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cmuellersmith's review against another edition
2.0
It had some interesting points, but generally I found it wandered a lot and felt very superficial, although, perhaps that is best for selling a physics book to the general public. Also, Randall's writing style gets a bit repetative; she repeats the same idea or sentence, reworded just a bit, wayyyyyy too much.
craiggle99's review against another edition
4.0
From measurements on both large and small scales, to statistics, to particle physics and cosmology, with a couple of detours into artistic creativity, Dr. Randall has been effective at communicating the enthusiasm toward her subject into a text that is accessible to even those who don't have a strong base of knowledge of that subject matter.
As CERN's LHC produces new data that researchers are able to parse and add information to our ever expanding knowledge of the universe, I expect that we'll be seeing an enhanced version of this, or even better a sequel.
As CERN's LHC produces new data that researchers are able to parse and add information to our ever expanding knowledge of the universe, I expect that we'll be seeing an enhanced version of this, or even better a sequel.
dwgradio's review against another edition
4.0
It is a pleasure to read an author who is both passionate about and expert on their subject. Knocking on Heaven's Door isn't pop science, but also doesn't lack for personality in the writing. Not being pop science some of the physics is beyond the level of a layman, but Randall more than makes up for this with a fascinating history of the development of the Large Hadron Collider, and a very in depth look at what it might find (the book was published in 2011, two years prior to the confirmation of the existence of the Higgs Boson through research done at the LHC). She also does an excellent job explaining scale, and how physicists study scales we don't experience first hand. Two minor criticisms:
Randall telegraphs everything she is going to write about, and occasionally what she has just written. In this next part of the book I will, or in this part of the book I have... It seems like an unnecessary crutch.
A bit too much time - in my opinion - was spent discussing risk, particularly where it pertained to other fields outside of particle physics. The information and analogy was good, but it was dragged out to the point of being tangential.
Overall an enjoyable, challenging, informative read.
Randall telegraphs everything she is going to write about, and occasionally what she has just written. In this next part of the book I will, or in this part of the book I have... It seems like an unnecessary crutch.
A bit too much time - in my opinion - was spent discussing risk, particularly where it pertained to other fields outside of particle physics. The information and analogy was good, but it was dragged out to the point of being tangential.
Overall an enjoyable, challenging, informative read.
doncrozier's review against another edition
5.0
Particle physics has always fascinated me and Lisa Randall has taught me more about that than I would have thought possible. But much more than that, but she explores elements of the history of physics and gave me a new way of looking at how we got to where we are today. Very timely too with the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson. I will be reading more from her.
sevenlefts's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a bit of a slog for me. I stuck with it, but mostly out of stubbornness. Randall makes good points about the scientific process and the role scientific inquiry plays, but large portions of the book were given over to the minutiae of particle physics, much of which wen way over my head. I've read other books by science writers who seem better able to get these ideas across.
This would have been enjoyable had I known more about quantum physics, but I just don't, so there you go. But, if you you really geek out on descriptions of the experiments currently being conducted to detect new particles, dark energy and dark matter, take a look.
This would have been enjoyable had I known more about quantum physics, but I just don't, so there you go. But, if you you really geek out on descriptions of the experiments currently being conducted to detect new particles, dark energy and dark matter, take a look.
noranne's review against another edition
It's been 3 and a half years, obviously I'm not going to finish this. Nothing wrong with the book itself, it was just sort of below my level so I wasn't learning anything new and that didn't hold my interest.
hank's review against another edition
3.0
The first 2/3 of this book was a 3 star. Randall was all over the place with analogies and subject matter. It was hard to keep track of the points she was trying to make and for my desires it was a bit too light on the physics I was looking for. The last 1/3 completely made up for it. Good material on sub-atomic particles, the LHC, expansion of the universe, dark matter and a bit of string theory. Mostly over my head but I did feel my hair move in the breeze.
3.5 stars rounded down because too much of the book was a bit scattered. I would recommend [b:The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos|8167094|The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos|Brian Greene|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320431300s/8167094.jpg|13013056] or [b:A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing|11337189|A Universe from Nothing Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing|Lawrence M. Krauss|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1365217267s/11337189.jpg|16265802] for a better focused and detailed survey of crazy physics.
3.5 stars rounded down because too much of the book was a bit scattered. I would recommend [b:The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos|8167094|The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos|Brian Greene|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1320431300s/8167094.jpg|13013056] or [b:A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing|11337189|A Universe from Nothing Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing|Lawrence M. Krauss|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1365217267s/11337189.jpg|16265802] for a better focused and detailed survey of crazy physics.
afonsob's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
1.0
I honestly admire the author for being able to waffle 400 pages of uncritical content. This book tries to approach so many topics in such a vague way that it could well have been 100 different Buzzfeed listicles. The author is a theoretical physicist, so you just know she thinks she knows everything. In one single unnecessarily long book, she talks about the philosophy of religion and science, the nature of spiritual belief and its opposition (or not) to scientific belief (all the while asserting that only science provides the OnE tRuE oBjEcTiVe KnOwLeDgE), the nature of the mind and of consciousness, climate change, macroeconomics, government policy, the history of CERN and the LHC, the fundaments of particle physics, string theory, dark matter and the cosmos. At one point, the author blatantly states that “we know dark matter exists because (…)”, girl do we? Do we, now? If you’re so certain, go get that Nobel Prize you didn’t win for string theory! Also, she really tries to sell string theory as the answer to God, but girl come on we all know it’s a failed ~hypothesis~ (not even a theory). If all of this doesn’t put you off, there is an excessive amount of unnecessary anecdotes which seem to serve only for name-dropping famous people the author knows; all throughout the book she repeats ideas three times in the same paragraph; and, while sometimes she takes time to explain in detail what a concept is (say, the equivalence between high energies and short lengths), sometimes she just drops a completely new thing out of the blue, like beta decay. The author just mentions it in a sentence without explaining it one bit. Who is this book even for? Physics undergraduates? Philosophy students? The general public? I argue it’s for no one but the author’s ego.
skylar2's review against another edition
2.0
In one sense, Knocking on Heaven's Door is a great summary of the state of astrophysics and particle physics in the early 21st century. Unfortunately, it's tainted by Randall's Eurocentrism, neuroconformity, and worship of the "lone genius". Towards the end of the book, she even makes this appalling comment towards people with autism: There are far better pop-sci physics books out there written by people willing to see the diversity of the scientists doing the work, rather than just those who manage to fit into her mold.