Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang Endless Universe Beyond the Big Bang , Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok , Doubleday, New York, 2007. $24.95 (284 pp.). ISBN 978-0-385-50964-0

Physics Today ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-59
Author(s):  
Glenn D. Starkman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish Chatterley

Hawking, Lucy and Stephen Hawking. George and the Big Bang. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print. This is the third installment in a trilogy about George’s escapades and galactic adventures, though the book provides enough background that it can stand on its own without the reader needing the context provided in the first two books. George is best friends with his neighbour, Annie, whose father, Eric, is an eminent physicist and professor of mathematics. George and Annie secretly use her father’s supercomputer, named Cosmos, not only to answer their questions but also to open windows and passageways into other parts of the world and outer space. In this story, when Eric and George are observed gallivanting on the surface of the Moon, a special meeting of the Order of Science to Benefit Humanity is called to discuss the consequences of Eric’s actions. The Order is comprised of the world’s leading scientists, and is designed to ensure that science is used for good and not evil. George and Annie must prevent the secret organization, called TOERAG (Theory of Everything Resists Addition of Gravity), from setting off a quantum mechanical bomb at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland where the meeting is to take place. The bomb is to be set off just as a very important experiment into the beginnings of the Universe is to be conducted.  The group’s intent is to destroy science by killing the top physicists in the world (including Annie’s dad), thereby permanently disrupting scientific investigation. George and Annie encounter much danger and a few close calls along the way. Black and white cartoon illustrations by Garry Parsons complement the story. Essays about some of the latest scientific theories, such as dark matter and wormholes, factual sections about various astronomical subjects, and colour photographs from space, are interspersed throughout the narrative. They appear when related concepts are presented in the story, though at times they interrupt the flow of the text. The inserts are written in a conversational tone and try to make complex topics comprehensible. However, some subjects will remain beyond the understanding of a young reader. There remains a dichotomy between the fiction and the non-fiction; younger children will appreciate the story, while older kids with an interest in science may learn a great deal about astronomy and physics, but the different elements may not appeal to all ages. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Trish ChatterleyTrish is a Public Services Librarian for the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. In her free time she enjoys dancing, gardening, and reading books of all types.


Author(s):  
Nancy Shute

“Don't pick the hard stories, sweetheart,” an editor told me long, long ago. “Those are the ones that will break your heart.” Nonsense, I thought. I was young and ambitious and eager to chase a story through multiple all-nighters. He was old and wily and appreciated those stories that would glide through the copy desk and get him home in time for a glass of scotch and dinner with the family. Now, more than 20 years after getting that good advice, I too appreciate the easy stories. But I'm still trying for the hard ones. Every few years, if I'm lucky, I manage to pull one off. When I do, the small, secret joy of having done so sustains me through months of too-short deadlines and too-tight space. In thinking about what elevates a story from okay to prizewinner, from another day at the office to the top of the clip file, I think again about that long-ago editor, a grizzled veteran of the Saturday Evening Post. Don't try to be different, he said. Write about what everyone else is writing about. Those are the big stories, the ones that matter. And he was right. In covering science and medicine, we're blessed with big stories galore. Cloning, cancer, Mars exploration, anthrax, the Big Bang, climate change, nanotechnology, heart disease—it's birth, death, creation, the meaning of life. If that can't get you on page Ai, what can? But that very abundance, and the flood of data that bears those stories along, make it all too tempting to settle for the easy get—to write off the journals, take your lead from the New York Times, and get by. A great story demands more. I like to think of journalism as bricklaying—a noble craft, but a craft all the same. To build a wall, I need bricks. To build a noble wall, I need the best bricks ever. Facts are the bricks of a story, and finding the right bricks requires serious reporting. I can't say that exhaustive research and reporting will guarantee a great story, but I've never been able to pull one off without it.


580 entriesFrom the big bang to the 21st century, this renowned encyclopedia provides an integrated view of human and universal history. Eminent scholars examine environmental and social issues by exploring connections and interactions made over time (and across cultures and locales) through trade, warfare, migrations, religion, and diplomacy.Over 100 new articles, and 1,200 illustrations, photos, and maps from the collections of the Library of Congress, the World Digital Library, the New York Public Library, and many more sources, make this second edition a vital addition for world history-focused classrooms and libraries.


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