Many thanks to Oxford university Press and Recorded books for an advanced Listener copy of Discordance by Jim Baggott!
This is my year to read about outer space and when I saw this audiobook on offer at net Galley, I jumped at it!
As I've already noted, I am not a math or physics genius, but I do have a bit of an obsession with outer space, and while I know I won't ever be an arm chair Cosmologist, I know I certainly LOVE to learn more as I toddle along.
Now, with no spoilers--- can one really spoil a non-fiction book? We are given the story of the Main main character, the Universe. Making cameo appearances are the Big Bang Theory, Afterglow radiation or Cosmic Microwave background radiation, Cosmic inflation and the Lambda-CDM model. Side Characters of note include: The Hubble Telescope, multiple scientists, The Space Shuttle, The ALMA Observatory (Atacama Desert), Apache Point observatory, (and more), the Supernova Cosmology project, the JPL Cosmology Group, and so many more. Supporting roles go to Dark matter and Dark energy (yes, we can't see you, but it seems you might be there, maybe...) Redshift, the strange and charm quarks (and yes the other top and bottom ones too) and gravitational lensing. There's more, but as any good Academy award winner will note, we are grateful to all players, too numerous to mention.
In this account of humans moving closer and closer to deducing the full nature of the universe and all that it encompasses, Dr Baggott introduces readers to the basic physics of Cosmology. Readers learn about models and ideas, generally accepted concepts of the universe, and key phenomena and building blocks (equations/theories and computations) that hold our concepts of the universe together.
As a complete lay person, I will note that there is quite a bit of math, and a few times, I did experience a few flashbacks to my ill fated Astronomy 101 college class. Baggott intersperses some amusing thoughts, comments or stories in between all the math so I did remain engaged. He is particularly adept at describing the "space drama" regarding a possible "new physics" without going completely off the rails.
I did enjoy this listen. I can't say I recommend it for my Library Book Club - as we are diving into Remarkably Bright Creatures this month, and this is definitely not in the same book universe if you will.
I can recommend it for space enthusiasts, students and readers who want to be challenged as they read. For me, it was definitely worth my time. I feel it answered some of my questions as to why humans aren't just travelling the universe as Bester's Demolished Man predicted back in 1953!
STATS
First Published : 1/22/2026
Pages: 336
Available as an Audio Book : YES (~ 9 HRS)
Trigger Warnings: Math (not a complete list- be responsible!)
No comments:
Post a Comment