Flashes of Creation
George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate
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Narrated by:
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David Stifel
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By:
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Paul Halpern
About this listen
A respected physics professor and author breaks down the great debate over the big bang and the continuing quest to understand the fate of the universe.
Today, the big bang is so entrenched in our understanding of the cosmos that to doubt it would seem crazy. But as Paul Halpern shows in Flashes of Creation, just decades ago its mere mention caused sparks to fly. At the center of the debate were Russian American physicist George Gamow and British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. Gamow insisted that a fiery explosion explained how the elements of the universe were created. Attacking the idea as half-baked, Hoyle countered that the universe was engaged in a never-ending process of creation. The battle was fierce. In the end, Gamow turned out to be right - mostly - and Hoyle, along with his many achievements, is remembered for giving the theory the silliest possible name: "the big bang". Halpern captures the brilliance of both thinkers and reminds us that even those proved wrong have much to teach us about boldness, imagination, and the universe itself.
©2021 Paul Halpern (P)2021 Basic BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Paul Halpern’s Flashes of Creation introduces us to the human side of the Big Bang: the debate about whether it happened and the effort to develop a consistent mathematical description of the early universe. Flashes of Creation is an engaging look at an important moment in the history of cosmology, and in the era of big data and large, diverse collaborations, it is a valuable retrospective of a distinctly 20th century approach to fundamental physics." (Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, author of The Disordered Cosmos)
"Cosmology today is an established and exciting science, but in the mid-twentieth century it was looked at as somewhat disreputable. This engrossing book tells the story of the two audacious physicists who had the courage to envision the universe as a whole, disagreeing with each other but shaping our modern view of the cosmos." (Sean Carroll, author of Something Deeply Hidden)
"An astute and deeply researched account of the argument between two of the most colorful characters in twentieth-century science, about the true nature of literally everything in existence. Flashes of Creation shows scientists at their most human, as they struggle to unravel riddles of cosmic importance." (Philip Ball, author of Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Quantum Physics Is Different)
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Coming of Age in the Milky Way
- By: Timothy Ferris
- Narrated by: Timothy Ferris
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
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Humans have long sought to comprehend the enormities of cosmic space and time. Here, best selling science writer Timothy Ferris tells the story of that quest. He interweaves the majestic themes of astronomy, physics, religion, and philosophy with fresh and lasting portraits of the men and women who created what has been called our society's most precious treasure - its conception of the universe at large.
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Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to now
- By serine on 01-23-16
By: Timothy Ferris
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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Our Mathematical Universe
- My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
- By: Max Tegmark
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Max Tegmark leads us on an astonishing journey through past, present and future, and through the physics, astronomy, and mathematics that are the foundation of his work, most particularly his hypothesis that our physical reality is a mathematical structure and his theory of the ultimate multiverse. In a dazzling combination of both popular and groundbreaking science, he not only helps us grasp his often mind-boggling theories, but he also shares with us some of the often surprising triumphs and disappointments that have shaped his life as a scientist.
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Wow!
- By Michael on 02-02-14
By: Max Tegmark
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How the Laser Happened
- Adventures of a Scientist
- By: Charles H. Townes
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
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In How the Laser Happened, Nobel laureate Charles Townes provides a highly personal look at some of the leading events in 20th-century physics. This lively memoir, packed with firsthand accounts and historical anecdotes, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of science and an inspiring example for students considering scientific careers.
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Great for aspiring physicists
- By James S. on 10-06-18
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The World According to Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Jim Al-Khalili
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics - quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics - showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality.
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excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 05-10-21
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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Uncertainty
- Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
- By: David Lindley
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
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Werner Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle" challenged centuries of scientific understanding, placed him in direct opposition to Albert Einstein, and put Niels Bohr in the middle of one of the most heated debates in scientific history. Heisenberg's theorem stated that there were physical limits to what we could know about sub-atomic particles; this "uncertainty" would have shocking implications.
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fascinating insight into the real drama of physics
- By Ryan on 09-07-10
By: David Lindley
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The Cosmic Cocktail
- Three Parts Dark Matter
- By: Katherine Freese
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe - from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars - constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The rest is known as dark matter and dark energy, because their precise identities are unknown. The Cosmic Cocktail is the inside story of the epic quest to solve one of the most compelling enigmas of modern science - what is the universe made of? - told by one of today’s foremost pioneers in the study of dark matter.
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I was looking for a book about science....
- By Jeff on 03-27-15
By: Katherine Freese
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Euclid's Window
- The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
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Through Euclid's Window Leonard Mlodinow brilliantly and delightfully leads us on a journey through five revolutions in geometry, from the Greek concept of parallel lines to the latest notions of hyperspace. Here is an altogether new, refreshing, alternative history of math revealing how simple questions anyone might ask about space -- in the living room or in some other galaxy -- have been the hidden engine of the highest achievements in science and technology.
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Wow!
- By Eric on 08-13-10
By: Leonard Mlodinow
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The Quantum Story
- A History in 40 Moments
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mike Pollock
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Utterly beautiful. Profoundly disconcerting. Quantum theory is quite simply the most successful account of the physical universe ever devised. Its concepts underpin much of the 21st-century technology that we now take for granted. But at the same time it has completely undermined our ability to make sense of the world at its most fundamental level.
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who's the target reader?
- By Hannah on 09-17-11
By: Jim Baggott
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About Time
- Cosmology, Time and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang
- By: Adam Frank
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
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The Big Bang is all but dead, and we do not yet know what will replace it. Our universe's "beginning" is at an end. What does this have to do with us here on Earth? Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken again - as altered as they were with the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.
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More fluff than science
- By Ivan the Reviewer on 04-15-13
By: Adam Frank
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The Upright Thinkers
- The Human Journey From Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos
- By: Leonard Mlodinow
- Narrated by: Leonard Mlodinow
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
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In this fascinating and illuminating work, Leonard Mlodinow guides us through the critical eras and events in the development of science, all of which, he demonstrates, were propelled forward by humankind's collective struggle to know. From the birth of reasoning and culture to the formation of the studies of physics, chemistry, biology, and modern-day quantum physics, we come to see that much of our progress can be attributed to simple questions - why? how? - bravely asked.
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10/10 Got What I Wanted.
- By Austin on 09-22-15
By: Leonard Mlodinow
What listeners say about Flashes of Creation
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-22-24
Great scientist, interesting story and amazing science
I really enjoyed getting to learn more about these two great scientists, and those who joined and helped in their explorations to the beginnings of our Universe, the formation of the elements that make it and us possible, and their legacies to science today. There are some life lessons here too. It seems an honest and fair biography which I found fascinating on the human scale, as mysteries of the Universe are tackled on the large scale.
I thank the author for a wonderful ride
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- Antonio Rojas
- 09-02-21
*A Crown Jewel*
Dr. Halpern regales us with another magisterial creation that combines both basic cosmological physics along with biographically salient aspects in the lives of two much under appreciated giants of the 20th Century: George Gamow and Fred Hoyle. The book is highly engaging and captivating. The storyline is unusually entertaining for the subject: humorous at times, but occasionally tragic and sad. From the scientific perspective, the focus is centered primarily on the initial controversy about universal expansion versus steady state as well as the creation of heavy atoms. Dr. Halpern superbly takes us by the hand and helps us sort out from the very beginning, every thinker and idea that contributed to the development of those two key concepts: the Big Bang and stellar nucleosynthesis.
As advertised, the work is based on the lives and achievements of Gamow and Hoyle, however, like the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, all the big names are there: Lemaître, Hubble, Pauli, Cockcroft, Born, Landau, Feynman, Bethe, Bohr, Arno Penzias and Wilson, of course, but also Fowler and Chandra, Thorne, Penrose, Guth, and many more.
From the humanistic perspective, the book enlightens us about how science and academia can be utterly unfair. We learn, for instance, that Jocelyn Bell did not get the Nobel in physics in 1974 for for the discovery of pulsars just because… she was a woman? Really? Also, that neither did Hoyle, despite being the leader, the incontrovertible pioneer in the study of heavy element formation at the core of stars, just because he had upset some people in Stockholm? What?? At any rate, and more importantly, Dr. Halpern shows us how life can be overwhelming and sometimes tragic for those whose quest is the pursue of science. He inspires us by magisterially retracing their lives and by showing us their work to decipher the most profound secrets of our ever expanding universe. A true gem of a book!
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- Cameron Preston Kruger
- 09-26-22
A Clash of Two Paradigms
This book filled in lots of science history for me as a reader. I was not old enough at the time to be aware of the great debate on the Big Bang and the Steady State models of the universe. Now I know.
The narrator on this audio book is wooden, and the book is really a complete biography of Gamow and Hoyle, rather than simply the story of their rivalry. Frankly, there was much more information about the two men than I was really interested in. However, I'm sure it will be completely fascinating to the reader who wants to know the backstory of late twentieth century developments in astrophysics.
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