
Once Before Time
A Whole Story of the Universe
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Cowley
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By:
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Martin Bojowald
About this listen
In 2000, Martin Bojowald, then a 27-year-old post-doc at Pennsylvania State University, used a relatively new theory called loop quantum gravity - a cunning combination of Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics - to create a simple model of the Universe. Loop quantum cosmology was born, and with it, a theory that managed to do something even Einstein’s general theory of relativity had failed to do - illuminate the very birth of the Universe.
Ever since, loop quantum cosmology, or LQC, has been tantalizing physicists with the idea that our universe could conceivably have emerged from the collapse of a previous one. Now the theory is poised to formulate hypotheses we can actually test. If they are verified, the big bang will give way to the big bounce. Instead of a Universe that emerged from a point of infinite density, we will have one that recycles, possibly through an eternal series of expansions and contractions, with no beginning and no end.
Bojowald’s major realization was that unlike general relativity, the physics of LQC do not break down at the big bang. The greatest mystery surrounding the origin of the Universe is what cosmologists call the big bang “singularity” - the point at the beginning of the Universe, prior to the existence of space and time, when gravity, along with the temperature and density of the universe, becomes infinite. The equations of general relativity can’t cope with such infinities, and as a result big bang theory has never been able to give any explanation for the initial condition of our universe, succeeding only in describing and explaining the evolution of the Universe from that instant onward. Bojowald’s theory takes us right up to the first moment of the Universe - and then back, even before the big bang itself.
©2010 Martin Bojowald (P)2010 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
I have listened to many books on cosmology and quantum mechanics and this book is a must ???listen??? and read book.
I have most of the books I listen to on this subject and this book without hesitation will be added to my library.
An Excellent Book
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Would you try another book from Martin Bojowald and/or Jonathan Cowley?
Maybe if its edited better. E.g. footnote footnote footnote . I like what Bojowald is trying to say its just lifeless and needs an editor badlyWhat do you think your next listen will be?
I'm looking. There's not enough good books in this categoryHow could the performance have been better?
he did a great job in bad science. This was unacceptableAny additional comments?
those with any type of ADD/ADHD need not attempt unless you want to constantly hit the replay button.felt like cowley was on Xanax when he read it
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Would you consider the audio edition of Once Before Time to be better than the print version?
NoWho was your favorite character and why?
...How did the narrator detract from the book?
Unfortunately, the narrator ruined a very interesting book! I was warned about this issue by several reviews, but I wanted to try it myself....Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe
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Difficult Listen
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Monotonous, Droning Narrator
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Decent Subject, But Narrator Ruins It All
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