The First Three Minutes
A little technical, but a brilliant account of how and why the universe is moving away from a centre, and the implications thereof.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
10mentions
9people
2015–2025years
90% recommend10% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- That kind of observation would have a much more dramatic impact, because it would imply that the theories about what the CMB is are completely wrong.
The CMB originates from what's called the surface of last scattering. Prior to that time, density was such that photons couldn't travel very far without being absorbed. During that period, matter was in an ionized plasma state, consisting of free protons, neutrons, electrons, and some light ionized nuclei like deuterium, without any bound electrons. In this scenario, there were no objects bigger than a light nucleus. It would be impossible for stars or galaxies or even dust particles to form in that situation.
Reinterpretation would depend on what the evidence was. This isn't an area that we're particularly unsure of. There's a very comprehensive theory of the evolution of the early universe, supported by all the evidence we have for quantum theory. I recommend Steven Weinberg's book The First Three Minutes if you're interested.
- That would be a long list, given that I read a lot of books and would generally say that most of the books I've read were worth investing time in to some extent. But for what it's worth, here's a subset, cribbed from my previous HN comments:
Something Deeply Hidden - Sean Carroll
The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets - Graham Farmelo
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth - Paul Hoffman
The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan - Robert Kanigel
Lost in Math - Sabine Hossenfelder
The First Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg
Hyperspace - Michio Kaku
Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit
The Trouble With Physics - Lee Smolin
About Time - Paul Davies
Time Reborn - Lee Smolin
The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene
The Hidden Reality - Brian Greene
The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene
Quantum Space: Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe - Jim Baggott
The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets - Graham Farmelo
Three Roads To Quantum Gravity - Lee Smolin
Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos - Seth Lloyd
Higgs - The invention and discovery of the 'God Particle' - Jim Baggott
Analogy Making As Perception - Melanie Mitchell
Society of Mind - Marvin Minsky
Engineering General Intelligence, Part 1 - Ben Goertzel
Engineering General Intelligence, Part 2 - Ben Goertzel
The AGI Revolution - Ben Goertzel
Hackers & Painters by our very own Paul "pg" Graham
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - Steven Levy
The Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder
Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Katie Hafner & John Markoff
Artificial Life: A Report from the Frontier Where Computers Meet Biology - Steven Levy
Ghost In The Wires - Kevin Mitnick
The Art of Deception - Kevin Mitnick
The Art of Intrusion - Kevin Mitnick
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong
Ultramarathon Man - Dean Karnazes
Charles Proteus Steinmetz: The Electrical Wizard of Schenectady - Robert Bly
Report From Engine Co 82 - Dennis Smith
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - Al Ries, Jack Trout and Philip Kotler
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk! - Al Ries and Jack Trout
Re-Positioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding - Al Ries and Laura Ries
Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition - Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin
Marketing High Technology - William H. Davidow
Marketing Warfare - Al Ries
The Discipline of Market Leaders - Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema
Crossing The Chasm - Geoffrey Moore
How to Measure Anything - Douglas Hubbard
Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Something Deeply Hidden - Sean Carroll[1]
Lost in Math - Sabine Hossenfelder[2]
The First Three Minutes - Steven Weinberg[3]
Hyperspace - Michio Kaku[4]
Not Even Wrong - Peter Woit[5]
The Trouble With Physics - Lee Smolin[6]
About Time - Paul Davies[7]
Time Reborn - Lee Smolin[8]
The Elegant Universe - Brian Greene[9]
The Hidden Reality - Brian Greene[10]
The Fabric of the Cosmos - Brian Greene[11]
Quantum Space: Loop Quantum Gravity and the Search for the Structure of Space, Time, and the Universe - Jim Baggott[12]
The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets - Graham Farmelo[13]
Three Roads To Quantum Gravity - Lee Smolin[14]
Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos - Seth Lloyd[15]
Higgs - The invention and discovery of the 'God Particle' - Jim Baggott[16]
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Something-Deeply-Hidden-Emergence-Spa...
[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Math-Beauty-Physics-Astray/dp/15...
[3]: https://www.amazon.com/First-Three-Minutes-Modern-Universe/d...
[4]: https://www.amazon.com/Hyperspace-Scientific-Parallel-Univer...
[5]: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Even-Wrong-Failure-Physical/dp/04...
[6]: https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Physics-String-Theory-Science...
[7]: https://www.amazon.com/About-Time-Einsteins-Unfinished-Revol...
[8]: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Reborn-Lee-Smolin/dp/0544245598/
[9]: https://www.amazon.com/Elegant-Universe-Superstrings-Dimensi...
[10]: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Reality-Parallel-Universes-Cos...
[11]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375412883/ref=dbs_a_def_r...
[12]: https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Space-Gravity-Structure-Unive...
[13]: https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Speaks-Numbers-Reveals-Natur...
[14]: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Quantum-Gravity-Smolin/dp...
[15]: https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Universe-Quantum-Computer...
[16]: https://www.amazon.com/Higgs-invention-discovery-God-Particl...
- The First Three Minutes is one of my favorite books. I keep go back to it.
- I just started re-reading "The First Three Minutes".
Dr. Weinberg had a gift for taking incredibly complex and esoteric science and not only making it accessible, but making it a compelling story.
Rest in Peace. Thank you for reigniting my curiosity and sense of wonder.
- The author recommends some interesting popular books:
1. The Feynman Lectures on Physics
2. The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman
3. Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics by Bruce Schumm
4. The Particle Odyssey by Frank Close
5. Weinberg's The First Three Minutes
IMO someone who seriously wants to learn physics should read these books after they have gone through the typical undergraduate university books (classical, E&M, quantum, stat-mech, etc.) I would not recommend reading popular books until after you already understand the basic ideas of physics. Popular science books are like dessert.
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