of the Universe, especially thanks to Einstein. Greene summarises these as

"the slowing of time, the relativity of simultaneity, alternative slicings of spacetime, gravity as the warpings and curving of space and time, the probabilistic nature of reality, and long range entanglement were not on the list of things that even the best of the world's nineteenth-century physicists would have expected to find just around the corner."

And yet they are attested to by both experimental results and theoretical explanations. Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, is one of the foremost players in contemporary string theory and authored a bestselling book The Elegant Universe for which he won the Aventis Prize in 2000.

In The Fabric of the Cosmos Green avoids mathematical formulae, which can be an immediate turnoff for most general readers. Clearly he knows that visually we can deal with abstract and/or difficult concepts much better than when they are presented in words. Consequently, he uses a very clever selection of excellent and well designed illustrations to help get his ideas across. There is an excellent index, plenty of notes and suggestions for further reading, which will allow those more in the know to take matters further. And, there is a glossary for us ordinary mortals who need every now and again to check up on our understanding of things such as quarks, Higgs particles, braneworld scenario and M-theory. --Douglas Palmer

Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
.
.

Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Exceptionally well written, 12 Nov 2008
I started reading this as a complete physics novice. Having heard about the Large Hadron collider at CERN and the experiments that were due to begin in 2008, I wanted to be able to grasp the basics of what those scientists were hoping to achieve, and gain a better insight into cosmology more generally. But I had absolutely zero physics understanding, and the most I knew about Newton was that there was an apple that supposedly dropped on his head - something to do with gravity! I didn't really know what special or general relativity were, or even that these were two separate discoveries. I'd seen the odd TV documentary proposing something called superstring, and speculation about wormholes and time travel. There was also something called quantum physics, to do with very small particles, which I'd heard was very baffling. All seemed fascinating, but I never really understood any of it. So essentially, I approached this book as a complete beginner.

How did I get on? Well, The Fabric of the Cosmos is extensive and covers a lot of ground. Given that almost all of it was new to me, it's no surprise that I found it a lot to take in, and reading it all took a while. The fact that it was dealing with some of the greatest intellectual challenges we face also made it tough-going in parts (unsurprisingly!) It's definitely not the kind of book that I'd have been able to read on a train or in a crowded room. It needs concentration, and if you're a newbie who wants to get the most out of it, some note paper and a pen (or a computer) will help you to pull out the most useful 'in-a-nutshell' sentences, of which there are plenty.

Which brings us onto the writing.

This book is exceptionally well written. What makes it a success is the author's helpful and sympathetic tone which is apparent from the very outset, but without ever being dumbed down. Greene is astute enough to appreciate that after having described a new concept over several paragraphs, some people may still have trouble grasping it, and he is not afraid to then elaborate with "OK, let me make this even clearer..." type writing. You get the sense that he's walking you through the learning process, pointing out that this next bit might be a bit challenging, or that you might have difficulty visualising, say, the shape of the universe, but that's fine, so do the physicists themselves, and this is what they resort to doing... (etc)

The way he summarizes and draws different concepts together greatly helps it all make sense. I say "all" - well not ALL of it made sense. In a 500-odd page book, it's inevitable that during some bits, no matter how many times I was re-reading, it just didn't click. But that's fine. The fact remains that I learned a LOT from this book, a surprising amount. I gained an understanding of just how weird everything is, and more importantly, how different things are compared to the reality we intuitively experience on a day-to-day basis.

Any further reading I choose to do on this subject will now be that much easier as a result of having read this book.

The diagrams - certainly in the paperbook version I bought - are indeed a little too small, though still legible enough to make the point, and it would be harsh to mark the review down a point just for that. The notes section contains many elaborations that have been placed at the back of the book so that they don't disrupt the flow of the main text, and it's up to you whether you follow them or not. I found myself reading some, but ignoring others, particularly the ones aimed at "the mathematically inclined".

Someone mentioned the analogies being a bit annoying and US-centric. As a Brit, I didn't have a problem with them. They did their job.

Overall, a truly mindblowing guide to current thinking of how everything works, and I highly recommend it for newbies. Extremely rewarding. Just don't expect to finish it in a few days!

A good introductory survey of modern Cosmology, 13 Aug 2008
Related to his book The Elegant Universe, a pop-sci account of string theory, this book goes through many fundamental parts of physics and cosmology that lead up to the current day understanding and the quest for the deeper underlying principles that string theory is tackling. It's a little dry in spots, but the handling of the early physics material is very well done and approachable.

Fantastic Guide to Physics for Beginners, 11 Jul 2008
Brian Greene has managed to do the impossible. He has written a guide to physics from Newton to String Theory, that is not only easy to read but is also entertaining. This is what I should have had as my physics textbook in school. Whilst using simple everyday examples and avoiding the dreaded equations, he manages to explain the most complex and even bizzare ideas that physics has so far come up with.

Reading it felt much like opening my eyes to the weird but wonderful universe out there.
A trully excellent book.

Great book - don't be put off, 25 Mar 2008
I'm working my way through this at the moment and I fully agree with other reviewers that it is a life changing book on a par with Blind Watchmaker.

I was a little daunted by the subject material to begin with, but soon lost my inhibitions - it's not half as bad as I expected and I'm actually finding myself second-guessing some of the directions and explanations that author is taking in explaining the wierdness of the relativistic and quantum worlds. Either I'm not as deeply stupid as I thought or Greene's treatment is perfect for the non-expert reader.

It's still a challenging book, and I'll need a re-read at sometime in the near future to fix the concepts in my head, but I'm looking forward to the prospect.

A few minor gripes:

- The illustrations don't seem to have transferred well to the paperback version - they're on the small side and difficult to interpret and return to. Perhaps larger, colour illustrations, gathered in a central section would have been better.
- Some of Greene's analogies grate a little. He makes a lot of use of analogies, which I guess is inevitable and necessary given the esoteric nature of the subject matter. However, one is occasionally left wondering whether these analogies tell the whole story or if there's something important that's been left out for the benefit of the reader's sanity. The early ones on relativity are played out by The Simpsons (obviously Greene is a fan!) which comes across as a little patronising and later ones relate to baseball, which doesn't translate well for the British reader.
- Although the conclusions are mind-boggling (quantum entanglement, string theory) a degree of shell shock is setting in - can the universe get any wierder? I'm only 3/4 of the way through! and it is difficult to lift oneself to the heights of admiration and wonder that Green obviously reaches - Ho hum! More strangeness!

Nevertheless, this is well worth a read and don't be put off by the subject material. You'll never look at the world in the same way again.

Wow. Seriously amazing reading., 04 Jan 2008
It's taken me several attempts to fully absorb and gets heavy going at times (perhaps because it is my first cosmological read) but we live in a very strange and amazing universe.
I want to come back in fifty years to see if the current theorys are anywhere near correct. It has me hooked on the subject.

Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help non-scientists understand fundamental questions of physics and our existence: where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts to deal with these questions (and where we might look for answers) using a minimum of technical jargon. Among the topics gracefully covered are gravity, black holes, the Big Bang, the nature of time and physicists' search for a grand unifying theory. This is deep science; the concepts are so vast (or so tiny) that they cause mental vertigo while reading, and one can't help but marvel at Hawking's ability to synthesize this difficult subject for people not used to thinking about things like alternate dimensions. The journey is certainly worth taking for as Hawking says, the reward of understanding the universe may be a glimpse of "the mind of God". --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
.
.

Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Exceptionally well written, 12 Nov 2008
I started reading this as a complete physics novice. Having heard about the Large Hadron collider at CERN and the experiments that were due to begin in 2008, I wanted to be able to grasp the basics of what those scientists were hoping to achieve, and gain a better insight into cosmology more generally. But I had absolutely zero physics understanding, and the most I knew about Newton was that there was an apple that supposedly dropped on his head - something to do with gravity! I didn't really know what special or general relativity were, or even that these were two separate discoveries. I'd seen the odd TV documentary proposing something called superstring, and speculation about wormholes and time travel. There was also something called quantum physics, to do with very small particles, which I'd heard was very baffling. All seemed fascinating, but I never really understood any of it. So essentially, I approached this book as a complete beginner.

How did I get on? Well, The Fabric of the Cosmos is extensive and covers a lot of ground. Given that almost all of it was new to me, it's no surprise that I found it a lot to take in, and reading it all took a while. The fact that it was dealing with some of the greatest intellectual challenges we face also made it tough-going in parts (unsurprisingly!) It's definitely not the kind of book that I'd have been able to read on a train or in a crowded room. It needs concentration, and if you're a newbie who wants to get the most out of it, some note paper and a pen (or a computer) will help you to pull out the most useful 'in-a-nutshell' sentences, of which there are plenty.

Which brings us onto the writing.

This book is exceptionally well written. What makes it a success is the author's helpful and sympathetic tone which is apparent from the very outset, but without ever being dumbed down. Greene is astute enough to appreciate that after having described a new concept over several paragraphs, some people may still have trouble grasping it, and he is not afraid to then elaborate with "OK, let me make this even clearer..." type writing. You get the sense that he's walking you through the learning process, pointing out that this next bit might be a bit challenging, or that you might have difficulty visualising, say, the shape of the universe, but that's fine, so do the physicists themselves, and this is what they resort to doing... (etc)

The way he summarizes and draws different concepts together greatly helps it all make sense. I say "all" - well not ALL of it made sense. In a 500-odd page book, it's inevitable that during some bits, no matter how many times I was re-reading, it just didn't click. But that's fine. The fact remains that I learned a LOT from this book, a surprising amount. I gained an understanding of just how weird everything is, and more importantly, how different things are compared to the reality we intuitively experience on a day-to-day basis.

Any further reading I choose to do on this subject will now be that much easier as a result of having read this book.

The diagrams - certainly in the paperbook version I bought - are indeed a little too small, though still legible enough to make the point, and it would be harsh to mark the review down a point just for that. The notes section contains many elaborations that have been placed at the back of the book so that they don't disrupt the flow of the main text, and it's up to you whether you follow them or not. I found myself reading some, but ignoring others, particularly the ones aimed at "the mathematically inclined".

Someone mentioned the analogies being a bit annoying and US-centric. As a Brit, I didn't have a problem with them. They did their job.

Overall, a truly mindblowing guide to current thinking of how everything works, and I highly recommend it for newbies. Extremely rewarding. Just don't expect to finish it in a few days!

A good introductory survey of modern Cosmology, 13 Aug 2008
Related to his book The Elegant Universe, a pop-sci account of string theory, this book goes through many fundamental parts of physics and cosmology that lead up to the current day understanding and the quest for the deeper underlying principles that string theory is tackling. It's a little dry in spots, but the handling of the early physics material is very well done and approachable.

Fantastic Guide to Physics for Beginners, 11 Jul 2008
Brian Greene has managed to do the impossible. He has written a guide to physics from Newton to String Theory, that is not only easy to read but is also entertaining. This is what I should have had as my physics textbook in school. Whilst using simple everyday examples and avoiding the dreaded equations, he manages to explain the most complex and even bizzare ideas that physics has so far come up with.

Reading it felt much like opening my eyes to the weird but wonderful universe out there.
A trully excellent book.

Great book - don't be put off, 25 Mar 2008
I'm working my way through this at the moment and I fully agree with other reviewers that it is a life changing book on a par with Blind Watchmaker.

I was a little daunted by the subject material to begin with, but soon lost my inhibitions - it's not half as bad as I expected and I'm actually finding myself second-guessing some of the directions and explanations that author is taking in explaining the wierdness of the relativistic and quantum worlds. Either I'm not as deeply stupid as I thought or Greene's treatment is perfect for the non-expert reader.

It's still a challenging book, and I'll need a re-read at sometime in the near future to fix the concepts in my head, but I'm looking forward to the prospect.

A few minor gripes:

- The illustrations don't seem to have transferred well to the paperback version - they're on the small side and difficult to interpret and return to. Perhaps larger, colour illustrations, gathered in a central section would have been better.
- Some of Greene's analogies grate a little. He makes a lot of use of analogies, which I guess is inevitable and necessary given the esoteric nature of the subject matter. However, one is occasionally left wondering whether these analogies tell the whole story or if there's something important that's been left out for the benefit of the reader's sanity. The early ones on relativity are played out by The Simpsons (obviously Greene is a fan!) which comes across as a little patronising and later ones relate to baseball, which doesn't translate well for the British reader.
- Although the conclusions are mind-boggling (quantum entanglement, string theory) a degree of shell shock is setting in - can the universe get any wierder? I'm only 3/4 of the way through! and it is difficult to lift oneself to the heights of admiration and wonder that Green obviously reaches - Ho hum! More strangeness!

Nevertheless, this is well worth a read and don't be put off by the subject material. You'll never look at the world in the same way again.

Wow. Seriously amazing reading., 04 Jan 2008
It's taken me several attempts to fully absorb and gets heavy going at times (perhaps because it is my first cosmological read) but we live in a very strange and amazing universe.
I want to come back in fifty years to see if the current theorys are anywhere near correct. It has me hooked on the subject.


A big bang indeed, 06 Aug 2008
This book blew my brains out.

It's one thing to know a subject, but it's an altogether different thing to teach it and convey it to the layman.

Remarkably clear description of what is beyond all our understanding, 10 Jul 2008
There's something quite unique about this book - for all the hype it has as the book which stands out as a theoretical physicist trying to explain in layman terms what the universe is... it actuallly is!

In this, Hawking provides a bit of a history of our understanding of the universe and the Big Bang. Some of the content I expected but I was intrigued to read about the idea that before the Big Bang time didn't exist... it sounds rather fundamental to our lives really! I was also a little surprised to see how Hawking dealt with the view of creationists and in particular the way he tried to allow for the concept of a god being compatible with the notion of Big Bang.

While I found some of the book difficult to follow, overall I definitely felt I gained an albeit brief understanding into the views of the community of physicists to the origin of our universe.

There is a touch of arrogance to the writing, but then if you're one of the brightest people to have lived in our lifetime I guess that's justified!

Definitely recommended if you have the slightest interest in understanding what Big Bang is!

A book that leaves you in awe, 15 May 2008
A book that sold millions of copies and one wonders how many people read it and of those, how many actually understood it all. I have a scientific education (chemistry), but I frankly admit I did not get it all. It is difficult to explain what is in the book, but is in essence about where we came from and what we are heading to with regard to the universe, time, space and matter. The book is very well written, with a sense of humor and trying to explain the nearly inexplicable to the layman; I could follow large chunks of the text, but sometimes it is just too difficult to comprehend. This made me think: is Stephen Hawking's disadvantage (being locked up in his own body) also his disadvantage? He probably has more time than most people to turn into himself and contemplate on such extremely complex items as black holes, wormholes and the (in)finity of the universe. A book that leaves you in awe.

interesting .... , 12 May 2008
A very good book. Hawking wrote this book for the common reader with little or no knowledge of Physics. This make this book different and interesting. He gives the view of different scientists about the creation of this universe and the scientific explanation of the events in the history of time which made the universe look like as it is now. He also give the view of researchers about the predictions of how the Universe may come to an end it it really started the was we think it did.

Overall a really good book to read. Though there are still a lot of questions he left unanswered in the book but this only adds to the beauty of this book. It forces you to think and to make your own conclusions. I gave 4 stars to this book for two reasons. First it is written by a scientist and there are still some places in the book where he could not stop himself from explaining things in a pure scientific manner which give the book an air of a scientific research paper at times, which is not interesting for me at all, and will not be of any interest to anyone with limited knowledge of Physics. Second thing is that the book is a little old and research in the areas described in this book is now far ahead then the time this book was written. This makes this book a little old and some of the theories presented in the book are now proved wrong or improved by the later researchers.

However this does not really mean that the book is outdated and should not be read anymore. This is still a very good book and it bridges the gap between the hard core physics and the common people. Also I am not aware of any good book on the same topic which is written by a scientist for the common people and this makes it unique in this class.

Awesome, 27 Dec 2007
I would highly reccomend this book, it is an absolute must for anybody interested in space or physics. The way Stephen puts relatively hard theories into simple understanding reading for the not so well abled physicians is amazing! As well as combining his words with well illustrated diagrams makes it an easier read. I am only in my first year of studying physics at A-level but i feel like I know alot more about the Universe and Sub-atomical particles which has really boosted my confidence.
I really do reccomend this book to any keen physician of any age and intellegence level. Happy Readings =]

Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
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.

Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Exceptionally well written, 12 Nov 2008
I started reading this as a complete physics novice. Having heard about the Large Hadron collider at CERN and the experiments that were due to begin in 2008, I wanted to be able to grasp the basics of what those scientists were hoping to achieve, and gain a better insight into cosmology more generally. But I had absolutely zero physics understanding, and the most I knew about Newton was that there was an apple that supposedly dropped on his head - something to do with gravity! I didn't really know what special or general relativity were, or even that these were two separate discoveries. I'd seen the odd TV documentary proposing something called superstring, and speculation about wormholes and time travel. There was also something called quantum physics, to do with very small particles, which I'd heard was very baffling. All seemed fascinating, but I never really understood any of it. So essentially, I approached this book as a complete beginner.

How did I get on? Well, The Fabric of the Cosmos is extensive and covers a lot of ground. Given that almost all of it was new to me, it's no surprise that I found it a lot to take in, and reading it all took a while. The fact that it was dealing with some of the greatest intellectual challenges we face also made it tough-going in parts (unsurprisingly!) It's definitely not the kind of book that I'd have been able to read on a train or in a crowded room. It needs concentration, and if you're a newbie who wants to get the most out of it, some note paper and a pen (or a computer) will help you to pull out the most useful 'in-a-nutshell' sentences, of which there are plenty.

Which brings us onto the writing.

This book is exceptionally well written. What makes it a success is the author's helpful and sympathetic tone which is apparent from the very outset, but without ever being dumbed down. Greene is astute enough to appreciate that after having described a new concept over several paragraphs, some people may still have trouble grasping it, and he is not afraid to then elaborate with "OK, let me make this even clearer..." type writing. You get the sense that he's walking you through the learning process, pointing out that this next bit might be a bit challenging, or that you might have difficulty visualising, say, the shape of the universe, but that's fine, so do the physicists themselves, and this is what they resort to doing... (etc)

The way he summarizes and draws different concepts together greatly helps it all make sense. I say "all" - well not ALL of it made sense. In a 500-odd page book, it's inevitable that during some bits, no matter how many times I was re-reading, it just didn't click. But that's fine. The fact remains that I learned a LOT from this book, a surprising amount. I gained an understanding of just how weird everything is, and more importantly, how different things are compared to the reality we intuitively experience on a day-to-day basis.

Any further reading I choose to do on this subject will now be that much easier as a result of having read this book.

The diagrams - certainly in the paperbook version I bought - are indeed a little too small, though still legible enough to make the point, and it would be harsh to mark the review down a point just for that. The notes section contains many elaborations that have been placed at the back of the book so that they don't disrupt the flow of the main text, and it's up to you whether you follow them or not. I found myself reading some, but ignoring others, particularly the ones aimed at "the mathematically inclined".

Someone mentioned the analogies being a bit annoying and US-centric. As a Brit, I didn't have a problem with them. They did their job.

Overall, a truly mindblowing guide to current thinking of how everything works, and I highly recommend it for newbies. Extremely rewarding. Just don't expect to finish it in a few days!

A good introductory survey of modern Cosmology, 13 Aug 2008
Related to his book The Elegant Universe, a pop-sci account of string theory, this book goes through many fundamental parts of physics and cosmology that lead up to the current day understanding and the quest for the deeper underlying principles that string theory is tackling. It's a little dry in spots, but the handling of the early physics material is very well done and approachable.

Fantastic Guide to Physics for Beginners, 11 Jul 2008
Brian Greene has managed to do the impossible. He has written a guide to physics from Newton to String Theory, that is not only easy to read but is also entertaining. This is what I should have had as my physics textbook in school. Whilst using simple everyday examples and avoiding the dreaded equations, he manages to explain the most complex and even bizzare ideas that physics has so far come up with.

Reading it felt much like opening my eyes to the weird but wonderful universe out there.
A trully excellent book.

Great book - don't be put off, 25 Mar 2008
I'm working my way through this at the moment and I fully agree with other reviewers that it is a life changing book on a par with Blind Watchmaker.

I was a little daunted by the subject material to begin with, but soon lost my inhibitions - it's not half as bad as I expected and I'm actually finding myself second-guessing some of the directions and explanations that author is taking in explaining the wierdness of the relativistic and quantum worlds. Either I'm not as deeply stupid as I thought or Greene's treatment is perfect for the non-expert reader.

It's still a challenging book, and I'll need a re-read at sometime in the near future to fix the concepts in my head, but I'm looking forward to the prospect.

A few minor gripes:

- The illustrations don't seem to have transferred well to the paperback version - they're on the small side and difficult to interpret and return to. Perhaps larger, colour illustrations, gathered in a central section would have been better.
- Some of Greene's analogies grate a little. He makes a lot of use of analogies, which I guess is inevitable and necessary given the esoteric nature of the subject matter. However, one is occasionally left wondering whether these analogies tell the whole story or if there's something important that's been left out for the benefit of the reader's sanity. The early ones on relativity are played out by The Simpsons (obviously Greene is a fan!) which comes across as a little patronising and later ones relate to baseball, which doesn't translate well for the British reader.
- Although the conclusions are mind-boggling (quantum entanglement, string theory) a degree of shell shock is setting in - can the universe get any wierder? I'm only 3/4 of the way through! and it is difficult to lift oneself to the heights of admiration and wonder that Green obviously reaches - Ho hum! More strangeness!

Nevertheless, this is well worth a read and don't be put off by the subject material. You'll never look at the world in the same way again.

Wow. Seriously amazing reading., 04 Jan 2008
It's taken me several attempts to fully absorb and gets heavy going at times (perhaps because it is my first cosmological read) but we live in a very strange and amazing universe.
I want to come back in fifty years to see if the current theorys are anywhere near correct. It has me hooked on the subject.


A big bang indeed, 06 Aug 2008
This book blew my brains out.

It's one thing to know a subject, but it's an altogether different thing to teach it and convey it to the layman.

Remarkably clear description of what is beyond all our understanding, 10 Jul 2008
There's something quite unique about this book - for all the hype it has as the book which stands out as a theoretical physicist trying to explain in layman terms what the universe is... it actuallly is!

In this, Hawking provides a bit of a history of our understanding of the universe and the Big Bang. Some of the content I expected but I was intrigued to read about the idea that before the Big Bang time didn't exist... it sounds rather fundamental to our lives really! I was also a little surprised to see how Hawking dealt with the view of creationists and in particular the way he tried to allow for the concept of a god being compatible with the notion of Big Bang.

While I found some of the book difficult to follow, overall I definitely felt I gained an albeit brief understanding into the views of the community of physicists to the origin of our universe.

There is a touch of arrogance to the writing, but then if you're one of the brightest people to have lived in our lifetime I guess that's justified!

Definitely recommended if you have the slightest interest in understanding what Big Bang is!

A book that leaves you in awe, 15 May 2008
A book that sold millions of copies and one wonders how many people read it and of those, how many actually understood it all. I have a scientific education (chemistry), but I frankly admit I did not get it all. It is difficult to explain what is in the book, but is in essence about where we came from and what we are heading to with regard to the universe, time, space and matter. The book is very well written, with a sense of humor and trying to explain the nearly inexplicable to the layman; I could follow large chunks of the text, but sometimes it is just too difficult to comprehend. This made me think: is Stephen Hawking's disadvantage (being locked up in his own body) also his disadvantage? He probably has more time than most people to turn into himself and contemplate on such extremely complex items as black holes, wormholes and the (in)finity of the universe. A book that leaves you in awe.

interesting .... , 12 May 2008
A very good book. Hawking wrote this book for the common reader with little or no knowledge of Physics. This make this book different and interesting. He gives the view of different scientists about the creation of this universe and the scientific explanation of the events in the history of time which made the universe look like as it is now. He also give the view of researchers about the predictions of how the Universe may come to an end it it really started the was we think it did.

Overall a really good book to read. Though there are still a lot of questions he left unanswered in the book but this only adds to the beauty of this book. It forces you to think and to make your own conclusions. I gave 4 stars to this book for two reasons. First it is written by a scientist and there are still some places in the book where he could not stop himself from explaining things in a pure scientific manner which give the book an air of a scientific research paper at times, which is not interesting for me at all, and will not be of any interest to anyone with limited knowledge of Physics. Second thing is that the book is a little old and research in the areas described in this book is now far ahead then the time this book was written. This makes this book a little old and some of the theories presented in the book are now proved wrong or improved by the later researchers.

However this does not really mean that the book is outdated and should not be read anymore. This is still a very good book and it bridges the gap between the hard core physics and the common people. Also I am not aware of any good book on the same topic which is written by a scientist for the common people and this makes it unique in this class.

Awesome, 27 Dec 2007
I would highly reccomend this book, it is an absolute must for anybody interested in space or physics. The way Stephen puts relatively hard theories into simple understanding reading for the not so well abled physicians is amazing! As well as combining his words with well illustrated diagrams makes it an easier read. I am only in my first year of studying physics at A-level but i feel like I know alot more about the Universe and Sub-atomical particles which has really boosted my confidence.
I really do reccomend this book to any keen physician of any age and intellegence level. Happy Readings =]

Amazing!, 20 Mar 2008
Your brain is a hologram. The cosmos is a hologram. Your body is a hologram. Your mind is a hologram. Dreams are holograms. The world you perceive around you is a hologram. There is an underlying order to everything from which reality is projected. This implicate order is also known as 'the zero point energy field'. It's like a piece of holographic film on which the universe is printed. Each part contains the whole. This book is a must read for anyone trying to do anything parapsychological, whether it's psychokenisis, remote viewing, spiritual healing, or predicting the future, what you are dealing with is a hologram. As an amature music recording artist, the part I found most interesting was the bit about using holography to create 3-D surround sound through a standard pair of earphones! do an internet search for 'cetera holophony algorithm'. This book has something for everyone in it.

LOVE THIS BOOK, 11 Feb 2008
The book not only provides a perspective of looking at the universe as holographic, but also provides an avalanche of very interesting stories.

As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, and a firm believer that there are no limitations to what we can experience and the changes we can create in our bodies and in our lives, even on genetic level, I wanted to share one of the stories from this book:

"Brocq's disease involves a horribly disfiguring hereditary condition. Victims of Brocq's disease develop a thick, horny covering over their skin that resembles the scales of a reptile. The skin can become so hardened and rigid that even the slightest movement will cause it to crack and bleed.

Brocq's disease was incurable until 1951 when a sixteen-year-old boy with an advanced case of the affliction was referred as a last resort to a hypnotherapist named A.A. Mason at the Queen Victoria Hospital in London. Mason discovered that the boy was a good hypnotic subject and could easily be put into a deep state of trance.

While the boy was in trance, Mason told him that his Brocq's disease was healing and would soon be gone. Five days later the scaly layer covering the boy's left arm fell off, revealing soft, healthy flesh beneath. By the end of tend days the arm was completely normal.

Mason and the boy continued to work on different body areas until all of the scaly skin was gone. The boy remained symptom-free for at least five years, at which point Mason lost touch with him.

This is extraordinary because Brocq's disease is a genetic condition, and getting rid of it involves more than just controlling autonomic processes such as blood flow patterns and various cells of the immune system. It means tapping into the masterplan, the DNA programming itself. So, it would appear that when we access the right strata of our beliefs, our minds can override even our genetic makeup.

Reality as Illusion, 09 Jul 2007
I merely scraped a C grade in GCE O Level Physics but I had hoped that this book would be accessible for the layman interested in the radical implications of quantum theory. However I found "The Holographic Universe" to be a difficult read full of weighty philosophical and scientific theorising and a lot of it didn't make sense to me. The author starts off by proposing the existence of a holographic universe , apparently based on the fact that subatomic particles are actually insubstantial waveforms until they are observed at which stage only then do they become particles. Therefore our consciousness must in some way create what appears to be a solid reality out of nothing. I can accept that argument but I must admit that I found it hard to get my head around the fact that the universe is some kind of interactive 3D photographic projection.Most of "The Holographic Universe" uses this theory to explain away a wide variety of paranormal phenomena from stigmatism to telekinesis , from synchronicities to out of body and near death experiences. The author puts forward an impressive body of evidence to support the existence of these fascinating phenomena but I must admit that I didn't understand how this proved his theory of the holographic nature of the universe. This book would be of interest to those with a broad knowledge of physics and those with a deep knowledge of mystical ,esoteric philosophies, however I found it all to be a bit too obscure and deep to fully comprehend and enjoy. Perhaps someone might get round to writing a dumbed down version of this book to help us all to get enlightened !

Well documented book, fascinating stuff, 25 May 2007
Great read, keep an open mind. Very well known book in the quantum physics world, but don't be put off, the book is understandable, its up to you to look in these theories further.

Fantastic!, 09 Apr 2007
This book is probably the easiest to read on the planet when it comes to explaining quantum physics and how our universe and everything in it is basically the same as a hologram. It's a book that everybody interested in the nature of our reality should definitely read, whatever angle they are coming from!

The Universe in a Nutshell attempts to address the relative difficulty of Hawking's first foray into popular science, A Brief History of Time. While this sold in its millions, few readers got past the first few chapters. Helpfully, this new work is full of beautifully prepared colour illustrations and decorations, and has a "tree-like" structure, so that readers can skip from chapter to chapter without losing the thread.

In 200 highly illustrated pages, Hawking is pushing the frontiers of popular physics beyond relativity and quantum theory, past superstring theory and imaginary time, into a dizzying new world of M-theory and branes. It's a colossal venture--one Hawking is uniquely qualified to undertake--but it is crammed into far too small a space. When you consider the other rather good tomes being written on the nature of consciousness these days, the decision to limit The Universe in a Nutshell to the dictates of publishing rather than to the natural parameters of the material is an unfortunate one.

Worse, Hawking tries to paper over the complexity of his field. He rushes over the very concepts he should be helping us understand, only to belabour simple ideas, often by means of flip Star Trek metaphors. Also unfortunately, the illustrations--by turns trivial and opaque--mirror the faults of the text. The author's name alone will guarantee sales, but the book we long for--the long, ruminative, poetic celebration of Hawking's world--seems as far away as ever. --Simon Ings

Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
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Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Exceptionally well written, 12 Nov 2008
I started reading this as a complete physics novice. Having heard about the Large Hadron collider at CERN and the experiments that were due to begin in 2008, I wanted to be able to grasp the basics of what those scientists were hoping to achieve, and gain a better insight into cosmology more generally. But I had absolutely zero physics understanding, and the most I knew about Newton was that there was an apple that supposedly dropped on his head - something to do with gravity! I didn't really know what special or general relativity were, or even that these were two separate discoveries. I'd seen the odd TV documentary proposing something called superstring, and speculation about wormholes and time travel. There was also something called quantum physics, to do with very small particles, which I'd heard was very baffling. All seemed fascinating, but I never really understood any of it. So essentially, I approached this book as a complete beginner.

How did I get on? Well, The Fabric of the Cosmos is extensive and covers a lot of ground. Given that almost all of it was new to me, it's no surprise that I found it a lot to take in, and reading it all took a while. The fact that it was dealing with some of the greatest intellectual challenges we face also made it tough-going in parts (unsurprisingly!) It's definitely not the kind of book that I'd have been able to read on a train or in a crowded room. It needs concentration, and if you're a newbie who wants to get the most out of it, some note paper and a pen (or a computer) will help you to pull out the most useful 'in-a-nutshell' sentences, of which there are plenty.

Which brings us onto the writing.

This book is exceptionally well written. What makes it a success is the author's helpful and sympathetic tone which is apparent from the very outset, but without ever being dumbed down. Greene is astute enough to appreciate that after having described a new concept over several paragraphs, some people may still have trouble grasping it, and he is not afraid to then elaborate with "OK, let me make this even clearer..." type writing. You get the sense that he's walking you through the learning process, pointing out that this next bit might be a bit challenging, or that you might have difficulty visualising, say, the shape of the universe, but that's fine, so do the physicists themselves, and this is what they resort to doing... (etc)

The way he summarizes and draws different concepts together greatly helps it all make sense. I say "all" - well not ALL of it made sense. In a 500-odd page book, it's inevitable that during some bits, no matter how many times I was re-reading, it just didn't click. But that's fine. The fact remains that I learned a LOT from this book, a surprising amount. I gained an understanding of just how weird everything is, and more importantly, how different things are compared to the reality we intuitively experience on a day-to-day basis.

Any further reading I choose to do on this subject will now be that much easier as a result of having read this book.

The diagrams - certainly in the paperbook version I bought - are indeed a little too small, though still legible enough to make the point, and it would be harsh to mark the review down a point just for that. The notes section contains many elaborations that have been placed at the back of the book so that they don't disrupt the flow of the main text, and it's up to you whether you follow them or not. I found myself reading some, but ignoring others, particularly the ones aimed at "the mathematically inclined".

Someone mentioned the analogies being a bit annoying and US-centric. As a Brit, I didn't have a problem with them. They did their job.

Overall, a truly mindblowing guide to current thinking of how everything works, and I highly recommend it for newbies. Extremely rewarding. Just don't expect to finish it in a few days!

A good introductory survey of modern Cosmology, 13 Aug 2008
Related to his book The Elegant Universe, a pop-sci account of string theory, this book goes through many fundamental parts of physics and cosmology that lead up to the current day understanding and the quest for the deeper underlying principles that string theory is tackling. It's a little dry in spots, but the handling of the early physics material is very well done and approachable.

Fantastic Guide to Physics for Beginners, 11 Jul 2008
Brian Greene has managed to do the impossible. He has written a guide to physics from Newton to String Theory, that is not only easy to read but is also entertaining. This is what I should have had as my physics textbook in school. Whilst using simple everyday examples and avoiding the dreaded equations, he manages to explain the most complex and even bizzare ideas that physics has so far come up with.

Reading it felt much like opening my eyes to the weird but wonderful universe out there.
A trully excellent book.

Great book - don't be put off, 25 Mar 2008
I'm working my way through this at the moment and I fully agree with other reviewers that it is a life changing book on a par with Blind Watchmaker.

I was a little daunted by the subject material to begin with, but soon lost my inhibitions - it's not half as bad as I expected and I'm actually finding myself second-guessing some of the directions and explanations that author is taking in explaining the wierdness of the relativistic and quantum worlds. Either I'm not as deeply stupid as I thought or Greene's treatment is perfect for the non-expert reader.

It's still a challenging book, and I'll need a re-read at sometime in the near future to fix the concepts in my head, but I'm looking forward to the prospect.

A few minor gripes:

- The illustrations don't seem to have transferred well to the paperback version - they're on the small side and difficult to interpret and return to. Perhaps larger, colour illustrations, gathered in a central section would have been better.
- Some of Greene's analogies grate a little. He makes a lot of use of analogies, which I guess is inevitable and necessary given the esoteric nature of the subject matter. However, one is occasionally left wondering whether these analogies tell the whole story or if there's something important that's been left out for the benefit of the reader's sanity. The early ones on relativity are played out by The Simpsons (obviously Greene is a fan!) which comes across as a little patronising and later ones relate to baseball, which doesn't translate well for the British reader.
- Although the conclusions are mind-boggling (quantum entanglement, string theory) a degree of shell shock is setting in - can the universe get any wierder? I'm only 3/4 of the way through! and it is difficult to lift oneself to the heights of admiration and wonder that Green obviously reaches - Ho hum! More strangeness!

Nevertheless, this is well worth a read and don't be put off by the subject material. You'll never look at the world in the same way again.

Wow. Seriously amazing reading., 04 Jan 2008
It's taken me several attempts to fully absorb and gets heavy going at times (perhaps because it is my first cosmological read) but we live in a very strange and amazing universe.
I want to come back in fifty years to see if the current theorys are anywhere near correct. It has me hooked on the subject.


A big bang indeed, 06 Aug 2008
This book blew my brains out.

It's one thing to know a subject, but it's an altogether different thing to teach it and convey it to the layman.

Remarkably clear description of what is beyond all our understanding, 10 Jul 2008
There's something quite unique about this book - for all the hype it has as the book which stands out as a theoretical physicist trying to explain in layman terms what the universe is... it actuallly is!

In this, Hawking provides a bit of a history of our understanding of the universe and the Big Bang. Some of the content I expected but I was intrigued to read about the idea that before the Big Bang time didn't exist... it sounds rather fundamental to our lives really! I was also a little surprised to see how Hawking dealt with the view of creationists and in particular the way he tried to allow for the concept of a god being compatible with the notion of Big Bang.

While I found some of the book difficult to follow, overall I definitely felt I gained an albeit brief understanding into the views of the community of physicists to the origin of our universe.

There is a touch of arrogance to the writing, but then if you're one of the brightest people to have lived in our lifetime I guess that's justified!

Definitely recommended if you have the slightest interest in understanding what Big Bang is!

A book that leaves you in awe, 15 May 2008
A book that sold millions of copies and one wonders how many people read it and of those, how many actually understood it all. I have a scientific education (chemistry), but I frankly admit I did not get it all. It is difficult to explain what is in the book, but is in essence about where we came from and what we are heading to with regard to the universe, time, space and matter. The book is very well written, with a sense of humor and trying to explain the nearly inexplicable to the layman; I could follow large chunks of the text, but sometimes it is just too difficult to comprehend. This made me think: is Stephen Hawking's disadvantage (being locked up in his own body) also his disadvantage? He probably has more time than most people to turn into himself and contemplate on such extremely complex items as black holes, wormholes and the (in)finity of the universe. A book that leaves you in awe.

interesting .... , 12 May 2008
A very good book. Hawking wrote this book for the common reader with little or no knowledge of Physics. This make this book different and interesting. He gives the view of different scientists about the creation of this universe and the scientific explanation of the events in the history of time which made the universe look like as it is now. He also give the view of researchers about the predictions of how the Universe may come to an end it it really started the was we think it did.

Overall a really good book to read. Though there are still a lot of questions he left unanswered in the book but this only adds to the beauty of this book. It forces you to think and to make your own conclusions. I gave 4 stars to this book for two reasons. First it is written by a scientist and there are still some places in the book where he could not stop himself from explaining things in a pure scientific manner which give the book an air of a scientific research paper at times, which is not interesting for me at all, and will not be of any interest to anyone with limited knowledge of Physics. Second thing is that the book is a little old and research in the areas described in this book is now far ahead then the time this book was written. This makes this book a little old and some of the theories presented in the book are now proved wrong or improved by the later researchers.

However this does not really mean that the book is outdated and should not be read anymore. This is still a very good book and it bridges the gap between the hard core physics and the common people. Also I am not aware of any good book on the same topic which is written by a scientist for the common people and this makes it unique in this class.

Awesome, 27 Dec 2007
I would highly reccomend this book, it is an absolute must for anybody interested in space or physics. The way Stephen puts relatively hard theories into simple understanding reading for the not so well abled physicians is amazing! As well as combining his words with well illustrated diagrams makes it an easier read. I am only in my first year of studying physics at A-level but i feel like I know alot more about the Universe and Sub-atomical particles which has really boosted my confidence.
I really do reccomend this book to any keen physician of any age and intellegence level. Happy Readings =]

Amazing!, 20 Mar 2008
Your brain is a hologram. The cosmos is a hologram. Your body is a hologram. Your mind is a hologram. Dreams are holograms. The world you perceive around you is a hologram. There is an underlying order to everything from which reality is projected. This implicate order is also known as 'the zero point energy field'. It's like a piece of holographic film on which the universe is printed. Each part contains the whole. This book is a must read for anyone trying to do anything parapsychological, whether it's psychokenisis, remote viewing, spiritual healing, or predicting the future, what you are dealing with is a hologram. As an amature music recording artist, the part I found most interesting was the bit about using holography to create 3-D surround sound through a standard pair of earphones! do an internet search for 'cetera holophony algorithm'. This book has something for everyone in it.

LOVE THIS BOOK, 11 Feb 2008
The book not only provides a perspective of looking at the universe as holographic, but also provides an avalanche of very interesting stories.

As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, and a firm believer that there are no limitations to what we can experience and the changes we can create in our bodies and in our lives, even on genetic level, I wanted to share one of the stories from this book:

"Brocq's disease involves a horribly disfiguring hereditary condition. Victims of Brocq's disease develop a thick, horny covering over their skin that resembles the scales of a reptile. The skin can become so hardened and rigid that even the slightest movement will cause it to crack and bleed.

Brocq's disease was incurable until 1951 when a sixteen-year-old boy with an advanced case of the affliction was referred as a last resort to a hypnotherapist named A.A. Mason at the Queen Victoria Hospital in London. Mason discovered that the boy was a good hypnotic subject and could easily be put into a deep state of trance.

While the boy was in trance, Mason told him that his Brocq's disease was healing and would soon be gone. Five days later the scaly layer covering the boy's left arm fell off, revealing soft, healthy flesh beneath. By the end of tend days the arm was completely normal.

Mason and the boy continued to work on different body areas until all of the scaly skin was gone. The boy remained symptom-free for at least five years, at which point Mason lost touch with him.

This is extraordinary because Brocq's disease is a genetic condition, and getting rid of it involves more than just controlling autonomic processes such as blood flow patterns and various cells of the immune system. It means tapping into the masterplan, the DNA programming itself. So, it would appear that when we access the right strata of our beliefs, our minds can override even our genetic makeup.

Reality as Illusion, 09 Jul 2007
I merely scraped a C grade in GCE O Level Physics but I had hoped that this book would be accessible for the layman interested in the radical implications of quantum theory. However I found "The Holographic Universe" to be a difficult read full of weighty philosophical and scientific theorising and a lot of it didn't make sense to me. The author starts off by proposing the existence of a holographic universe , apparently based on the fact that subatomic particles are actually insubstantial waveforms until they are observed at which stage only then do they become particles. Therefore our consciousness must in some way create what appears to be a solid reality out of nothing. I can accept that argument but I must admit that I found it hard to get my head around the fact that the universe is some kind of interactive 3D photographic projection.Most of "The Holographic Universe" uses this theory to explain away a wide variety of paranormal phenomena from stigmatism to telekinesis , from synchronicities to out of body and near death experiences. The author puts forward an impressive body of evidence to support the existence of these fascinating phenomena but I must admit that I didn't understand how this proved his theory of the holographic nature of the universe. This book would be of interest to those with a broad knowledge of physics and those with a deep knowledge of mystical ,esoteric philosophies, however I found it all to be a bit too obscure and deep to fully comprehend and enjoy. Perhaps someone might get round to writing a dumbed down version of this book to help us all to get enlightened !

Well documented book, fascinating stuff, 25 May 2007
Great read, keep an open mind. Very well known book in the quantum physics world, but don't be put off, the book is understandable, its up to you to look in these theories further.

Fantastic!, 09 Apr 2007
This book is probably the easiest to read on the planet when it comes to explaining quantum physics and how our universe and everything in it is basically the same as a hologram. It's a book that everybody interested in the nature of our reality should definitely read, whatever angle they are coming from!

Very good book, but a bit hard to understand, 24 Jul 2008
Before I read this book, I have finished A Briefer History of Time also by Stephen Hawking. Therefore, I have had a general idea of time and relativity already.

I found University in a Nutshell is much harder to understand comparing with the A Briefer History of Time. The knowledge introduced in the book is much deeper and I counldn't understand much of it. I have got a master degree in microelectronics, if I got problem to understand I think many other people will have the same problem.

Hawking is trying to introduce the knowledge using non-mathematical ways. It is well illustrated, however, I think it is a bit over illustrated. I found many of the illustrations are redundant such as Einstein's photos and some other diagram isn't really helpful for readers to understand the knowledge which is written by word.

Generally speaking, it is still a very good book. It covers quite a lot of knoledge points such as black hole and etc. And it is quite a fun to read.

Mostly understandable :), 14 Jun 2006
I am not much of a science / physics person (as in I don't really understand these matters but do find them fascinating) but I am very interested in astronomy, so I am always happy to read something about the universe in language which does not employ too much maths or excessive equations, as I simply get lost otherwise. I found Mr Hawking's explanations very accessible, apart from the discussion about time and the whole argument as to whether it has always been there, and sadly even the beautiful illustrations didn't help...but I'd put that down as my own fault rather than the author's! All in all, very well-written book, most concepts will be understood by ordinary people without prior knowledge of maths/physics, I am grateful to Mr Hawking for making this difficult subject seem much less daunting!

Only for people with science knowledge, 09 Jun 2005
A lovely book, lavishly illustrated and covering a huge swathe of scientific ground. The only problem is that despite being written for non-scientists, it doesn't really explain very much and the lavish illustrations sometimes don't really describe what's going on either. If you have read similar popular science books then you'll find this an interesting recap of a large field, but if you haven't you'll probably just end up feeling lost and confused.

Universe in a Nutshell review, 13 Jan 2005
I think this book has a broad appeal for all readers that have an interest in science. When I first bought the book I was worried thet it would be too complicated because my area of expertise is law not science, but it is explained in an interesting and simple way with illustrations and minimal use of maths! Not only will you get an idea of the science behind this book but it will also leave you with philisophical thoughts about the universe and the mysteries that are incomprehensable and yet to be solved.

Excellent but incomplete picture of the universe, 25 Nov 2004
This book is a must read for everyone who loves science. One has to feel some discomfort from the incompleteness of the big bang universe and its inefficiency to explain the growing number of observations. It is quite uncertain what existed before the big bang. That is why new theories like Eugene Savov's Theory of Interaction that cast light on the most recent mysteries from the near and distant space should be considered.

Invaluable night sky reference, 13 Nov 2008
I read somewhere that all telescopes should come with this guide and once you start using it you'll realise why. As I have mostly a south-westerly view of the sky I like to make the most of what I have so I turn to 'Turn Left...' and follow the easy diagrams and text to pick out the best of the constellation I am interested in.
The book gives you diagrams of what you'll see in the viewfinder as well as the telescope and although it can be a bit confusing to the novice when you first start you soon get the hang of star hopping and be delighted when you discover the gems above.
In fact having used this book quite often I find myself hopping around without it on my favourite sights. For example the other night I found the ring nebula in Lyra by remembering the steps and estimating the distance between the stars in the constellation. Sure enough it popped into view.

get someone to buy it for you, 28 Apr 2008
if you are interested in imaging, forget it. there is no info on what the variouse targets can look like when photographed, only how to find them. a companion book on how too image and what to use is recomended.

The Novice Stargazer's Bible, 06 Mar 2008
Ask any amateur astronomer what the first book they would recommend to a novice, and the majority will tell you this very book.

Written in a style that is user friendly yet not patronising, it carefully details the highlights of the night sky (by season), giving ratings for each target. All the information on how to find that elusive nebula or galaxy etc is here, along with realistic sketched views through the scope (and finderscope) from a 'normal' viewing site.

Rather than showing each target as a HST or large observatory scope photograph, leading to frustration from the novice, this book is refreshingly honest at what the back garden stargazer will see.

Along with the catalogue of targets (with excellent descriptions of what you are looking at), there is plenty of information on how to set up scopes, what equipment to use and other general advice needed for the novice/amateur astronomer.

I've yet to see a book that covers amateur observations so well.



All that the novice needs, 22 Nov 2006
Put simply, if a novice astronomer with ANY size of telescope buys only one book to assist them, then this should be it (or at least the most recent version of it should be). I'm actually a fairly experienced amateur astronomer with an appalling inability to navigate my way round the skies - at least I did have until I had this book bought for me. Broken down into seasonal sections with indications of the right conditions to go looking for particular objects, I can't think of anything that could make the task easier (short of someone actually finding the objects for you!). It is such a good book I can forgive it a few typos and some lapses of English grammar.

My advice - buy this book!

Every bit as good as they all say !!, 24 Jul 2006
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Well, what else is there to say about this book ?

In a nutshell, it transformed me from clueless beginner to starhopper & DSO finder in 2 hours flat. I have a 200mm Newtonian and I find the book perfect for this scope even though it is aimed primarily at users of small scopes. For a novice it beats a straightforward atlas hands down, giving clear step by step hops to each object. There's much more to this book than mere instructions as well. There's very good info on every single object too, so you find something, then read about it at the time you're observing it. Also, having found a number of the "summer" objects at the 1st attempt I'm very happy that I've failed to find some of the objects listed as these will become targets when I'm more practiced, so the book will remain useful for a long time, and probably forever, as the quickest way to re visit favourite objects.

Exceptionally well written, 12 Nov 2008
I started reading this as a complete physics novice. Having heard about the Large Hadron collider at CERN and the experiments that were due to begin in 2008, I wanted to be able to grasp the basics of what those scientists were hoping to achieve, and gain a better insight into cosmology more generally. But I had absolutely zero physics understanding, and the most I knew about Newton was that there was an apple that supposedly dropped on his head - something to do with gravity! I didn't really know what special or general relativity were, or even that these were two separate discoveries. I'd seen the odd TV documentary proposing something called superstring, and speculation about wormholes and time travel. There was also something called quantum physics, to do with very small particles, which I'd heard was very baffling. All seemed fascinating, but I never really understood any of it. So essentially, I approached this book as a complete beginner.

How did I get on? Well, The Fabric of the Cosmos is extensive and covers a lot of ground. Given that almost all of it was new to me, it's no surprise that I found it a lot to take in, and reading it all took a while. The fact that it was dealing with some of the greatest intellectual challenges we face also made it tough-going in parts (unsurprisingly!) It's definitely not the kind of book that I'd have been able to read on a train or in a crowded room. It needs concentration, and if you're a newbie who wants to get the most out of it, some note paper and a pen (or a computer) will help you to pull out the most useful 'in-a-nutshell' sentences, of which there are plenty.

Which brings us onto the writing.

This book is exceptionally well written. What makes it a success is the author's helpful and sympathetic tone which is apparent from the very outset, but without ever being dumbed down. Greene is astute enough to appreciate that after having described a new concept over several paragraphs, some people may still have trouble grasping it, and he is not afraid to then elaborate with "OK, let me make this even clearer..." type writing. You get the sense that he's walking you through the learning process, pointing out that this next bit might be a bit challenging, or that you might have difficulty visualising, say, the shape of the universe, but that's fine, so do the physicists themselves, and this is what they resort to doing... (etc)

The way he summarizes and draws different concepts together greatly helps it all make sense. I say "all" - well not ALL of it made sense. In a 500-odd page book, it's inevitable that during some bits, no matter how many times I was re-reading, it just didn't click. But that's fine. The fact remains that I learned a LOT from this book, a surprising amount. I gained an understanding of just how weird everything is, and more importantly, how different things are compared to the reality we intuitively experience on a day-to-day basis.

Any further reading I choose to do on this subject will now be that much easier as a result of having read this book.

The diagrams - certainly in the paperbook version I bought - are indeed a little too small, though still legible enough to make the point, and it would be harsh to mark the review down a point just for that. The notes section contains many elaborations that have been placed at the back of the book so that they don't disrupt the flow of the main text, and it's up to you whether you follow them or not. I found myself reading some, but ignoring others, particularly the ones aimed at "the mathematically inclined".

Someone mentioned the analogies being a bit annoying and US-centric. As a Brit, I didn't have a problem with them. They did their job.

Overall, a truly mindblowing guide to current thinking of how everything works, and I highly recommend it for newbies. Extremely rewarding. Just don't expect to finish it in a few days!

A good introductory survey of modern Cosmology, 13 Aug 2008
Related to his book The Elegant Universe, a pop-sci account of string theory, this book goes through many fundamental parts of physics and cosmology that lead up to the current day understanding and the quest for the deeper underlying principles that string theory is tackling. It's a little dry in spots, but the handling of the early physics material is very well done and approachable.

Fantastic Guide to Physics for Beginners, 11 Jul 2008
Brian Greene has managed to do the impossible. He has written a guide to physics from Newton to String Theory, that is not only easy to read but is also entertaining. This is what I should have had as my physics textbook in school. Whilst using simple everyday examples and avoiding the dreaded equations, he manages to explain the most complex and even bizzare ideas that physics has so far come up with.

Reading it felt much like opening my eyes to the weird but wonderful universe out there.
A trully excellent book.

Great book - don't be put off, 25 Mar 2008
I'm working my way through this at the moment and I fully agree with other reviewers that it is a life changing book on a par with Blind Watchmaker.

I was a little daunted by the subject material to begin with, but soon lost my inhibitions - it's not half as bad as I expected and I'm actually finding myself second-guessing some of the directions and explanations that author is taking in explaining the wierdness of the relativistic and quantum worlds. Either I'm not as deeply stupid as I thought or Greene's treatment is perfect for the non-expert reader.

It's still a challenging book, and I'll need a re-read at sometime in the near future to fix the concepts in my head, but I'm looking forward to the prospect.

A few minor gripes:

- The illustrations don't seem to have transferred well to the paperback version - they're on the small side and difficult to interpret and return to. Perhaps larger, colour illustrations, gathered in a central section would have been better.
- Some of Greene's analogies grate a little. He makes a lot of use of analogies, which I guess is inevitable and necessary given the esoteric nature of the subject matter. However, one is occasionally left wondering whether these analogies tell the whole story or if there's something important that's been left out for the benefit of the reader's sanity. The early ones on relativity are played out by The Simpsons (obviously Greene is a fan!) which comes across as a little patronising and later ones relate to baseball, which doesn't translate well for the British reader.
- Although the conclusions are mind-boggling (quantum entanglement, string theory) a degree of shell shock is setting in - can the universe get any wierder? I'm only 3/4 of the way through! and it is difficult to lift oneself to the heights of admiration and wonder that Green obviously reaches - Ho hum! More strangeness!

Nevertheless, this is well worth a read and don't be put off by the subject material. You'll never look at the world in the same way again.

Wow. Seriously amazing reading., 04 Jan 2008
It's taken me several attempts to fully absorb and gets heavy going at times (perhaps because it is my first cosmological read) but we live in a very strange and amazing universe.
I want to come back in fifty years to see if the current theorys are anywhere near correct. It has me hooked on the subject.


A big bang indeed, 06 Aug 2008
This book blew my brains out.

It's one thing to know a subject, but it's an altogether different thing to teach it and convey it to the layman.

Remarkably clear description of what is beyond all our understanding, 10 Jul 2008
There's something quite unique about this book - for all the hype it has as the book which stands out as a theoretical physicist trying to explain in layman terms what the universe is... it actuallly is!

In this, Hawking provides a bit of a history of our understanding of the universe and the Big Bang. Some of the content I expected but I was intrigued to read about the idea that before the Big Bang time didn't exist... it sounds rather fundamental to our lives really! I was also a little surprised to see how Hawking dealt with the view of creationists and in particular the way he tried to allow for the concept of a god being compatible with the notion of Big Bang.

While I found some of the book difficult to follow, overall I definitely felt I gained an albeit brief understanding into the views of the community of physicists to the origin of our universe.

There is a touch of arrogance to the writing, but then if you're one of the brightest people to have lived in our lifetime I guess that's justified!

Definitely recommended if you have the slightest interest in understanding what Big Bang is!

A book that leaves you in awe, 15 May 2008
A book that sold millions of copies and one wonders how many people read it and of those, how many actually understood it all. I have a scientific education (chemistry), but I frankly admit I did not get it all. It is difficult to explain what is in the book, but is in essence about where we came from and what we are heading to with regard to the universe, time, space and matter. The book is very well written, with a sense of humor and trying to explain the nearly inexplicable to the layman; I could follow large chunks of the text, but sometimes it is just too difficult to comprehend. This made me think: is Stephen Hawking's disadvantage (being locked up in his own body) also his disadvantage? He probably has more time than most people to turn into himself and contemplate on such extremely complex items as black holes, wormholes and the (in)finity of the universe. A book that leaves you in awe.

interesting .... , 12 May 2008
A very good book. Hawking wrote this book for the common reader with little or no knowledge of Physics. This make this book different and interesting. He gives the view of different scientists about the creation of this universe and the scientific explanation of the events in the history of time which made the universe look like as it is now. He also give the view of researchers about the predictions of how the Universe may come to an end it it really started the was we think it did.

Overall a really good book to read. Though there are still a lot of questions he left unanswered in the book but this only adds to the beauty of this book. It forces you to think and to make your own conclusions. I gave 4 stars to this book for two reasons. First it is written by a scientist and there are still some places in the book where he could not stop himself from explaining things in a pure scientific manner which give the book an air of a scientific research paper at times, which is not interesting for me at all, and will not be of any interest to anyone with limited knowledge of Physics. Second thing is that the book is a little old and research in the areas described in this book is now far ahead then the time this book was written. This makes this book a little old and some of the theories presented in the book are now proved wrong or improved by the l