The Biggest Ideas in the Universe : Space, Time and Motion

I’m sure the book is wonderful, but the hardcover version of the book is printed on thin toiletpaper… The paper quality is terrible

A book that does not shy away from the maths - something I have long wanted to find as the "popular" science books tend to be on the shallow side. That said he does take it a a heck of a lick and concepts build very rapidly one on top of another. I will have to go back and reread it as he is covering stuff which you would do at undergraduate degree level and above. For instance, I have long wanted to get a handle on what a Hamiltonian is and for the first time I am reading about it in a way that gives me some (but not complete) insight - hence will need careful rereading. First read through gives you the big picture and I hope to fill in a few more details on second pass. Essential reading before you start on the second book - Fields and Quanta

Il miglior testo 'divulgativo' che abbia mai letto, anche se definirlo divulgativo è riduttivo. Rispetto ai soliti, che lasciano sempre un po' insoddisfatti, una geniale analisi delle formule, che non richiede mai più dell'algebra di terza media, fa comprendere a fondo i concetti. Sarebbe ideale come testo per le scuole superiori o, meglio ancora, come supporto agli insegnanti.

Sean Carroll es uno de los mejores divulgadores sobre cosmología y, en esta ocasión ha escrito un libro para todos aquellos que busquen un mayor entendimiento y comprensión de las bases físicas de los fenómenos descritos. Sin ser un libro académico per se, si que es necesario una base en cálculo para manejarse con el texto. Explica conceptos complicados de una manera simple y rigurosa para profundizar si el lector lo desea más adelante. Es un excelente libro de física.

I love to watch Sean Carroll's videos and his method of teaching is unique and mesmerizing. However, his speaking skills don't translate well into the written media. In this way, I was a bit disappointed -- but maybe I was expecting too much. This is not to say that the book didn't fulfill its promises. It does. I thought the first third of the book was a good review of my long-ago 12th grade Physics class. But it soon began to blossom into more advanced concepts that were supported by a little more math than I had been hoping for. I thought he did an excellent job of leading up to and explaining the meaning of "curved spacetime", as well as how and why gravity modifies spacetime (the topic I was most interested in, for which I had to wait until Chaper 8). Admittedly, the math overwhelmed me in the later chapters, but it wasn't difficult to wreak out its meanings and results. I also appreciated the historical references to the pioneer physicists and their contributions to everything we know today. There are so many advances and discoveries that have been made in understanding our physical world in a relatively short period of time, as discussed in this book, but so many questions are still unanswered. Carroll leaves us with a kind of excitement in attempting to imagine what might be yet to come.