Are these science books worth reading?

Sefirosu · 24 Jun 2012 at 12:32

Why Does E=mc2: (Any Why Should We Care?) by Brian Cox
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe by Martin J. Rees

Thanks.

VaderDSL · 24 Jun 2012 at 12:33

I personally found them very good, took me a while to work my way through them all as I had to revisit sections in each book.

shahpor · 24 Jun 2012 at 13:03

I found Why Does E=mc2 a little dry. To me, it started easy enough, and then ramped up quite quickly, so I ended up re-reading earlier parts to try and catch up.

On the flip side, A Short History of Nearly Everything is just brilliant. Very entertaining. It is almost not a science book, cause the stories he tells for the history of science are very interesting.

regulus · 25 Jun 2012 at 01:37

I can personally vouch for a Short History of Nearly Everything. Nothing short of brilliant. Think I must've read it about 5 times already. Highly entertaining and informative.

Tummy · 25 Jun 2012 at 02:15

Sefirosu said:
Why Does E=mc2: (Any Why Should We Care?) by Brian Cox

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe by Martin J. Rees

Thanks.

Brilliant books.

Really, really enjoyed 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' I've got a physical copy, the audio book and it on my kindle

The other two are very good, the Cox one took me a while.

checjb · 25 Jun 2012 at 11:32

I also enjoyed "Thirteen things that doen't make sense". Some odd bits but overall very though provoking stuff.

ShortWarning · 25 Jun 2012 at 13:05

Is "A really Short History of Nearly Everything" just an updated version of "A Short History of Nearly Everything" (like a briefer history of time)?

PapaLazaru · 25 Jun 2012 at 22:26

regulus said:
I can personally vouch for a Short History of Nearly Everything. Nothing short of brilliant. Think I must've read it about 5 times already. Highly entertaining and informative.

I read it once a year just to remind me of things. I love it.

Kosmiche · 25 Jun 2012 at 23:00

I read a short history of nearly everything, its one of those books that lends itself not to read from start to finish but reading specific segments at a time.

I read it from start to finish and I just got overloaded with information! So yeah, more of a reference book.

ShortWarning · 28 Jun 2012 at 12:03

ShortWarning said:
Is "A really Short History of Nearly Everything" just an updated version of "A Short History of Nearly Everything" (like a briefer history of time)?

Sorry to bring this up again, looking for something to read on holiday. Which one should I get?

VaderDSL · 28 Jun 2012 at 12:07

Just reading Atomic by Jim Baggot at the moment, basically an in depth history behind the nations/people/science/technology/espionage involved in creating the fission and fusion bombs.