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Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe

Simon Singh

4.18 · Rating details · 16,429 ratings · 349 reviews

A half century ago, a shocking Washington Post headline claimed that the world began in five cataclysmic minutes rather than having existed for all time; a skeptical scientist dubbed the maverick theory the Big Bang. In this amazingly comprehensible history of the universe, Simon Singh decodes the mystery behind the Big Bang theory, lading us through the development of one ...more

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Paperback, 560 pages

Published November 1st 2005 by Harper Perennial (first published January 1st 2004)

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Jul 05, 2012 Manny rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history-and-biography, science, parody-homage, twofer, well-i-think-its-funny

An unbeatable offer: two reviews for the price of one! If you aren't interested in dull hairsplitting, scroll directly to the Infotainment Review below. But first, I'm afraid I must tediously present my

Scholarly review (fact-checked)

I'm conflicted about this book. There's plenty to love. As far as I can tell, Singh gets all the science right, and the fact that it's stuffed with entertaining stories about the historical characters involved makes it a fun read. I finished it in a couple of days. ...more

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May 07, 2014 Muhammad rated it it was amazing

Shelves: english, non-fiction, pop-science, cosmology, favorites

Curiosity is a curious thing! Its the only quality that differentiates humans from all the other living organisms (well, at least on the surface of Earth!). Solely driven by this exclusive feature, Man has discovered the intricate design of nature and invented his way to mimic it. If one speculates enough, he will find that all our technologies are simply based on the happenings going on around us in the nature. If you are a romantic one and like to see the natures creation as a Grand Opera, ‘Curiosity’ is a curious thing! It’s the only quality that differentiates humans from all the other living organisms (well, at least on the surface of Earth!). Solely driven by this ‘exclusive feature’, Man has discovered the intricate design of nature and invented his way to mimic it. If one speculates enough, he will find that all our technologies are simply based on the happenings going on around us in the nature. If you are a romantic one and like to see the nature’s creation as a Grand Opera, then perhaps, it won’t be too wrong to say that our technologies represent our rendition of this opera. The key to this derivation process is just raising a simple question, “How did this happen?” and raising questions is science. Science is a direct descendent of philosophy. While philosophy asks “Why?”, science asks “How?”. There are too many "How?" questions. The idea is if we can gather enough answers to these questions, they will eventually lead us to the “Why”. Finding an answer to one “How?” reveals that there are lots of other “Hows” lurking in the darkness. It’s like solving a ginormous cryptic puzzle. The clues are right before our eyes but they are way too scattered. You pick one wrong clue, you are horribly led astray and this is a very frequent case. Throughout the course of civilization, humans often forgot to raise questions, picked up the wrong clues and acted upon doctrinal views. These were (and still are) the obstacles in the way of finding the answers of “How”. The point today science is standing at, is achieved by walking through such an uneven path and the history is often bloody as well. Starting from the Greek philosophers’ era to the modern times, people have been wondering about the origin of everything and the idea of a "Big Bang" seems to give us the answers, finally. Today Big Bang has become a very common concept and almost everyone you find on the streets can spend a few words on it. Like many other science theories, Big Bang also had to fight a tough battle to survive. It might sound a little exaggerated, but Big Bang theory is said to be human kind’s greatest achievement (accumulating all the philosophical and scientific disciplines). So, one naturally can ask now how this great idea, that explains the creation’s origin, was conceived?

British science writer Simon Singh produces a weighty tome on the history of Big Bang that tells the enthralling tales of the origin of the universe. There is science and there is history, a lot of history. Singh proves himself to be a great story teller who makes the highly complicated ideas very much accessible, literally to anyone. This book proves again that one doesn't have to be a science major to learn the science. You will have a good idea how scientists are calculating the enormous distances from our planet to the stars just by reading few paragraphs. No mathematical manipulation, no tedious calculation, nothing! You will be badly hooked on this book once you start it, I can almost bet on it! The way the book is organized also allows you to keep things in mind without much stress. The tales of the mavericks, the mad scientists, based on whose contributions the Big Bang model is established, are very inspiring and fascinating. Famous astronomer Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” inspired many to become real life astronomers. I think it won’t be surprising if Singh’s “Big Bang: The Origin of The Universe” plays a similar role. For aspiring astronomers, physicists, even science writers, this book will be a great head start.

The Universe is quite old. The Big Bang model gives us an average age of 13.8 billion years, as of today. Once people asked how we were created and many centuries later we found that Big Bang is probably the answer. Now another question has already been raised. “What happened before Big Bang?” Well, this certainly will give birth to a very hot philosophical (and religious too) debate and I do not possess enough knowledge and audacity (probably the scientists do not either!) to continue this discussion. Instead, I will simply quote St. Augustine (b. 354 AD) as Singh himself did in the epilogue of the book. I am putting it here for the sheer fun of it and nothing serious!

“What was God doing before He created the Universe? Before He created Heaven and Earth, God created hell to be used for people such as you who ask this kind of question”!
...more

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Sep 28, 2013 Roger rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This brilliant book by Simon Singh, first published in 2004, seeks to explain the theories that have existed since ancient times until the modern day concerning the structure, age and creation of the universe. Singh has an easygoing style of writing and having said what he wants to say he will often summarise the remarks he has made, thus making sure he has been fully understood and that the reader is keeping up to speed. Also, rather than just discuss the cold scientific facts, he brings the This brilliant book by Simon Singh, first published in 2004, seeks to explain the theories that have existed since ancient times until the modern day concerning the structure, age and creation of the universe. Singh has an easygoing style of writing and having said what he wants to say he will often summarise the remarks he has made, thus making sure he has been fully understood and that the reader is keeping up to speed. Also, rather than just discuss the cold scientific facts, he brings the subject to life by describing the personalities involved, and the challenges they faced in their attempts to solve the mysteries of the cosmos. Each chapter also ends with a helpful two page "handwritten" summary covering the salient points.

He starts the book by addressing the place of the earth in the big scheme of things, going through the various early theories where the earth was at the centre of everything. Interestingly, in the third century BC the ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus had worked out that it was the earth that moved around the sun and not the other way around, but he lost out to the views of heavyweights Aristotle and Ptolemy who had both favoured a geocentric model. In fact, logic and common sense seemed to rule out the idea of the earth orbiting the sun, for reasons such as if the earth was travelling through space at great speed we would feel a tremendous wind and would be knocked off our feet as the ground moved under us. Not to mention that placing the earth at the centre of the universe was a useful way of explaining gravity in that everything was attracted to this centre point. The geocentric view prevailed for many centuries, this position also suiting the early church who stood steadfast against anyone proposing something different. But, eventually, through the determined efforts of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Galileo in the 16th century, science won through and the church was forced to accept the heliocentric layout of the solar system.

Singh discusses the speed of light and the postulated existence, or otherwise, of the ether. I was surprised to read that it was as early as 1670 when the Danish astronomer, Ole Rømer, first recognised that light had a finite speed and he made a not unreasonable estimate of this speed based on calculations of apparent anomalies in the orbit of one of the moons of Jupiter. Of course, of critical importance in understanding light was Einstein's contribution, which led to the development of his special theory of relativity. Singh's account naturally progresses to Einstein's general theory of relativity and to his view that the universe was static, although he did need to add a cosmological constant to his general relativity theory to support this conjecture. But shortly afterwards saw the (then) unpopular, and independently developed, theories of Friedman and Lemaître which proposed an expanding universe, with Lemaître being the first to recognise that if the universe was expanding then it must once have been smaller, and once probably minute - hence he was the first to hint at a big bang theory although he called it the primaeval atom. Lemaître also had the distinction of being both a physicist and an ordained priest, so he can be thought of as having hedged his bet when it came to theories of creation.

Next, Singh discusses the discovery in the early 20th century that many of the so-called nebulae that were visible through telescopes were actually far away galaxies, and not, as some thought, merely objects within our own Milky Way galaxy. Further research, notably by Hubble, showed that most of these galaxies were moving away from earth, and the further they were away, the faster they were moving. Experimental evidence had thus been found for the expansion of the universe and therefore, as a corollary, an initiation in a big bang, thus opening the way to a proper Big Bang theory.

But, moving on, Singh notes that this incipient Big Bang theory had problems. For example, it couldn't account for how the heavy chemical elements had formed. George Gamow had led efforts that succeeded in explaining how the heat of the big bang would have led to the fusion of proton and neutrons, leading to the formation of helium in the proportion that it is present in the universe today. But he couldn't explain the formation of the heavier elements. Another issue was the age of the universe, because using the estimated speeds and distances of far away galaxies, it seemed that the universe was younger than the age of the earth, as calculated from radioactivity measurements. In the 1940s, Fred Hoyle, along with others, proposed an alternative to the Big Bang theory by suggesting a Steady State model in which the universe was expanding but where new matter was continually being created in the gaps between the old galaxies. The discrepancies in the age of the earth and the universe were less of a problem for this theory but it still had its own difficulties. It couldn't, for instance, account for the formation of any of the elements, not even helium. Throughout his life, Hoyle remained very critical of the Big Bang Theory and ironically it was he who coined the term "Big Bang", although it was intended to be derogatory.

The battle between the Big Bang and Steady State theories continued but slowly the ground moved in favour of the former. Successive discoveries uncovered errors in estimates of the size of the universe, and hence its age, and it was shown that the universe was indeed older than the earth, which was a welcome boost for the Big Bangers. Then, by calculating the pressures and temperatures expected to be found in stars during their life cycles, Hoyle was successful in theorising how the heavier elements could have formed from helium. Although Hoyle was a Steady Stater, his research had helped both camps. Then radio astronomy was successful in finding younger galaxies at the far reaches of the universe - their absence in the closer parts of the universe contradicted the predictions of the Steady State model, adding further weight to the Big Bang theory. The final nail in the coffin for the Steady State argument was the accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation by Penzias and Wilson. Big Bang theorists had predicted the presence of this radiation, which dates back to about 300,000 years after the initiation of the universe, and they had been proved right. In the 1990s, equipment on the COBE satellite detected minor variations in the background radiation, which are thought to reflect minor variations in the density of the early universe, which in turn provided the seeds for the growth of the galaxies.

Curiously, it's only at the end of the book, in an epilogue, that Singh talks about more contentious issues, including inflation, dark matter and dark energy. I was a little puzzled as to why this wasn't incorporated into main text but this is only a minor issue and it doesn't detract from the general flow.

Much of the scientific information in the book I knew already but it was still refreshing and entertaining to see it presented in its historical context, and to read of the struggles by those involved in formulating and then attempting to prove the various theories. For a simple, non-mathematical introduction to cosmology, I think this book is difficult to beat.
...more

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Nov 22, 2008 Nathan rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fact, history

Full of fascinating historical anecdotes and character sketches, "Big Bang" was fun as well as informative from start to finish. I struggle with physics books because my mind often has trouble grasping concepts at different scales from our own, but Singh writes and explains so well that I was not just able to understand but was able to teach it to my kids afterward! I now look at the skies differently as a result of reading this book, and my knowledge of the history of physics is a lot richer. ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Shivam Chaturvedi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science, my-library, history-shelf, favourites

The most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible. - Albert Einstein

The Universe has some of the most amazing things you could ever imagine. Black Holes, Neutron Stars, Supernovas, Quasars, Galaxies, and all sorts of oddities in between. And yet the most remarkable thing is this pale blue dot, an ordinary planet orbiting an ordinary star, orbiting the core of an ordinary galaxy - one of the more than 200 billion galaxies in observable universe.

Earth, from an image The most incomprehensible thing about the Universe is that it is comprehensible. - Albert Einstein

The Universe has some of the most amazing things you could ever imagine. Black Holes, Neutron Stars, Supernovas, Quasars, Galaxies, and all sorts of oddities in between. And yet the most remarkable thing is this pale blue dot, an ordinary planet orbiting an ordinary star, orbiting the core of an ordinary galaxy - one of the more than 200 billion galaxies in observable universe.

Earth, from an image taken by Cassini, from underneath the rings of Saturn during its flyby of the planet

But ofcourse the earth isn't ordinary. It isn't ordinary because we, human beings, evolved on this planet. A species that has been able to contemplate its place amongst the cosmos. A species, and let this sink in, has dared to understand the origins of this universe. A species that has come so far that its truly a miracle - perhaps the only real miracle that ever happened. Its this wondrous journey that this book aims to catalogue.

Now you have to be a bit of a space romantic to understand this book. The author obviously likes to throw in those condescending explanations that are supposed to explain it to the layman - but despite his best efforts, you can't really. There's a reason that Big Bang theory only came to be accepted across the scientific community around the 1970s - and that is because it is remarkably difficult to wrap your head around.

First, to believe that something (and the universe is a lot of something) could emerge from nothing is a bit of a leap, to say the least. For many years the argument against this argument was that this was exactly what Religion would have you believe. And the big bang wasn't some explosion in space - rather it was the explosion of space. And that is literally the start of it. Big Bang theorists would also like you to believe that for a universe that is 13.82 billion years old, they are able to predict how things were evolving a mere 10^-43 seconds after the bang. And that is utterly mind boggling.

But hey, don't let the super technical details bog you down. My suspicion always has been that the scientists who devise these theories don't understand them too well either. And that is fine. Because like everywhere else in life, it is the journey that matters. The path that has led us to this current understanding of the universe has been littered with a ensemble cast of characters, who in their own small and grand ways, have made contributions to this fascinating story. You could always go read the wikipedia article on Big Bang, and it'd tell you as much about the theory as you could ever hope to learn anyway.

The part where Simon Singh succeeds, is in telling the story of this theory. About the wonder of discovery, and the sheer delight that comes with it. For anyone who has ever loved and romanticized the universe, this book is a must. For those of you who haven't, there's still a lot more to be found than just drab details. Oh, and there's a reference to pigeon shit being referred to as white dialectic material. I found that quite funny. ...more

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Mar 12, 2020 A Man Called Ove rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-sci-fi

As some1 who both loved Carl Sagan's Cosmos (book) and Neil Tyson's rebooted "Cosmos" on Netflix, I had to read this one. The surprise was that this one is a better book - in terms of readability, in terms of coherence, in making you understand the various steps to the Big Bang theory. It was a delightful read from start to finish.
The cover says "The most amazing and important theory of science." I strongly disagree. Perhaps the author forgot that people of non-Abrahamic religions form half the ...more

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Jul 12, 2020 Nicola rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I absolutely love this book! Its written in a very accessible way to help the scientist and non scientist alike to understand the subject matter and was a really enjoyable read.

It first starts by laying the foundations of scientific theories and takes you on an adventure through the scientific journey of time to how the current model of the universe was arrived at. I find it amazing how the scientific method was developed and how we built on the work of others to arrive at the theories we have ...more

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Mar 07, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf (semi reviewing hiatus ) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 0-natural-sciences, singh-simon

Singh explains highly complex astronomical theories entertaining, vivid and memorable.

Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.

A journey through the last two and a half millennia of astronomical discoveries begins in the myths and legends of various high cultures, grazes Greek astronomers and the heretical ideas of a Kepler to shift the focus ever closer to the present and the 19th and 20th centuries.
The lightness and humor with Singh explains highly complex astronomical theories entertaining, vivid and memorable.

Please note that I put the original German text at the end of this review. Just if you might be interested.

A journey through the last two and a half millennia of astronomical discoveries begins in the myths and legends of various high cultures, grazes Greek astronomers and the heretical ideas of a Kepler to shift the focus ever closer to the present and the 19th and 20th centuries.
The lightness and humor with which Singh leads through the chapters opened with amusing quotes, which is scientifically often quite hearty, even more, unexpected and enjoyable. It does not diminish the fun in the least that you always know in advance who will win the race of competing hypotheses. However, what models have been designed, elevated to doctrine, and overthrown would provide material for more than one book. With what arguments and conclusions the respective defenders of an idea sought to substantiate the own truth seems bizarre sometimes.
However, if you look at the current state of research with black holes, dark matter, string theory, quantum foam and consorts, the old models seem almost harmless, innocent and understandable. In some cases, one can speak of the fortune of the father of the thesis that one of the unimaginable theories has proven in retrospect to be correct, without one could blame the conclusion of the respective scientist a mistake of reasoning. It was merely the luck or bad luck to be able to support the right or wrong idea with a more or less logically comprehensible thought building. Whether it collapsed afterward or disciples rallied around it was sometimes fate.
Moreover, they were always dazzling and bizarre figures, the scientists then and probably today. Just this display of humanity, including private anecdotes of various greatness, loosens by reading to chuckle stimulating quirks and peculiarities on the reading and dismantled in part, the high reputation of some luminaries. One may have been scientifically ingenious, but the human was sometimes still a misanthrope.
What seemed bizarre and inexplicable to the respective times of a Newton, Einstein, Hubble, Galileo, Brahe or Copernicus can be as well translated to our present-day knowledge. This is embarrassingly still in its infancy over the very nature of all the stroboscopic twinkling lights in the night sky.
Just as only fragments of the sky have been considered, mapped, and interpreted in the first place, not even to speak of exploration or understanding, the glimpses of the more profound quality are even rarer and less accurate in their correctness. In many ways, either theory has developed that result from using the effects of something unknown on known phenomena, such as gravity or light, as an explanation for the same.
Alternatively, random contemplations of cosmic events that contradict any physical order and must be filed under the note of inexplicability for the time.
So it is amusing to know that there will always be one or the other scientist who believes he has the final formula or universal explanation theory in his hands. Be it thousands of years ago, in the present or the distant future. No matter in which era, just for the sake of entertainment and cognition, these knowledge fighters should be respected on the front lines of understanding. Also, one of them will always be right, allowing a nanometer of progress in understanding the infinite and glorious complexity around, in and about us.

Singh erklärt hochkomplizierte astronomische Theorien unterhaltsam, anschaulich und einprägsam.

Eine Sternenfahrt durch die letzten zweieinhalb Jahrtausende astronomischer Erkenntnisse nimmt ihren Anfang in den Mythen und Legenden verschiedener Hochkulturen, streift griechische Astronomen und die ketzerischen Gedanken eines Kepler, um das Hauptaugenmerk immer näher zur Gegenwart und dem 19. und 20. Jahrhundert hin zu verlagern.
Die Leichtigkeit und der Humor, mit dem Singh durch die, mit amüsanten Zitaten eröffneten Kapitel führt, treffen einen bei wissenschaftlich oft doch recht deftiger Kost umso unerwarteter und erfreulicher. Es mindert den Spaß auch nicht im Geringsten, dass man vorab immer weiß, wer das Rennen der konkurrierenden Hypothesen gewinnen wird. Allein welch Modelle entworfen, zur Lehrmeinung erhoben und wieder gestürzt worden sind, würde Stoff für mehr als ein Buch liefern.
Mit welchen Argumenten und Schlussfolgerungen die jeweiligen Verfechter einer Idee die jeweilige Wahrheit zu untermauern trachteten mutet mitunter bizarr an. Wenn man sich den momentanen Stand der Forschung mit schwarzen Löchern, dunkler Materie, Stringtheorie, Quantenschaum und Konsorten jedoch betrachtet, erscheinen sie beinahe harmlos, unschuldig und nachvollziehbar. In manchen Fällen kann man vom Glück des Vaters der These sprechen, dass sich eine der jeweils unvorstellbaren Theorien im Nachhinein als richtig erwiesen hat, ohne dass man der Schlussfolgerung des jeweiligen Wissenschaftlers einen Denkfehler anlasten könnte. Es war schlichtweg das Glück oder Pech die richtige oder falsche Idee mit einem mehr oder minder logisch nachvollziehbaren Gedankengebäude untermauern zu können. Ob es danach in sich zusammenbrach oder sich Jünger darum scharten, war mitunter Schicksal.
Und schillernde und skurrile Figuren waren sie allemal, die Wissenschaftler damals und wahrscheinlich auch heute. Gerade diese Zurschaustellung der Menschlichkeit samt privater Anekdoten diverser Geistesgrößen lockert durch zum Schmunzeln anregende Macken und Eigenheiten die Lektüre auf und demontiert teilweise auch das hohe Ansehen mancher Koryphäen. Man mag wissenschaftlich genial gewesen sein, aber menschlich blieb man mitunter doch ein Misanthrop.
Was zu den jeweiligen Zeiten eines Newtons, Einsteins, , Hubbles, Galileis, Brahes oder Kopernikus bizarr und unerklärlich anmutete, kann man genau so gut auch auf unsere heutige, peinlicherweise noch immer in den Kinderschuhen steckende Erkenntnis über die wirkliche Beschaffenheit all der stroboskopisch funkelnden Lichter am Nachthimmel ummünzen. So wie nur Bruchstücke des Himmels überhaupt erst betrachtet, kartographiert und interpretiert worden sind, von Erforschung oder Verständnis gar nicht erst zu sprechen, so sind die Blicke in die tiefere Beschaffenheit noch rarer und in ihrem Richtigkeitsgehalt unsicherer.
In vielerlei Hinsicht werden entweder Theorien entwickelt, die daraus resultieren, dass man die Wirkung von etwas Unbekanntem auf bekannte Phänomene, wie etwa Schwerkraft oder Licht, als Erklärung für selbiges heranzieht. Oder es ergeben sich zufällige Betrachtungen von kosmischen Ereignissen, die jeglicher physikalischen Ordnung widersprechen und bis auf weiteres unter dem Vermerk der Unerklärlichkeit abgeheftet werden müssen.
So ist es doch amüsant zu wissen, dass es immer den einen oder anderen Wissenschaftler geben wird, der die endgültige Allformel oder die universelle Erklärungstheorie in petto zu haben glaubt. Sei es vor Jahrtausenden, in der Gegenwart oder ferner Zukunft. Egal in welcher Epoche, allein des Unterhaltungs- und Erkenntniswertes wegen ist diesen Kämpfern an der vordersten Front des Verstehens Respekt zu zollen. Und einer von Ihnen wird immer recht haben, was einen Nanometer Fortschritt im Verständnis der unendlichen und herrlichen Komplexität um, in und über uns ermöglicht. ...more

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Oct 11, 2013 S.Ach rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, science

My wondering thrust me to a world of infinity. Confusion reached its nadir and I gasped to know it all. Remembering 'Don't Panic', I started to organize my thoughts. I gathered the first step towards solving any of my bewilderment would be to understand the theories of how it all began - the universe, the time, the life. I turned to Stephan Hawking's widely unread bestseller 'A Brief History of Time'. Though it answered some of my questions, in turn posed many more than before. I realized that My wondering thrust me to a world of infinity. Confusion reached its nadir and I gasped to know it all. Remembering 'Don't Panic', I started to organize my thoughts. I gathered the first step towards solving any of my bewilderment would be to understand the theories of how it all began - the universe, the time, the life. I turned to Stephan Hawking's widely unread bestseller 'A Brief History of Time'. Though it answered some of my questions, in turn posed many more than before. I realized that to move further I have to take a peep into Mr Einstein's mind. Since my small mind is too simple to comprehend any complexities, I rather chose "Relativity Simply Explained" by Martin Gardner. With vivid illustrations, the author tried to make me appreciate both the special and general theories of relativity, the concepts of space-time, the twin paradox, et al. But again, I was not thoroughly convinced about my understanding. I oscillated between 'Oh! Now, I got it' and 'You lost me again.'

Desperate to get rid of the pricking confusions, I searched for a good source. In my favourite old book store, I found this book lying in one corner with "Big Bang" written over its cover and below it an Indian name 'Simon Singh'. Reluctantly I put it in my book-cart. And as I read through I became more and more convinced that this is by far the best book on this topic I had come across. The ease with which Singh has explained the concept of "Time is personal" made me a big fan of the book. It not only clarified many of my doubts, but also fed me lots of food for thoughts. In the course of explaining the theories of universe, the book with a very illustrious way takes the reader through the history of the evolution of these ideas. With humourous anecdotes related to famous scientists it amuses the reader while explaining the most complicated fundamentals.

What I find the best about this book is - it doesn't try to be too technical with physics mumbo jumbo, rather it tries to explain each concept in a layman's way without discussing a single mathematical equation. Probably the author realized the essence of this Einstein saying - "If you can't explain something to a six-year-old, you really don't understand it yourself." The book mightn't have answered all my questions, but it did take me through Copernicus to Hoyle in a lyrical manner. Reading it, the model of big bang has come alive in my mind. It definitely opened a window to cosmos. Today's sky looks so different and intriguing than yesterday's. ...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Tanja Berg rated it really liked it

Shelves: science, cosmology

This translates to a short history of the cosmos. A complex theory like that of big bang builds on a lot of knowledge, so the author begins with the ancient greeks and move forward from there. The book is written with humour, insight into human nature and endless fascination about the universe. There is enthusiasm in every sentence. However, the book ends with the final proof that there really was an explosive start to the universe, which somehow feels a bit anti-climatic. "Wasn't there more?" ...more

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Jul 31, 2010 Jimmy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

Excellent history of science and paradigm change.

It was not until the 6th century BCE that philosophers were free to abandon accepted mythological explanations of the universe and develop their own theories. In particular, Anaximander of Miletus and Xenophanes of Colophon started us off.

Arthur Eddington speaking about Zwicky's theory: "Light is a queer thing--queerer than we imagined twenty years ago--but I should be surprised if it is as queer as all that."

George Gamow was a Ukranian born ...more

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Nov 21, 2015 Anatoly rated it really liked it

Shelves: science

This one was a really interesting read. Not only physics and astronomy but also a lot of history. Most of the "science parts" are not difficult to understand and you don't really need a background to appreciate this book, just the will to learn. The writing is particularly good, filled with interesting anecdotes and humor and Simon singh is actually a great storyteller!

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Feb 07, 2018 Doug Anderson rated it it was amazing

love love this book. the history of science and the scientific method and the universe, in readable, understandable, engrossing form. simon singh is the bomb. sort of.

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Nov 24, 2018 Ash Gawain rated it really liked it

Simon Singh: if only you had published your book five years earlier, I would have gone into physics instead of business admin.
While I thought Hawkings A brief History of Time was too condensed, I really appreciated the historical dimension of Singhs Big Bang.
A new book will have to be written when a unified theory is found to explain both quantum gravity and the general relativity. I hope Singh is still around then.

...more

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May 01, 2012 Ais rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, science

Simon Singh is one of my favorite authors. He quickly rose to this rank after I read The Code Book, loved it way more than I ever expected, and afterward devoured every other book of his I could find. He has the unique ability to write nonfiction in a way that is as readable and intriguing as fiction, while simultaneously providing the complete context of the topic he has set out to explore.

What I think is so commendable about Simon Singh is that he starts wayyyyy at the beginning of the story Simon Singh is one of my favorite authors. He quickly rose to this rank after I read The Code Book, loved it way more than I ever expected, and afterward devoured every other book of his I could find. He has the unique ability to write nonfiction in a way that is as readable and intriguing as fiction, while simultaneously providing the complete context of the topic he has set out to explore.

What I think is so commendable about Simon Singh is that he starts wayyyyy at the beginning of the story in history-- generations before the thought may ever occur to anyone-- so that he can tell the entirety of the meaning of the topic. To me, that is the perfect way to learn about a subject. And the fact that he can do so on a nonfiction topic-- spanning hundreds of years in his telling, dipping in and out of cosmology, mythology and physics-- and still keep it readable goes to show how adept he is at these types of books. I'm not normally a nonfiction reader because I seem to have a short attention span for anything that comes off as too dry to me, but I was actually crushingly disappointed when I later realized I had read through all of his books available.

Big Bang itself taught me a lot about a topic I thought I knew fairly well after all the times it had been mentioned in school. It turned out there was a lot that I was missing and I found it fascinating to read a more complete history.

I actually brought Big Bang home with me one Christmas for "light reading." A 500+ page book on The Big Bang Theory and the origin of the universe truly did feel like light reading to me. Of course, it ended up sparking some interesting conversation with a family member who doesn't happen to believe that the Big Bang occurred...

Finally, I also have to say that my favorite, nerdiest insult I have ever heard came from this book:

"One of the fiercest critics of the Big Bang model was the Bulgarian-born Fritz Zwicky, infamous among cosmologists for his eccentricity and recalcitrance. He had been invited to Caltech and Mount Wilson in 1925 by the Nobel Laureate Robert Millikan, and Zwicky repaid the favour by announcing on one occasion that Millikan had never had a good idea in his life. All of his colleagues were targets of his abuse and many of them were subjected to his favourite insult -- 'spherical bastard.' Just as a sphere looks the same from every direction, a spherical bastard is someone who was a bastard whatever way you looked at them."

-Big Bang by Simon Singh, Chapter 4: Mavericks of the Cosmos, page 278

Come on! A book that throws in little asides like that while teaching you about history is more than worth the read. I definitely recommend this book to anyone even slightly curious about this topic. ...more

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Jan 25, 2018 Drew rated it really liked it

Shelves: science

I really enjoyed this book, especially after reading Singh's work on the history and proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Singh is the perfect lay writer of science and science history. His prose flows quickly and he selects wonderful examples that explain more obscure topics. His books, and writers like him, should be assigned reading in high schools, and even middle schools, to expose kids to the wonders of science that often come across as boring and useless in typical science classes. These types I really enjoyed this book, especially after reading Singh's work on the history and proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Singh is the perfect lay writer of science and science history. His prose flows quickly and he selects wonderful examples that explain more obscure topics. His books, and writers like him, should be assigned reading in high schools, and even middle schools, to expose kids to the wonders of science that often come across as boring and useless in typical science classes. These types of work would be a great boast to STEM, and even the arts (STEAM), showing the importance, beauty and value of writing, communicating, and philosophizing.

I guess people would assume I'd give this five stars. If I didn't know about the Big Bang and physics, I most likely would have. My rating is more a mark of how I felt about the book. It was too beginner, even though I'm certainly not a scientist. I've read a bunch and have taken several high school & college physics and astronomy classes. So, when Singh was talking about physics, the text seemed to move too slowly. Now, if I wasn't familiar with the topic, it would have been perfect. But, to be honest, I did learn some interesting physics in the book, e.g. the actual cause of redshift is related to the stretching of spacetime rather than a doppler shift effect (p. 270), how to create carbon from helium within a star (pp. 390-396), and that lithium and boron were produced around the same time helium was being created out of hydrogen (p. 398).

As for the history of science, this is where Singh excels beyond most. I loved the history, the little tidbits, the emotions and the battles behind the theories, equations and discoveries. There were so many intriguing things from the ancient world to today. I wish there had been more of these, but the book probably would have been twice as long! (The author mentions that in a Q&A appended to my edition, noting that his first draft had lots of neat items and it was about 1,000 pages long!). I'm also sad that the excitement of the public in response to these types of scientific discoveries seems to be fading, especially in the West and very especially in the US. Most people just don't seem to think science or the larger world is as exciting as spectator violence or reality TV.

I hope that writers like Singh can help put excitement and interest back in peoples' minds, and more importantly, their hearts. This is what captured me as a small boy and it has carried me to today. The wonder of a small child is something to try to grasp for each day. ...more

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Sep 17, 2009 Paula Koneazny rated it really liked it

Recommended to Paula Koneazny by: Michio Kaku program on KPFA

Shelves: non-fiction, science

I'm a sucker for readable tomes explicating theoretical physics/ cosmology for the non-mathematically trained and feel compelled to pump up my puny understanding of the field every now and then. Singh kept me engaged almost all the way through The Big Bang(the book slacks off a bit toward the end)as he ran through the history of the science leading up to and encompassing the acceptance of The Big Bang theory as the most accurate description we now have of the origin and evolution of the ...more

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Mar 28, 2008 Stuart rated it really liked it

Simon Singh is a marvellously engaging non-fiction writer. Only straying from his central subject to relay a surprising or eyebrow-raising anecdote, he manages to paint a human face on the history of our perception of the universe.

In telling the story of the Big Bang theory, the book takes you through miniature biographies and descriptions of the impact of the life-work of Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Hubble and many others who strove and discovered gems of cosmological truth through history. ...more

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Dec 18, 2016 Amirreza rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

Another epic by Simon Singh, a talented writer, and a great story-teller. The book can be undoubtedly considered as a small encyclopedia of Cosmology. The amount of information summarized over the course of hundred years in this compact book is fascinating. Likewise his previous works, the author takes a detour between subjects to explain other topics and then links it to the main story in an extraordinary way possible. No extra knowledge, besides some basic physical understanding, is required ...more

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May 27, 2018 Suman Srivastava rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of Simon Singh earlier. He is a fantastic storyteller who makes science easy without dumbing it down. In this book he takes you through a fascinating journey from fables about how God created the universe, all the way to the Big Bang and the questions that still remain to be answered. He explains how each discovery led to questions which led to more discoveries. He also provides a peek into contemporary societal beliefs at each stage of this journey to show how ...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Cathee rated it it was amazing

I've been a fan of Simon Singh since I read "Fermat's Enigma", and this book was another great one. It's not just about the Big Bang theory, but about the whole history of cosmology, starting with the-earth-is-flat-and-at-the-center-of-the-universe beliefs, up until the present-day understanding of things. He pulls in lots and lots of interesting characters, both well-known (Galileo and Einstein) and less well-known, all of whom are worthy of attention. Singh has a real gift for turning science ...more

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Nov 22, 2015 Sahar Rachamim rated it really liked it

Simon Singh sings us a song about the history of science. The title is a bit misleading: This books is not about the Big Bang Theory, but about how humans, throughout history, built our current knowledge, fact upon a fact. It tells the story of how one discovery lead to another, from ancient Greeks, through modern science, to the last eponymous theory. You don't have to know any science nor Math in order to enjoy this book: The only prerequisite is curiosity.

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Mar 26, 2017 Jason Meadors rated it it was amazing

Excellent explanation of the beginnings and evolution of Western science. Physics, cosmology, and other scientific disciplines are lined out and set forth in very understandable and relatable ways. Simon Singh's love of science, admiration for its pursuit, and humor at human foibles comes through in every page.

Not only is this book hugely enjoyable but hugely educational. I feel like a better, more informed person for having read it.

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Nov 07, 2017 Radhika Shendye rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

The book is a long (and mostly fun) 'story' about the various scientific discoveries that eventually led to the acceptance of the big bang theory. Contrary to the name of the book, the author does NOT actually go into the details of big bang or even special/general theories of relativity - it was quite disheartening. The book is meant for a wide range of audience and can at best be used as an intro to big bang.

Nevertheless, the content was good and it was a great read!

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Apr 14, 2012 Bram rated it it was amazing

Great book. The book describes the history of our understanding of the origin of the universe. Fascinating stories. Shows very clearly the evidence of the big bang. Also the scientific process is well-described in this book.

I was a little bit disappointed that the book stopped when the Big Bang was recognised by the scientific community, so recent developments were not explained.

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Feb 20, 2014 Richard rated it really liked it

fascinating, entertaining and thrilling but leaves me with the agonising and terrifying question of "if the universe is expanding what is it expanding into?"

great book though, thoroughly recommended

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May 07, 2017 Megan Regel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An excellent history of the science leading to the acceptance of the Big Bang theory- from early Greek philosophers and Copernicus to the COBE satellite and beyond.

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Oct 04, 2017 Daniel Fox rated it it was amazing

Great book. A very thorough analysis of the various competing theories and why the Big Bang comes out on top.

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Nov 24, 2017 Patrick rated it really liked it

This is a great overview of not just the science of the Big Bang, but also the many people involved in studying how the universe came to be in its present state.

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Apr 28, 2018 Bogdan Teodorescu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all_science, science, favorites, must_read_astro

One of the best books on science I've ever read, and for sure one of the best existent on the Big Bang

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About Simon Singh

Simon Singh

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Simon Lehna Singh, MBE is a British author who has specialised in writing about mathematical and scientific topics in an accessible manner. He is the maiden winner of the Lilavati Award.

His written works include Fermat's Last Theorem (in the United States titled Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem), The Code Book (about cryptography and its history), ...more

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Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

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The science of secrecy: The secret history of codes and codebreaking

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