Growing up, I was never a science person. Heck, it took a long time before I even became remotely interested in basic math. But since deciding that my current book project would be based on a lot of physics/scientific fact, I decided to do a bit of meandering around the science section of the library. What I found was a combination of interesting and entirely overwhelming.
The Universe In A Nutshell is written by none other than the brilliant Stephen Hawking, who has tackled some of the biggest scientific problems of our time. Though I read his book A Brief History Of Time prior to this, what made this book a bit more enjoyable was the fact that visuals were heavily incorporated, versus the other book, which had no types of visuals whatsoever, save for the occassional black ink diagram. Don't get me wrong, I understand a lot of times pictures can actually take away from the reading experience because it doesn't allow you to use your imagination, but in these types of books, pictures are most definitely helpful. This book was like stepping into a museum; everywhere you look, an innovative and mind-boggling fact or theory is popping out at you. What is nice is that while the pictures are dynamic, they don't steal the show; rather, they offer a good amount of support for the theories explained in the book. Hawking goes over Einstein's theories pertaining to relativity, and also explores deeper, more complex questions such as the possibilities of time-travel and the intriguing aspects of black holes. (For example, black holes are incredibly dense at their center, and it forms an infinite gravitational pull called a "singularity", which is so strong and condensed it could tear a fabric in space-time!)
Even if you aren't too much of a math or science person, I recommend this book. While overwhelming at times, the basic fundamentals are all present, and it all makes for a pleasant and really engaging learning experience.
Overall rating: 8/10
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