The First Three Minutes

By Steven Weinberg,

Book cover of The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe

Book description

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist explains what happened at the very beginning of the universe, and how we know, in this popular science classic.

Our universe has been growing for nearly 14 billion years. But almost everything about it, from the elements that forged stars, planets, and lifeforms, to the fundamental…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked The First Three Minutes as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

While now somewhat dated, this book remains a masterpiece of science writing for the educated public. I love and recommend it because it never talks down to the reader. The book treats all of cosmology briefly but concentrates on the earliest moments of the extraordinary history of our cosmos.

In the fiery first few minutes of time, when the entire Universe was hotter than the center of the Sun, the helium that now fills party balloons was forged, and the structure of the current Universe was laid down. Weinberg presents the physics of the early Universe with care and precision.

This is about the first three minutes of the Big Bang as conceived by a Nobel Prize-winning particle physicist. Who better than a particle physicist to give us his best guesses as to what went on when the very early universe was small, dense, and extremely hot?

I cherish Weinberg’s book because there is none other like it. He wrote it in a no-nonsense manner for science lovers outside of his very specialized field. Not being a theoretical particle physicist, it was a must for me to read!

From Eugene's list on science of universe (cosmology).

Written by Nobel Prize winner, Steven Weinberg, The First Three Minutes unpacks the complex physics underway in the first few minutes of the universe. From an initial time where densities and temperatures were so high that no normal matter could exist, Weinberg follows the universe as it expands and cools, through the first nuclear matter, to the formation of the initial chemical elements and beyond. This book influenced me as a young cosmologist, revealing the power of physics in unraveling the events that shaped the universe in a blink of an eye.

From Geraint's list on the mysteries of the cosmos.

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