Tuesday 10 October 2000

John Barrow: The Origin of the Universe (1994)

Edition: Phoenix, 1995
Review number: 649

Part of a series of explanations of important areas of current science by leading science writers, The Origin of the Universe would be an ideal place for to start for a reader with virtually no scientific background who wants to try to understand something of current thought on the subject. It is concise and simple, admirably written, and has the odd point of interest even to a voracious reader of popular science books. It reminded me of the science books of Isaac Asimov, and is a worthy successor to his books on cosmology, written skilfully in the same spirit yet up to date. I found Asimov's books fascinating when I was a teenager - they were all about the interesting science they didn't teach at school - and I think that The Origin of the Universe could have the same effect on an interested teenager today.

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