Book recommendation

[MarcAntony]

Hi guys/gals,

I am OBSESSED with cosmology/astrophysics/etc. But I'm on the beginning edge of scratching these subjects and my knowledge is a result of watching every single universe, BB, stephen hawking, etc etc documentary series on discovery, nat geo, science channel, and history channel in the last year. There's been a lot of em....

In any event, I have a friend of the opposite sex, who is also very intelligent and this makes me very interested in getting her interested in all this as well, so I can have a friend to discuss this stuff with on a stimulating level. Thing is, she doesn't watch much television, except for girlie stuff, but she reads like a maniac - however, she's purely stuck to fiction.

So far, I've been unable to generate much interest with her, but I'm convinced now that if I could persuade her to read a book on everything, she'd find the light.

But I'm stumped - the highest rated books on the subject, per amazon, were written years ago and must be behind the curve on the latest discoveries and amazing mysteries being solved. I've conceded that it may be necessary to give a little on the up to date portion and simply ensure that its something that can hook her.

My initial thoughts were to go with a Hawking novel, but I thought I might come here and get some opinions before making my choice. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Here's an excellent place to start; we have a whole topic dedicated to Documentries, Lectures, and Books.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16646#p334467

 

[halcyondays]

Frankly, I'd avoid anything by Stephen Hawking. He may be a brilliant scientist but his books are overrated.

Try "The Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos" by Dennis Overbye. Alternatively, anything by Brian Greene is also very good.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

I agree, anything by Briane Greene is good.

I'm just finishing up "The Black Hole War *-Or my battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the Universe Safe for Quantum Physics" by Leonard Susskind. It deals with Black Holes and the Information Paradox. It covers a whole gambit of cosmologically related subjects.

Bill Bryson's "* A Short History of Nearly Everything" covers many cosmologically related subjects in dedicated chapters as well and is very easy to read. He has a great knack for adding the "human side" to the story and is very engaging in his style.

Magazines are good sources for conversation starters. "American Scientist" and "Scientific American" (Kind of funny how that works, isn't it?) usually have articles relating to cosmology as well as "Sky and Telescope", of course. Some of the best articles I've ever read on cosmology have been from those mags.

Television is a great way to get exposed to new information. Sometimes, it's even better at presenting certain points. A recent show (Beyond the Event Horizon?) focused on the Hawking/Susskind battle over black holes. I didn't see the show but, one thing struck me as being inconsistent with Susskind's statements on his own position or, at least his description of it to laymen. In short: Television is great for some things but, having it straight from the horse's mouth in the form of a book is often more thorough.

Television is no substitute for a good book. So, start collecting them and loan them to your friend.. After all, you'll always have to meet with her to get the book back and to loan her a new one.

 

[ZenGalacticore]

Try "The Big Bang, Origin of the Universe" by Simon Singh. Copyrighted in 2004.

It has a lot of history intertwined with the science and is very readable for laypersons and specialists alike.

 

[MarcAntony]

Great information gang. Thanks so much.

I've ordered a couple of the books mentioned here and plan on reading them before suggesting one. I ordered both Brian Greene books as well.

Thanks again for the great suggestions!