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Product Description
Review
'A marvelously capacious book that will attract serious readers everywhere' --Booklist
Review
'Informative and provocative... Any reader who has avoided science for fear of being overwhelmed will find a friendly guide in Potter'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The history of the universe, man's interpretation of it, his place within it down the ages, an overview of the interaction of the disciplines of philosophy, religion and science from Aristotle to the present day, an easily understood explanation of the physics, chemistry and biology that underpin our universe as we perceive it and all presented in an inquiring and undogmatic way.
Whew! What else does an interested layman need on the subject? This is one of the few "must keep" books one will ever read - that is if the reader values understanding the "meaning of life" in so far as he is capable of understanding it at all! That limitation is made abundantly clear.
Mr. Potter's writing flows, is unaffected (unusual for the genre) and reeks of authority acquired over a lifetime of dispassionate and intelligent observation. Also, surprisingly for a book that out-Hawkings Hawking, a stonking good read from start to finish. Wow factor 10/10.
Whew! What else does an interested layman need on the subject? This is one of the few "must keep" books one will ever read - that is if the reader values understanding the "meaning of life" in so far as he is capable of understanding it at all! That limitation is made abundantly clear.
Mr. Potter's writing flows, is unaffected (unusual for the genre) and reeks of authority acquired over a lifetime of dispassionate and intelligent observation. Also, surprisingly for a book that out-Hawkings Hawking, a stonking good read from start to finish. Wow factor 10/10.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A great book that walks you through from the largest distances to very very small things (or non-things), from the beginning of cosmic history to its end(s).
While the book frequently looks at the search for a unifying theory, this book wittingly unifies many disparate areas of knowledge. Potter opens the book with the idea of him as a child trying to write out his full address, the solar system, the milky way, the universe. It does feel like a parent giving shape to our universe. And it will be a good cheat sheet (though, as said in another review, not a good text book) for the questions I will in turn be asked as a parent. It will give me confidence in answering at some point, "we don't know."
While the book frequently looks at the search for a unifying theory, this book wittingly unifies many disparate areas of knowledge. Potter opens the book with the idea of him as a child trying to write out his full address, the solar system, the milky way, the universe. It does feel like a parent giving shape to our universe. And it will be a good cheat sheet (though, as said in another review, not a good text book) for the questions I will in turn be asked as a parent. It will give me confidence in answering at some point, "we don't know."
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An unique book which lifts you up and beyond the educated layman's horizons of knowledge onto a magical journey between hard wired scientific theories about the earth and our biology. A treatise where the certainty of scientific experimentation is always measured against the fact that science not only creates new perspectives of objectivity but at the same time can and does destroy our selves and our environment. And, often deceives us in the name of Progress. The book is an astonishing synthesis of human intellectual development and the fact that with nothing more than their five senses to play with many of the early Greek philosophers intuitively knew as much as we do today. Don't be intimidated by the breadth of Christopher Potter's knowledge: even if you don't get everything you will end up knowing more than you thought and it is written in inviting, often mischievous prose, and punctuated by illuminating literary references that you may want to hang onto forever.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mind-blowing!
I bought this book on a whim - I thought it looked intriguing. It turned out to be as thought-provoking as it was intelligent, witty and, literally, mind-blowing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Piers Harper
A REVEALING TRIP VIA TIME & SPACE- FROM EARTH THRU THE UNIVERSE,
Four and a half ADVENTUROUS Stars!! Author Christopher Potter takes us on a short journey across 14 Billion years of time & space using hard science & speculation, unassailable... Read more
Published 6 months ago by RBSProds
An excellent introduction to science
This a very interesting little `pop science' book from an author who, having studied science at university, had left that world behind to pursue other interests and now decided to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by S. Meadows
A Good Read
A good overview for the lay reader of current scientic understanding of Cosmology, evolutionary biology and other fundamental topics. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Howard Somerville
clear and readable
A very accessible account of some difficult ideas. Easy to read and good value. Recommended.
Published 23 months ago by d griffiths
Erudite and accomplished
Essentially this fascinating and lucid work covers the same sort of ground as Bill Bryson's excellent 2003 book "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" and it could be thought of as... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2010 by R. Darlington
Subject matter - 5 stars. Christopher Potter's writing style - minus 3...
I found Potter's writing style almost impossible to bear. He starts off as an exceedingly long winded bore, flips to a staccato delivery of facts and finishes with a flourish of... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by anonymous
You are Here: A Portable History of the Universe
Written in excellent English, it is remarkable how the author, Christopher Potter, has been able to condense so much in a small volume without loss of quality. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by GJP HOWELLS
Efficiency of processing and delivery
You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe
I ordered this book for a Birthday present, so can only say book arrived in satisfactory order. Read more
I ordered this book for a Birthday present, so can only say book arrived in satisfactory order. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2009 by Maureen Gee
Perspective
An excellent read, it puts earth into perspective for you and asks some more interesting questions on time and dimensions.
Published on 6 July 2009 by Mr. A. Bell-smith
Listmania!
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