Įdomi, be vietomis man per sudėtinga.

Tiêu đề cuốn sách (The Universe in a Nutshell) là một cách chơi chữ mang 2 ý nghĩa: một là tóm tắt vài kiến thức về vũ trụ, và hai là mô tả hình thái của vũ trụ dưới dạng hình cầu (như một hạt dẻ - nutshell).

Khái niệm chính được đề cập xuyên suốt trong cuốn sách này là "không thời gian ảo", qua đó tác giả có thể biểu diễn vũ trụ dưới dạng một hình cầu. Người đọc có thể hình dung được khái niệm không thời gian ảo này dưới dạng một quả cầu như trái đất, nhưng để hiểu rõ ràng về nó thì có lẽ rất khó khăn, nếu như chỉ đọc những dòng giải thích với đầy thuật ngữ trong sách.

Nhìn chung mình không nhận được nhiều kiến thức từ cuốn sách này lắm nên không review về nội dung của nó.

Sau khi đọc 3 cuốn sách về thiên văn của Stephen Hawking, mình cho rằng những cuốn này không phù hợp để nằm trong danh sách recommend cho người khác đọc. Ngoài lý do chính là vì tính hàn lâm của nó, mà còn vì những cuốn sách viết dạng này có khả năng truyền tải nội dung rất hạn chế (và sẽ kén người đọc).

Giả thiết rằng những cuốn sách này nhắm tới những người đọc phổ thông, nhưng kiến thức trong sách lại được đưa vào một cách không bài bản và có đầu đuôi một cách dễ hiểu. Các thuật ngữ và kiến thức chuyên sâu được sử dụng quá nhiều trong khi người đọc chưa có căn bản rõ ràng.

"A picture is worth a thousand words". Mặc dù tác giả đã cố gắng đưa vài hình minh họa vào sách nhưng còn xa mới đủ để đáp ứng được tính hiệu quả của nó. Người đọc dù đã trưởng thành nhưng khi tiếp cận những kiến thức này chẳng khác gì trẻ con đang mò mẫm tìm hiểu về thiên nhiên. Trẻ em thích sách có nhiều hình ảnh minh họa, và người lớn cũng nhiều lúc cần như thế.

Nên nếu ai muốn tìm hiểu về khoa học vũ trụ thì mình nghĩ nên tận dụng truyền thông đa phương tiện (nôm na là lên youtube tìm video), sẽ dễ hiểu và trực quan hơn nhiều. Mình cũng coi qua vài clip và thấy họ dùng ngôn ngữ bình dân và minh họa sinh động hơn nhiều so với việc ngồi đọc hằng trang sách dày đặc chữ. Sau đó nếu có hứng thì có thể tìm đến những cuốn sách này sau.

Nếu bạn nào bắt đọc các cuốn sách của Stephen Hawking thì nên đọc theo thứ tự thời gian xuất bản như bên dưới:

Lược sử thời gian (1988)
Vũ trụ trong vỏ hạt dẻ (2001)
Bản thiết kế vĩ đại (2010)
Brief Answers to the Big Questions (2018, mình chưa đọc và có vẻ chưa được dịch)

While you do need to remember more than a bit of your college's general physics to follow all this book has to offer, you can't find a better book that gives a better concise account of what our universe is, how it works, where it will possibly end up and some of the mystery's still remain in the realm of science.

Stephen Hawking (RIP) offers a very understandable read here for those who are curious but lack the strong scientific muscle to understand everything. And that is my review in a nutshell.

This is my first time ever audio book. It is enjoyable, esspecially because of the voice - is calm. I am used to listening to scientific materials, most of them in form of debates. But listening to an audio book is nothing compared to reading - you cannot turn back the page or re-read a passage, you cannot make notes with a pencil on the page, you cannot highlight key definitions, aseertions, or conclusions in the text. Eye-sight is also a much more efficient tool in gathering information than the ear.

To be clear at the beginning, I maybe got a slight grasp of max. 50% of all concepts presented here. The opening chapter explaining physic’s history and the life and work of Einstein was well understandable, so was the second to last chapter looking into a possible future for humankind. Everything in between, when Hawking moves into contemporary physics, quantum theory and multi-dimensional concepts, I was losing myself quite regularly between the lines. Halfway through the book, I let go of the expectation that I could actually master the material, and by then, I really enjoyed the periodic appearance of concepts I had heard of arrive in their natural context: black holes, time travel, string theory, Heisenberg principle - you name it. Recommended if you want to be reminded of how little we understand of the world around us.

Concise overview of the structure of the Universe. But unless you have certain knowledge in Astronomy, you hardly understand this book fully.

نابغه‌ترین فردی که تا مدت‌ها در عرصه‌ی علم برروی ویلچر یکه‌تازی می‌کرد، کتابی نوشت تا همراه با طعم نمک، فیزیک را بر مغز انسان‌های کندذهنی مثل من، یا کسانی که سررشته‌ای از آن ندارند زخم بزند. آن یک ستاره را ندادم چون باز هم نفهمیدم:))) اما خواندن این کتاب یک تجربه‌ی بی‌نظیر بود. حدود یکی دودرصد از کتاب را فهمیدم که آن‌هم نگاه من به‌جهان را تغییر داد.

4.25/5 stars

This is the seventh Stephen Hawking's book I've read so far, and I have to confess that the last half of the materials in "The Universe in a Nutshell" are pretty difficult to wrap my brain around since most of the topics are about the frontiers of theoretical physics and cosmology.

However, I enjoyed reading the first half of the book (where I can understand). I wouldn't dare to be the first to make that joke, but Professor Hawking joked that although he held Isaac Newton's chair as a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, his is electric and Newton's was not.

I will return to this book in the future once I have a better grasp on mathematics for theoretical physics; reading the theory in words alone doesn't help much.

Stephen Hawking’s book, which is a sequel to his popular book, A Brief History of Time, describes recent developments in theoretical physics, ranging from Einstein’s Theories of Relativity (both Special and General), to Quantum Theory, to String Theory, to P-branes (P-dimensional membranes), and more. It is a very general and popular sort of introduction, and gives one a feeling for the concepts, while being frustrating in its limited treatment.

There are beautiful illustrations, which offer an intuitive feel for the concepts, although these too are problematical. When a picture is “a cylinder with the long axis being the time direction and the cross section being the three space directions,” I have trouble picturing the cross section of a cylinder being three dimensions. Maybe this is just because the concept is difficult.

Or in another example, when the author says, “in the M-theory network of mathematical models, spacetime has ten or eleven dimensions … the six or seven extra dimensions would all be curled up very small,” I try to imagine those extra dimensions. If you were in those dimensions, would you feel “curled up”? Would the standard spacetime dimensions seem perpendicular to yours, or would they in turn seem “curled up”?

Many of the concepts are made clearer, such as the concepts of black holes, and worm holes, or the concept of gravity as curved spacetime. So one attains a superficial familiarity with the catchphrases of modern physics, without necessarily a deep understanding.

While this book seems like a very elementary use of Hawking’s formidable intellect, it gives the general public an idea of what the best minds in physics are thinking about. But before people start bringing Quantum Physics into everyday conversation, I wish there were more basic introductions which would explain with more precision what we are talking about. Undoubtedly such treatments exist in college courses, but the Stephen Hawking book is only a sampler.

یادمه وقتی کلاس هفتم بودم اسم استیون هاوکینگ و اینشتین که میومد تو پوست خودم نمی گنجیدم
این کتاب رو از آقای خطاپوش معلم علومم قرض گرفتم و خوندمش
یه واقعیت رو بخوام بگم هیچی ازش نفهمیدم جز اینکه خود ذره های زیر اتمی هم از کوارک ها ساخته شدن
با اینکه هیچی نمیفهمیدم ازش ولی بازم عشق میکردم

জেমস ওয়েব টেলিস্কোপের তোলা কিছু ছবির পর থেকে তোলপার লেগে গেছে মানুষের মাঝে। নিজেকে শ্রেষ্ঠ দাবী করা অতি ক্ষুদ্র এই সত্ত্বা আবার সন্দিহান হয়ে পড়েছে তার অস্তিত্ব নিয়ে। ১৯৮৮ সালের পর দ্বিতীয়বই 'দ্যা ইউনিভার্স ইন আ নাটশেল' লিখেছেন বিজ্ঞানী স্টিফেন হকিং ২০০১ সালে। এই সময়ে তিনি হাবল টেলিস্কোপে পাওয়া তত্ত্ব তথ্যের অনেক বিষয় তুলে ধরেছেন এই বইতে। বৈজ্ঞানিক নানা সম্ভাবনা, মানবজাতির ভবিষ্যৎ, আশংকা নিয়ে বিস্তর চিন্তাভাবনা করেছেন তিনি বৈজ্ঞানিক ভাবে। জেমস ওয়েবের এই চিত্রগুলো যখন প্রকাশ পায়, তখন এই বইটির মাঝামাঝি ছিলাম আমি। আমার আফসোস হচ্ছিল স্টিফেন হকিং এর জন্য, ভদ্রলোক যদি দেখে যেতে পারতেন এই চিত্রগুলো, নতুন আবিষ্কারগুলো।

এই বইটি লেখক লিখতে চেয়েছেন সকলের জন্য। সহজ করে। তবে এটি আসলে তখনই 'সহজ' হবে, যখন এই বিষয়গুলো নিয়ে কারও আগে থেকে কিছুটা জ্ঞান থাকবে, আগ্রহ থাকবে। এখানে সাতটি অধ্যায়ে তিনি আলোচনা করেছেন মহাবিশ্বের নানা গুরুগম্ভীর বিষয় নিয়ে। শুরু করেছেন আইন্সটাইনের আপেক্ষিকতা তত্ত্বের সংক্ষিপ্ত ইতিহাস দিয়ে। এরপর একে একে, সময় এর মতো বিশাল জটিল বিষয় নিয়ে আলোচনা করেছেন। সময়ের ব্যাপারটা এত জটিল, লেখক এত সহজ করে বোঝানোর পরও বেশ কিছু বিষয় সঠিক ধরতে পারিনি। তারপর মহাবিশ্বের ইতিহাস, ভবিষ্যৎ গণণার সাথে ব্ল্যাকহোলের যোগসাজশ, টাইম ট্রাভেল কি সম্ভব কিনা, অতীতে যাওয়া সম্ভব কিনা অথবা অতীত পরিবর্তনশীল কিনা, মানব জাতির ভবিষ্যৎ কেমন হতে পারে, হলোগ্রাফিক স্তরে জীবনের সাদৃশ্য ইত্যাদি ছিল বিষয়।

এগুলো ব্যাখ্যা করতে লেখকের তুলে আনতে হয়েছে টাইম-স্পেস থিওরি, সিংগুলারিটি, বিগ ব্যাং, স্ট্রিং থিওরি, ডপলার ইফেক্ট, রিলেটিভিটি থিওরি, টাইম ট্রাভেল থিওরি... ইত্যাদি হাজারো থিওরি। সেগুলোর মাঝে পার্থক্য, সাদৃশ্য আলোচনায় তিনি তার মতামত ব্যাখ্যা করেছেন। মজার অজানা থিওরিও ছিল অনেক। যেমন গোডেলের অসম্পূর্ণতা থিওরির কথা জানতাম না আমি। তিনি প্রমাণ করেছিলেন গণিত পুরোপুরিভাবে যুক্তিযুক্ত, স্বয়ংসম্পূর্ণ সিস্টেম নয়। এরও সীমাবদ্ধতা আছে। তাঁর এই থিওরি ছিল বিজ্ঞানের জগতে এক বিশাল ধাক্কা। তারপর আরও গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অনেক বিষয় যেমন, ২৬০০ সালের মাঝে পৃথিবীর অতি জনসংখ্যা বৃদ্ধির সম্ভাবনা, দুর্যোগ ইত্যাদি উঠে এসেছি। পরিচিত হয়েছি রিচার্ড ফাইনম্যানের মতো কজন বিজ্ঞানীর সাথে, পরিবর্তন হয়েছে অনেক ধারণা।

আপাত দৃষ্টিতে বেশ বোরিং বই মনে হতে পারে বইটিকে। আর কঠিন ভাষার কথা তো থাকেই। কিন্তু স্টিফেন হকিং এর স্টার ট্রেকের মতো কতগুলো পপকালচার রেফারেন্স, ব্যক্তিগত বিষয় নিয়ে উদাহরণ, অতি গভীরে গিয়ে সহজ করে বোঝানোর চেষ্টা, আর কথোপকথনের ঢংয়ে লেখাটি আপনার ভয় ভাঙাতে বাধ্য। সাথে বইটির প্রতি পাতায় পাতায় রয়েছে ছবি। যেগুলো বোঝার ক্ষেত্রে অত্যন্ত সহায়ক ছিল। অনুবাদক আবুল বাসারও এত সুন্দর করে অনুবাদ করেছেন, এরচেয়ে ভালো অনুবাদ আশা করছিনা। এই অতি সুন্দর করে সাজানো বইটিকে তিনি আরও খুব সুন্দর ভাবে গুছিয়েছেন। শেষে গিয়ে শব্দকোষ আর পরিভাষা উদ্ধৃত করে সহজ করে দিয়েছেন। যদিও কিছু শব্দ তিনি ইংরেজি বা পরিভাষা ব্যবহার করলেই পারতেন। জটিলতা আরেকটু কম হতো। আর ছবির ব্যবহার একটু ডিস্ট্রাক্টিং লেগেছে৷ মনে হয়েছে বক্তব্য কি ছিল মাঝে ছবি দেখে ভুলে গিয়েছি।

আমি বিজ্ঞানের বই পড়াতে বেশ আগ্রহী একজন পাঠক। নন-ফিকশন তো অবশ্যই। আমার জন্য বইটি বেশ সন্তুষ্টি দিয়েছে। মহাবিশ্ব মহাকাশ নিয়ে ছোটবেলা থেকে পড়তে ইচ্ছা করে, জানতে ইচ্ছা করে। সেখানে স্টিফেন হকিং এর মতো কালজয়ী একজন ব্যক্তিত্ত্বের লেখা এই বিষয়ের বইটি আমার সেই আগ্রহের জগতে নতুন পালক সংযোজন করলো।

First of all, I expected the Hawking's electronic voice for narrating the audiobook. Though it might sound silly, I'm more fond of his unique voice.

After his international bestseller, A Brief History of Time in 80s, he wanted to propagandize the current frontier we're encountering but this time in a more brief way. The First two chapters serve as a prerequisite for proper understanding. Short but very well explained introductory concepts of Einstein-Relativity stuffs; Maybe because i used to read a lot of books in that subject (I've read more books on relativity than automobile engineering in which I've got a bachelor's recently).

Weirdness of Quantum Mechanics and its unification attempts with relativity at the initial conditions of the universe. Time and extra dimensions for the maintenance of consistencies. Some little dip in the chaos theory but too much idea regarding it in this book.

Some chapters on his (and his colleagues) attempts on the formulations of the Quantum Gravity theory, then evolving into Super Gravity, then String theories and eventually m-theory atleast for now (Eventually is not the correct usage).

Blackhole information paradox and the concepts of imaginary time are correlated to hinder the optimistic possibilities of Time Travel atleast for now. The Paradox is a puzzle resulting from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. I feel personally that this Part needs revisiting again. Even the simple terms and explanations, these are much more complex topics undergoing tedious *theoritical* research currently. He also reassures the readers sarcastically that this might be a part of government cover up for Time Travel Conspiracy; You get to know only when you get to meet one like HG Wells.

What I can assure is, that one could get a better view on string theory based M-theory which currently has the higher chance to become the Theory of Everything and the concepts of brane worlds.

And that is my Review in a Nutshell.