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B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...



 
 
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  #1  
Old June 6th 04, 05:34 AM
socalsw
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

Okay, I hope you will excuse the subject heading (those of you with
children, I hope, appreciate the reference to the B Book). I have
read through my share of Big Bang questions (from both honest seekers
as well as trolls, and the latter usually wind up responding to the
former), and with each thread, I become more convinced that beyond
using a balloon analogy or some basic facts, a newsgroup is not the
best place to offer a full answer to the question. To really
understand the Big Bang theory, I believe, one needs to read up on it.
Since there is really not a SAA faq, I though maybe some of you
(especially those of you much more knowledgeable than me -- a large
group on this list indeed!) might like to share some titles of good
books on the big bang. Of course most will immediately think of
Hawking's book -- I have never really found it compelling, but this is
just a matter of personal taste on my part, and certainly no
indictment of the book. For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?

Erik
socalsw
  #2  
Old June 6th 04, 03:25 PM
Rod Mollise
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?


Hi Erik:

One I recommend to my students, and a real fave of mine, is another Ferris
book, _The Red Limit_.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html
  #3  
Old June 6th 04, 06:14 PM
Sam Wormley
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

Rod Mollise wrote:

For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?


Hi Erik:

One I recommend to my students, and a real fave of mine, is another Ferris
book, _The Red Limit_.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


Hear Hear... "The Red Limit" is an excellent book!
  #4  
Old June 7th 04, 02:09 AM
Sky-High
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

Sam Wormley wrote in message ...
Rod Mollise wrote:

For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?


Hi Erik:

One I recommend to my students, and a real fave of mine, is another Ferris
book, _The Red Limit_.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


Hear Hear... "The Red Limit" is an excellent book!


I have read both "The Red Limit" and "The Whole Shebang", but to my
mind Timothy Ferris's best book is "Coming of Age in the Milky Way". A
very rich and enjoyable history of Cosmology. One of those books that
at 495 pages; one wishes were twice as long.

I just picked up a copy of Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos",
and after finishing the decidedly non-cosmological "Hollywood Animal"
by Joe Eszterhas, (a kick-ass take-no-prisoners bio), will jump right
into what looks like a good read and further educational experience in
modern cosmology.

-sh
  #5  
Old June 7th 04, 02:15 AM
M. Tettnanger
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

Sam Wormley wrote...
Hear Hear... "The Red Limit" is an excellent book!


Went to Amazon to check it out... only one review?

Average Customer Review: ***** Based on 1 review.

Stephen Hawking's book by contrast has 54 reviews.

Mark
  #6  
Old June 7th 04, 02:30 AM
Sam Wormley
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

Sky-High wrote:

Sam Wormley wrote in message ...
Rod Mollise wrote:

For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?


Hi Erik:

One I recommend to my students, and a real fave of mine, is another Ferris
book, _The Red Limit_.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html


Hear Hear... "The Red Limit" is an excellent book!


I have read both "The Red Limit" and "The Whole Shebang", but to my
mind Timothy Ferris's best book is "Coming of Age in the Milky Way". A
very rich and enjoyable history of Cosmology. One of those books that
at 495 pages; one wishes were twice as long.


Yes--"Coming of Age in the Milky Way" is better than "The Whole Shebang",
the latter getting a bit "muddy: in the last chapters.


I just picked up a copy of Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos",
and after finishing the decidedly non-cosmological "Hollywood Animal"
by Joe Eszterhas, (a kick-ass take-no-prisoners bio), will jump right
into what looks like a good read and further educational experience in
modern cosmology.

-sh

  #7  
Old June 7th 04, 09:17 AM
Martin Brown
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Default B, Big, Big Bang, Big Bang Books...

In message , Sam Wormley
writes
socalsw wrote:

indictment of the book. For me, I like _The Whole Shebang_ by Timothy
Ferris. Any others?

Erik
socalsw


Brian Greene, "The Elegant Universe" (1999)
Brian Greene, "The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of
Reality" (2004)
Seife, "Alpha & Omega", Viking (2003)
Wright, "Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial"
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_uni.html

Popular Cosmology Books
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmobib.html


Another covering similar ground is Martin Rees, "Just Six Numbers".

And then there are, as the book department once put it Unpopular
Cosmology Books that do not shirk from all of the relevant equations.

Joseph Silk, "The Big Bang" is pretty good on that count.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown
 




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