Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Stephen Hawking's Universe: The Cosmos Explained by David Filkin, Stephen Hawking ISBN: 0-465-08198-3 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.95 (20 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: This This book is "Hawking lite".
Comment: Compared to "A Brief History of Time", this is a much simpler book. At times this book is so simple it is insulting. However, for the more difficult concepts I found this simple writing style quite helpfull. I recommend reading "Stephen Hawking's Universe" before "A Brief History of Time".
Rating: 5
Summary: Best book describing the best cosmological principles
Comment: Stephen Hawking's universe is one of the very few books of its kind. It describes the complex and beautiful picture of our cosmos as presented by the most famous living scientist of the world. This book will prove helpful and informative for all those who are concerned with the universe and also with Professor Hawking.
Stephen Hawking's universe is such a book which tends to describe a difficult subject with simplicity and ace. Thus any one out there who is intrested in cosmology and is waiting for a new arrival the please do have a look at this one.
Rating: 1
Summary: Beware! You will be dumber after reading this!
Comment: I've always enjoyed Stephen Hawking's writings, as in them he clearly explains things without condescendingly simplifying them, mixes humor with science, and conveys the awe and thrill of scientific discovery. However, once I got past the forward of this book (the only part written my Hawking), I could see that this book was a complete failure. I should have known when someone got me the book; Filkin is a total non-scientist and I now know is scientifically illiterite.
I was first confronted with horrid and sometimes malicious (or at least maddeningly stupid) terminology errors. For example, throughout the book, a brown dwarf is said to be a cooled-down white dwarf. WRONG! A brown dwarf is a starlike object too small to start thermonuclear fusion, so it produces heat and light by contracting; this is the definition according to the International Astronomical Union, the body which defines all astronomical, astrophysical, and cosmological terminology. This is just one of many such errors.
The terminology I had the biggest problem with was the wrongful (indeed, gratuitous) use of the word "creationism." It is relatively apparent that Filkin means the idea that the universe was created at some time, but it is still the wrong word. Either it was placed in there by Filkin (I think unlikely) or the publishers (more likely) to cave to the 45% of this backwards country which seriously believes creationism (in the sense of what the word really means), or (maybe a little more likely)used without thinking. This leads to my next big problem with the book.
Rather than sticking to the science, or at least pointing out how science sharply contrasts with "faith," Filkin spends a large amount of time talking about how science and religion (specifically Christianity) go hand-in-hand. He even makes up malicious falsities, frequently claiming that science at least partially supports Christianity (actually, he said it supporst "creationism"), and that important discoveries were held up by the dogma of "atheist scientists." One particularly despicable example is his claim that after Hubble discovered the Hubble flow, its reality and logical conclusions were denied and held back by "atheist scientists," being unwilling to accept the idea that the universe began (and hence doesn't violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics). Nothing could be further from the truth! The Hubble flow was looked upon very skeptically for over a decade because the original measurements put the age of the universe as less than the then-known age of the Earth.
Lastly, there are the contradictory statements. Filkin often makes statements contrary to the 'evidence' he supports it with, if there is any. One example is as follows: "churchgoing" scientist were shunned and forced to hide their beliefs from the 18th to the 20th centuries because (a) they believed in a moment of creation despite the official church policy that the universe was infinite, (b) the "atheist scientists" believed, like Newton, that the universe was infinite, and (c) these two beliefs (the church's and the atheist concepts) are different. If you were paying attention, you'd know these beliefs are NOT different, and hence not in conflict.
I put the book down after a few chapters of being frustrated not learning anything, frequently needing to correct Filkin, and seeing a creationist-propagandist's dream come true (regardless of what Filkin meant, I've seen quotes from this book paraded around by creationists). Finally, I would like to point out my disgust with Hawking for having a book like this sold with his stamp of approval.
 |
Title: A Brief History of Time : The Updated and Expanded Tenth Anniversary Edition by STEPHEN HAWKING ISBN: 0553380168 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe by Stephen W. Hawking ISBN: 1893224546 Publisher: New Millenium Pr Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking ISBN: 055380202X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 06 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
 |
Title: The Nature of Space and Time by Stephen Hawking, Roger Penrose ISBN: 0691050848 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 15 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title:Stephen Hawking's Universe ASIN: 0780631315 Publisher: Pbs Home Video Pub. Date: 14 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $59.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $52.18 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
