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This Book Will Blow Your Mind
You don't need a spaceship to travel to the extremes of science. You just need this book.
What's the nature of reality? Does the universe ever end? What is time and does it even exist? These are the biggest imagination-stretching, brain-staggering questions in the universe - and here are their fascinating answers.
From quantum weirdness to freaky cosmology (like white holes - which spew out matter instead of sucking it in), This Book Will Blow Your Mind takes you on an epic journey to the furthest extremes of science, to the things you never thought possible.
This book will
Why is part of the universe missing (and how scientists finally found it)
How time might also flow backwards
How human head transplants might be possible (in the very near future)
Whether the universe is a hologram
And why we are all zombies
Filled with counterintuitive stories and factoids you can't wait to share, as well as lots of did-you-knows and plenty of how-did-we-ever-not-knows, this new book from the bestselling New Scientist series will blow your mind - and then put it back together again.
What's the nature of reality? Does the universe ever end? What is time and does it even exist? These are the biggest imagination-stretching, brain-staggering questions in the universe - and here are their fascinating answers.
From quantum weirdness to freaky cosmology (like white holes - which spew out matter instead of sucking it in), This Book Will Blow Your Mind takes you on an epic journey to the furthest extremes of science, to the things you never thought possible.
This book will
Why is part of the universe missing (and how scientists finally found it)
How time might also flow backwards
How human head transplants might be possible (in the very near future)
Whether the universe is a hologram
And why we are all zombies
Filled with counterintuitive stories and factoids you can't wait to share, as well as lots of did-you-knows and plenty of how-did-we-ever-not-knows, this new book from the bestselling New Scientist series will blow your mind - and then put it back together again.
321 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 2018
176 people are currently reading
611 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
December 29, 2018
Literally blew my mind into boredom..... I feel like the info given wasn’t backed up right, mostly all of it was hard to believe and the rest I already knew.
June 13, 2020
To anyone who picks up this book, I would challenge you not to find anything within the book that didn’t blow your mind! There are so many mini essays and separate writings in this book covering a whole manner of different topics that will guarantee to astonish, mind blow or just confuse you in the vast realms of science and scientific exploration and endeavour.
Could young blood cure the effects of ageing? What about head transplants and the scientist who claims he can do just that? Weird quantum effects, the nature of reality and the workings of the human brain to name a few - if this doesn’t set your appetite to know more then I don’t know what will!
This book is full of intrigue and the extremes of science, with glimpses in the potentials of science of the future, the groundbreaking scientific discoveries of now and even the science of the past. I particularly enjoyed the bit about previously reported animal myths that turned out to be real. I think if I ever saw a Narwhal (a water unicorn) or a Duck billed Platypus (a mole with a duck beak that lays eggs) I might believe they were myths and legends too.
Plenty of writings in this book enlightened me and exposed me to areas of science I didn’t know about or knew less of. You can learn plenty from books like these, it’s one of the reasons why I love the books the New Scientist brings out. Very informative but enjoyable reads too. This book did indeed blow my mind!
Could young blood cure the effects of ageing? What about head transplants and the scientist who claims he can do just that? Weird quantum effects, the nature of reality and the workings of the human brain to name a few - if this doesn’t set your appetite to know more then I don’t know what will!
This book is full of intrigue and the extremes of science, with glimpses in the potentials of science of the future, the groundbreaking scientific discoveries of now and even the science of the past. I particularly enjoyed the bit about previously reported animal myths that turned out to be real. I think if I ever saw a Narwhal (a water unicorn) or a Duck billed Platypus (a mole with a duck beak that lays eggs) I might believe they were myths and legends too.
Plenty of writings in this book enlightened me and exposed me to areas of science I didn’t know about or knew less of. You can learn plenty from books like these, it’s one of the reasons why I love the books the New Scientist brings out. Very informative but enjoyable reads too. This book did indeed blow my mind!
September 29, 2021
Picked this up from the library and didn’t regret it! It’s a a compilation of articles and short essays from the popular magazine New Scientist.
It offered me a variety of subjects to dip my toes into in a very accessible way(besides a few paragraphs in quantum theory but who ever really understands it?).The articles about young blood transfusion and head transplants made me a bit green around the gills but I pushed through them to the exciting information about genetics, the inner workings of the mind,reality and the ecosystem.
Favourite quotes:
“Entropy is a way of quantifying disorder in a system,and the rules of thermodynamics say that when something is more disordered it is more stable.”
“Quantum entanglement, the phenomenon that Albert Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’,allows information and quantum states to be transmitted apparently instantaneously across space.”
“Old blood has higher levels of inflammatory compounds that damage tissues they reach.Inflammation has been linked to cancer,heart disease and depression.Younger blood,by contrast,is characterised by a higher concentration of stimulating and restorative factors.”
“Evolution has endowed us with cognitive tendencies that,while useful for survival,also make us very receptive to religious concepts.”
“Atheism and scientific materialism are hard work.Overriding inbuilt thought patterns requires deliberate and constant effort,plus a learned reference guide to what is factually correct and what is right and wrong.”
“Giant viruses are the remnants of long extinct domains of life that were completely different from the cells that exist today.”
“It is possible that the ancestors of modern eukaryotic cells learned how to manipulate membranes and make a a nucleus from viruses.”
“Habitat fragmentation has detrimental effects on living things.In aerial habitats,this could take the shape of animals making long detours to avoid tall buildings and cities,or being lured into spending time circling light sources while travelling at night.‘What are the costs of that movement to migration duration,energetic reserves and fitness once they get to their breeding sites?’”
“Future research aims to find out the thresholds at which artificial light levels begin to affect the navigation,dispersal,communication and reproduction of different species.”
“Serpentinisation:When alkaline rocks from Earth’s mantle meet a more acidic ocean,they generate heat and spew out hydrogen,, which in turn reacts with the carbon compounds dissolved in seawater.”
“Entropy measures the number of ways you can rearrange a system’s components without changing its overall appearance.”
“Entanglement:the ability of quantum objects that were once related to apparently influence each other’s properties when subsequently separated,even by a long way.”
“We live in space-time,and experience causal order within it,yet causal order is not apparently fundamental to quantum theory.If we accept quantum theory as the most fundamental description of reality that we have,it means that space-time itself is not fundamental,but emerges from a deeper,currently inscrutable quantum reality.”
“Scalar field:This is just a mathematical way of describing a a field that acts in all directions but whose strength can change over space and time.”
“Scattering amplitudes:the probabilities of different outcomes in a given particle interaction.”
“Locality:It holds that only things in the same spot in space and time can interact.”
“Awe is the feeling we get when confronted with something vast,that transcends our frame of reference and that we struggle to understand.It’s an emotion that combines amazement with an edge of fear.”
Definitely worth a read!💯💯
It offered me a variety of subjects to dip my toes into in a very accessible way(besides a few paragraphs in quantum theory but who ever really understands it?).The articles about young blood transfusion and head transplants made me a bit green around the gills but I pushed through them to the exciting information about genetics, the inner workings of the mind,reality and the ecosystem.
Favourite quotes:
“Entropy is a way of quantifying disorder in a system,and the rules of thermodynamics say that when something is more disordered it is more stable.”
“Quantum entanglement, the phenomenon that Albert Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’,allows information and quantum states to be transmitted apparently instantaneously across space.”
“Old blood has higher levels of inflammatory compounds that damage tissues they reach.Inflammation has been linked to cancer,heart disease and depression.Younger blood,by contrast,is characterised by a higher concentration of stimulating and restorative factors.”
“Evolution has endowed us with cognitive tendencies that,while useful for survival,also make us very receptive to religious concepts.”
“Atheism and scientific materialism are hard work.Overriding inbuilt thought patterns requires deliberate and constant effort,plus a learned reference guide to what is factually correct and what is right and wrong.”
“Giant viruses are the remnants of long extinct domains of life that were completely different from the cells that exist today.”
“It is possible that the ancestors of modern eukaryotic cells learned how to manipulate membranes and make a a nucleus from viruses.”
“Habitat fragmentation has detrimental effects on living things.In aerial habitats,this could take the shape of animals making long detours to avoid tall buildings and cities,or being lured into spending time circling light sources while travelling at night.‘What are the costs of that movement to migration duration,energetic reserves and fitness once they get to their breeding sites?’”
“Future research aims to find out the thresholds at which artificial light levels begin to affect the navigation,dispersal,communication and reproduction of different species.”
“Serpentinisation:When alkaline rocks from Earth’s mantle meet a more acidic ocean,they generate heat and spew out hydrogen,, which in turn reacts with the carbon compounds dissolved in seawater.”
“Entropy measures the number of ways you can rearrange a system’s components without changing its overall appearance.”
“Entanglement:the ability of quantum objects that were once related to apparently influence each other’s properties when subsequently separated,even by a long way.”
“We live in space-time,and experience causal order within it,yet causal order is not apparently fundamental to quantum theory.If we accept quantum theory as the most fundamental description of reality that we have,it means that space-time itself is not fundamental,but emerges from a deeper,currently inscrutable quantum reality.”
“Scalar field:This is just a mathematical way of describing a a field that acts in all directions but whose strength can change over space and time.”
“Scattering amplitudes:the probabilities of different outcomes in a given particle interaction.”
“Locality:It holds that only things in the same spot in space and time can interact.”
“Awe is the feeling we get when confronted with something vast,that transcends our frame of reference and that we struggle to understand.It’s an emotion that combines amazement with an edge of fear.”
Definitely worth a read!💯💯
September 23, 2023
I found myself Google-ing so many topics because of this book. It's a great insight into a world of crazy scientific discoveries, paradoxes and theories, which I think is very useful for helping you get a feel for which aspects interest you most without dropping you into the complexities of each subject.
However, I kind of wish that there was more depth to some of the subjects as they just felt, well, as if the conversation had just been dropped halfway through. Hey-ho, it's a small book, so maybe I just need to be picking up much more in-depth books!
However, I kind of wish that there was more depth to some of the subjects as they just felt, well, as if the conversation had just been dropped halfway through. Hey-ho, it's a small book, so maybe I just need to be picking up much more in-depth books!
March 18, 2020
Science works by asking questions and then seeking answers to those questions and modifying as you go along until you learn more about the thing that you asked the question about. In this book, a plethora of authors have looked at some of the most imagination-stretching, brain-staggering questions in the universe and have set about trying their best to answer them.
It is wide-ranging in its choice of subject matter, from the tiny quantum world to the vast chasms of space, trying to understand why lightning shouldn’t exist and how we can read each other minds all the time. It ventures into the seriously weird world of quantum physics and heads beneath the surface of the earth to discover creatures that somehow are managing to live without oxygen. There are people who can see time, some seriously odd materials and details on why we all need to take an acid trip every now and again.
It had some interesting stuff that I didn’t know, but did it blow my mind though? No. Though there were some articles that I had not come across, a fair number of them I had had some prior knowledge of. If you read widely you will have almost certainly come across some of these stories already. Not a bad book if you want to introduce someone to a broad range of science.
It is wide-ranging in its choice of subject matter, from the tiny quantum world to the vast chasms of space, trying to understand why lightning shouldn’t exist and how we can read each other minds all the time. It ventures into the seriously weird world of quantum physics and heads beneath the surface of the earth to discover creatures that somehow are managing to live without oxygen. There are people who can see time, some seriously odd materials and details on why we all need to take an acid trip every now and again.
It had some interesting stuff that I didn’t know, but did it blow my mind though? No. Though there were some articles that I had not come across, a fair number of them I had had some prior knowledge of. If you read widely you will have almost certainly come across some of these stories already. Not a bad book if you want to introduce someone to a broad range of science.
October 15, 2018
Tried the audiobook. Couldn't stand much of it as the reader is truly awful. It Seems to be the gee whiz approach to science, Best avoided IMHO.
October 22, 2018
A series of articles from the magazine, they are all relatively interesting, but quite hard-going.
Read
February 13, 202257. Last night, while you were sleeping, legions of eight legged creatures had an orgy between your eyebrows. The demodex mites, close relatives of ticks and spiders, are permanent and mostly harmless residents of the human face. You can have thousands living on you, growing up to 0.4 mm long, they spend their days buried head down in hair follicles and crawling out on the cover of darkness to copulate. They have no anus, so on death disgorge a lifetime of faeces into your pores.
297. The awesome emotion that gives us superpowers. Jo Marchant:
In June 2017 at the annual meeting of the organisation for human brain mapping in Vancouver, Van elk presented functional MR I scans showing that awe quietens the activity in the default mode network, and is thought to relate to the sense of self. Awe produces a vanishing self, says Keltner., The voice in your head,Self interest, self consciousness, disappears. As a result we feel more connected to bigger collectives and groups.q The notion of transcending the self has been traditionally associated with religious or mystical experiences...
Robin Carhart-Harris at Imperial College used brain scanning and found that psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD reduce activity in the default mode network, just as awe does. In addition boundaries between normally segregated bits of the brain temporarily breakdown, boosting creativity. Participants who take psychedelics often described being struck by vastness, and report an altered sense of self, to the point where it may disappear completely. There is growing interest in using psychedelics to treat anxiety and depression. Harris says it can benefit healthy people too, you can feel calm and content and integrated and connected. A trial of 100 people found that a single dose of psilocybin rather than the placebo reported feeling happier and more altruistic afterwards. They still had higher well-being and life satisfaction more than a year later.
264. How psychedelic drugs are rebuilding broken brains.
Depression is the most common mental illness more and more studies suggest SSRIs are not as effective as we thought. 8.5% of people in the USA take them, but they work for just one in five people and coming off the drugs brings severe side-effects.
MDMA or ecstasy, does not induce hallucinations, it floods the brain with serotonin which makes users feel euphoric. It extinguishes anxiety and stress, and triggers the release of oxytocin, a prosocial hormone that strengthens feelings of trust.
107 people with post traumatic stress disorder received Mdma. a year or so later 67% no longer had PTSD, whereas 23% of the control group got the same benefits. This convinced the FDA to give Mithoefer's group breakthrough therapy status, which accelerates the path towards approval; if all goes well it could be in use in 2021.
True psychedelics, those that induce hallucinations, might end up having the biggest impact on mental health. That's because psilocybine, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is beginning to look like the real deal, a genuinely effective long-lasting treatment for depression.
In 2006 Roland Griffiths, showed that a large dose of psilocybin can induce mystical experiences without any mental health problems, including feelings of ego dissolution, a sense of revelation, ineffability and transcendence of time and space . 14 months after taking the drug in Griffiths lab 22 of the 36 participants rated it one of the top five most meaningful experiences of their lives.
Carharrt Harris thinks psilocybin interrupts the spirals of rumination and negative thoughts that depressed people get caught up in. The people in his trial who experienced aspects of a spiritual or mystical experience saw a bigger decrease in depression scores than those who did not.
Carhart-Harris says The effect is not intrinsically therapeutic, but when combined with psychotherapy it seems to have an unparalleled capacity to alleviate mental illness.
297. The awesome emotion that gives us superpowers. Jo Marchant:
In June 2017 at the annual meeting of the organisation for human brain mapping in Vancouver, Van elk presented functional MR I scans showing that awe quietens the activity in the default mode network, and is thought to relate to the sense of self. Awe produces a vanishing self, says Keltner., The voice in your head,Self interest, self consciousness, disappears. As a result we feel more connected to bigger collectives and groups.q The notion of transcending the self has been traditionally associated with religious or mystical experiences...
Robin Carhart-Harris at Imperial College used brain scanning and found that psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD reduce activity in the default mode network, just as awe does. In addition boundaries between normally segregated bits of the brain temporarily breakdown, boosting creativity. Participants who take psychedelics often described being struck by vastness, and report an altered sense of self, to the point where it may disappear completely. There is growing interest in using psychedelics to treat anxiety and depression. Harris says it can benefit healthy people too, you can feel calm and content and integrated and connected. A trial of 100 people found that a single dose of psilocybin rather than the placebo reported feeling happier and more altruistic afterwards. They still had higher well-being and life satisfaction more than a year later.
264. How psychedelic drugs are rebuilding broken brains.
Depression is the most common mental illness more and more studies suggest SSRIs are not as effective as we thought. 8.5% of people in the USA take them, but they work for just one in five people and coming off the drugs brings severe side-effects.
MDMA or ecstasy, does not induce hallucinations, it floods the brain with serotonin which makes users feel euphoric. It extinguishes anxiety and stress, and triggers the release of oxytocin, a prosocial hormone that strengthens feelings of trust.
107 people with post traumatic stress disorder received Mdma. a year or so later 67% no longer had PTSD, whereas 23% of the control group got the same benefits. This convinced the FDA to give Mithoefer's group breakthrough therapy status, which accelerates the path towards approval; if all goes well it could be in use in 2021.
True psychedelics, those that induce hallucinations, might end up having the biggest impact on mental health. That's because psilocybine, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, is beginning to look like the real deal, a genuinely effective long-lasting treatment for depression.
In 2006 Roland Griffiths, showed that a large dose of psilocybin can induce mystical experiences without any mental health problems, including feelings of ego dissolution, a sense of revelation, ineffability and transcendence of time and space . 14 months after taking the drug in Griffiths lab 22 of the 36 participants rated it one of the top five most meaningful experiences of their lives.
Carharrt Harris thinks psilocybin interrupts the spirals of rumination and negative thoughts that depressed people get caught up in. The people in his trial who experienced aspects of a spiritual or mystical experience saw a bigger decrease in depression scores than those who did not.
Carhart-Harris says The effect is not intrinsically therapeutic, but when combined with psychotherapy it seems to have an unparalleled capacity to alleviate mental illness.
February 27, 2020
This was such a strange book to me for reasons that still surprise me.
Before reading this book, I had realised that this book does not have many favourable reviews and many have been quoted to say it was boring.
At first, I began to understand why. It was an immensely slow start and found most of the starting topics to be boring and did not 'blow my mind'. So I continued to read on as I don't like to judge a book so soon.
When I reached the next section 'you are not who you think you are' I was shocked, this book was now incredibly interesting to me and I struggled to find out why so many thought this book was boring. I read on and very much enjoyed this particular section of the book, and it gave me many new insights.
However, unfortunately, things began to collapse quite dramatically and the book was never the same again. It turned once again immensely boring and it was quite difficult to read some of the sections, some of them were so poorly written and boring I ended up skipping them! Some of the sections also provide no real value or new information, so I struggle to understand the point they are trying to make.
Another issue I have with this book that seems like a common theme amongst science books is the dramatic title. I don't know why it's so common now but it's clear its a marketing trick that is used to drum up more sales, which is a shame because other subjects don't incorporate such 'clickbait' tactics.
Imagine if this was used in history books, 'you won't believe what Washington after gaining power' or 'Everything you know about Rome is wrong', people will struggle to take your book seriously.
3/5 stars for me, you won't be missing much if you decide to not finish this book. Just read the one section I stated and it'll be a decent book.
Before reading this book, I had realised that this book does not have many favourable reviews and many have been quoted to say it was boring.
At first, I began to understand why. It was an immensely slow start and found most of the starting topics to be boring and did not 'blow my mind'. So I continued to read on as I don't like to judge a book so soon.
When I reached the next section 'you are not who you think you are' I was shocked, this book was now incredibly interesting to me and I struggled to find out why so many thought this book was boring. I read on and very much enjoyed this particular section of the book, and it gave me many new insights.
However, unfortunately, things began to collapse quite dramatically and the book was never the same again. It turned once again immensely boring and it was quite difficult to read some of the sections, some of them were so poorly written and boring I ended up skipping them! Some of the sections also provide no real value or new information, so I struggle to understand the point they are trying to make.
Another issue I have with this book that seems like a common theme amongst science books is the dramatic title. I don't know why it's so common now but it's clear its a marketing trick that is used to drum up more sales, which is a shame because other subjects don't incorporate such 'clickbait' tactics.
Imagine if this was used in history books, 'you won't believe what Washington after gaining power' or 'Everything you know about Rome is wrong', people will struggle to take your book seriously.
3/5 stars for me, you won't be missing much if you decide to not finish this book. Just read the one section I stated and it'll be a decent book.
June 14, 2022
"It was amazing." - 5 out of 5 star rating.
What makes this book amazing is the incredibly wide array of very profound topics that are covered to a depth that is 'just right', not too heavy and not too light.
I'm talking...
- Bright nights (luminescent fog/smog and aurora borealis)
- Lightning
- Teleportation
- Invisibility
- Vampirism presented in an actual modern day legitimately practiced way
- Human head transplant
- Quantum computing
- Sea monsters
- Unknown/undiscovered/extraterrestrial elements
- DNA
- The Human body
- The Human mind
- Consciousness
- Mental illness
- Sleep/Dreams
- Human emotion
- What's trapped under the ice in Antarctica
- "Why do we exist" question
- Alien speculation
- Big Bang Theory
- Dark Energy
- The Sun (this was one of my favorite sections - damn good.)
- White Holes (aka the opposite of a black hole ... this was so fascinating.)
- and more...!
Looking at this list, one may think how could anyone possibly write a book that covers so many wild and thought provoking topics.
Well, let me tell you... no single author could. That's why... when you get to the end of this book, there are literally SIX (6) pages of authors that collaborated together to make this masterpiece all come together.
As a one-stop shop for so many subjects that will 'blow your mind' ... this is done amazingly well.
What makes this book amazing is the incredibly wide array of very profound topics that are covered to a depth that is 'just right', not too heavy and not too light.
I'm talking...
- Bright nights (luminescent fog/smog and aurora borealis)
- Lightning
- Teleportation
- Invisibility
- Vampirism presented in an actual modern day legitimately practiced way
- Human head transplant
- Quantum computing
- Sea monsters
- Unknown/undiscovered/extraterrestrial elements
- DNA
- The Human body
- The Human mind
- Consciousness
- Mental illness
- Sleep/Dreams
- Human emotion
- What's trapped under the ice in Antarctica
- "Why do we exist" question
- Alien speculation
- Big Bang Theory
- Dark Energy
- The Sun (this was one of my favorite sections - damn good.)
- White Holes (aka the opposite of a black hole ... this was so fascinating.)
- and more...!
Looking at this list, one may think how could anyone possibly write a book that covers so many wild and thought provoking topics.
Well, let me tell you... no single author could. That's why... when you get to the end of this book, there are literally SIX (6) pages of authors that collaborated together to make this masterpiece all come together.
As a one-stop shop for so many subjects that will 'blow your mind' ... this is done amazingly well.
February 14, 2024
This is an episodic read being merely a collection of uneven articles previously published in the New Scientist magazine by numerous reporters.
Being mostly news-based snippets aimed at a science-savvy public rather than popularised analysis of a topic for neophytes, these articles manage to be mind-bogglingly complex whilst at the same time frustratingly shallow and inconclusive. More often than not they speculate about a given quandary being resolved by forthcoming experiments or symposia, by future space craft launches, or by new equipment being built … and hence do not report what the solution to the quandary might be.
Frustratingly, these articles don’t give their date of publication, so an outdated article might whet the appetite but has not been updated to tell what that experiment, probe, or gizmo has actually gone on to find. The book was published in 2018 but the articles are quite a bit older, as they often discuss future events that have actually happened years before the book was published. As I am a subscriber to the New Scientist I kept thinking, oh that’s been done, that’s been resolved, that’s been discovered, but I don’t remember where to look.
Also the formatting is a bit off for some articles. Could be better.
Nevertheless this is an entertaining read, but not one I’d return to. Three stars.
Being mostly news-based snippets aimed at a science-savvy public rather than popularised analysis of a topic for neophytes, these articles manage to be mind-bogglingly complex whilst at the same time frustratingly shallow and inconclusive. More often than not they speculate about a given quandary being resolved by forthcoming experiments or symposia, by future space craft launches, or by new equipment being built … and hence do not report what the solution to the quandary might be.
Frustratingly, these articles don’t give their date of publication, so an outdated article might whet the appetite but has not been updated to tell what that experiment, probe, or gizmo has actually gone on to find. The book was published in 2018 but the articles are quite a bit older, as they often discuss future events that have actually happened years before the book was published. As I am a subscriber to the New Scientist I kept thinking, oh that’s been done, that’s been resolved, that’s been discovered, but I don’t remember where to look.
Also the formatting is a bit off for some articles. Could be better.
Nevertheless this is an entertaining read, but not one I’d return to. Three stars.
May 18, 2020
I didn't really like this book, although some parts were OK. I do understand why other people might like it, but for me, it was a very incoherent book. The articles were mostly on different subjects and I didn't get any deep understanding of new concepts. Granted I did not finish the book I might have missed something, but I did not like reading this book. I would prefer a deeper book with a coherent and continuous point. The variety of subjects and the many short articles made me bored and I lost interest quite quickly.
I would not pick it up again, but as I said, it might be a better read for other people.
I would not pick it up again, but as I said, it might be a better read for other people.
October 9, 2019
A collection of articles from the UK New Scientist magazine. A good reminder that science is not static and just full of boring facts. A lot of speculation about interesting topics. Why drilling holes in your head may be help dementia. The concept of negative temperature. Tiny creatures with no ass that live in your eyebrows. A whole bunch of stuff about the weird world of quantum mechanics. Psychedelic mushrooms make us better people. The most extreme places in the universe.
March 27, 2020
As a younger reader and a person with a passion for the sciences, I found this book absolutely amazing. Or should I say awesome, a reference to the on point conclusion. Since I am younger, I did find some parts slightly harder to process and did take slightly longer to read. However, I felt this was beneficial, since I was able to process the information much more and I could take the time to reflect on it, which I recommend doing.
November 26, 2018
Pretty standard fare from New Scientist, however the edition I bought was riddled with printing errors, because each instance of something like 'ten to the eighteenth power' was written as '1018', instead of using supertext for the '18'. This was confusing until I figured out the error and I hope it doesn't mislead other readers.
April 26, 2021
False advertising, mind not blown. If you have very little knowledge of contemporary scientific theory you may find some interesting things here. [Spoiler Alert] For me the only thing that came close was learning that the closest living relative of the okapi is the giraffe. There you go, I saved you a few hours of your life, you're welcome.
August 17, 2021
I started reading this boo with much curiosity and it turned out to be mediocre in between. But it is not supposed to be all that liking of our as there are various articles based on different topics. I enjoyed most of the topics and it will definitely depend upon the reader regarding which topic they like. Thus, this is a book for everyone and it definitely blew my mind with some explanations.
January 18, 2023
Two of the first handful of stories talked about "scientists" making claims of something extraordinary and those "scientists" were either cherry-picking data or not willing to share their data. Not the articles authors' faults, but let's give people who aren't willing to share their data less air space/press.
September 16, 2023
Fascinating, interesting, nauseating and thought provoking at the same time. Incredibly easy to read in spite of the face mites and I would happily read again. New Scientist has the knack to take on out there and easily confusing science and dumbing it down for the casual New Scientist reader without losing the important information and making the reader feel like an absolute moron.
December 31, 2018
As entertainment, pure gold. As science? Dude, I don't know science. I'm a history buff. I'm going to assume it didn't actually teach me anything (and/or taught me wrong things) because I understood it.
February 16, 2019
this is a interesting set of new scientitst articles.
as a book does work that good, no continuity , it felt like someone just mashed a bunch articles together.
in the end the science in the book is sound and easy to read so a give it a 3
as a book does work that good, no continuity , it felt like someone just mashed a bunch articles together.
in the end the science in the book is sound and easy to read so a give it a 3
September 27, 2019
Ok but gets hard going in places
There are plenty of things to like about this book and plenty not to like. It does indeed contain plenty of mind-blowing facts, but gets into the weeds of detail on too many occasions.
There are plenty of things to like about this book and plenty not to like. It does indeed contain plenty of mind-blowing facts, but gets into the weeds of detail on too many occasions.
May 25, 2021
This is a collection of essays from New Scientist across a wide range of scientific subjects. It's a nice collection of shorts but it does mean there's not a nice flow to it and being dropped cold into a subject can be tricky - especially the complex world of quantum physics.
The essays on humans and the natural world are a lot more accessible and easier to dip into. I'd say about 50% of the essays I found interesting while the other half were either things I already knew or so complex I found them inaccessible.
The essays on humans and the natural world are a lot more accessible and easier to dip into. I'd say about 50% of the essays I found interesting while the other half were either things I already knew or so complex I found them inaccessible.
January 11, 2022
Concise short news stories about all things science-related.
This book is recommended for humanities and art students because it explains complex science to the everyday person.
The short stories are fascinating, thought-provoking and 'mind blowing'!
This book is recommended for humanities and art students because it explains complex science to the everyday person.
The short stories are fascinating, thought-provoking and 'mind blowing'!
February 2, 2019
Like Steve Wright's factoids but a bit longer and harder to understand.
September 17, 2019
It didn't. (Though it did numb it pretty good several times.)
February 22, 2020
Much better than what the unfortunate title suggests.
April 15, 2020
It was ok, but the only parts that came even close to mind blowing were the quantum chapters.
Just a Quite Interesting read in general.
Just a Quite Interesting read in general.
May 29, 2020
Some of this was interesting - the content could have used a slight rewrite to make it more engaging to read as a book. Quantum overload.
June 11, 2020
Only read about half. Dipping in and out. Didnt find the balance between the staggering and the mundane detail. Definitely easier to read if you know it's a series of articles.
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