Beyond Star Trek (Book Review)

Top 2. Apr 6, 2001 7:29 PM

» CBJ - Re: Another Excellent Review

In response to message posted by quasar:

A Brief History of Time is a great book, and certainly it has done a lot to popularize science. It is on par with Cosmos in terms of public name recognition. But Cosmos, released in 1980, really led the way in generating public interest in science. It created a very accepting atmosphere for Hawking's book.

Kaku's Hyperspace is, in my opinion, a much more interesting read than Hawking and that is why I mention it here.

But regardless of which has been more influential, all three of these are must read books for anyone interested in the world in which we live.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Janice.

-- posted by CBJ

Top 3. Apr 6, 2001 8:37 PM

» quasar - Re: Re: Another Excellent Review

In response to message posted by CBJ:

Hmmm, maybe this is because I was younger when it came out, but I didn't see any real widespread public interest in physics/cosmology/astronomy result from Cosmos. There did seem to be more widespread interest in the PBS series, but still not nearly to the extent of Brief History of Time.

As for Brief History of Time, I actually can't stand the book. But I do give it credit for its immense popularity. It was popular to the point that a poet and philosophy student led a series of classes on the book for artists in Woodstock, NY (my mom dragged me to one of them). That's pretty impressive for a cosmology book.

I actually haven't read Hyperspace (and of course I realize I must find a copy and do so post-haste).

Janice

-- posted by quasar

Top 4. Apr 7, 2001 6:03 AM

» CBJ - Poet, Philosophy, Hawking

In response to message posted by quasar:

A series of classes on A Brief History led by a poet/philosopher sounds interesting. What were the classes like? How did he use Hawking's material?

-- posted by CBJ